Kenora Great War Project

 

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The People

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These are the stories of Kenora participants in the First World War.

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Guernsey, George Lionel Vares

George Guernsey was born 24 May 1895 in Rat Portage (Kenora) Ontario. His parents, originally from England, were William Robert Guernsey and Frances Fuller who had arrived in Rat Portage around 1893 from Manitoba. George was one of thirteen children in the family. George enlisted with the 94th Battalion in Kenora on 17 November 1915…. Read More »

Chivers, Patrick

Patrick Chivers was born on 17 January 1897 at home at 40 Wilkies Lane in Liff and Benvie in the district of St Peter on the outskirts of the city of Dundee in Scotland. At the time of his birth and up until his enlistment, the spelling of the surname was Shivers. His father Patrick… Read More »

Boswell, John

John Boswell was one of the early volunteers to answer the call to duty in the Kenora area, being on a list of eight men stepping forward between August 10 and August 11 as Kenora signed up men for the 1st Contingent of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Prior to coming to Canada in 1906, he’d… Read More »

Lozinski, Joseph

Joseph Lozinski was born on 4 October 1899 in Bosyry, Ukraine. He was the son of Joannis (Jan) Lozinski and Anna Gurin (Hurin). According to a later article about his retirement, he served in the Polish Army from 1917 to 1925. On 24 October 1920, in the Ukraine, he married Tetana. In 1927 Joseph immigrated… Read More »

Berry, A J

As published in the 13 January 1917 edition of the Kenora Miner and News, AJ Berry was “alive and well and doing his bit”. His identity remains undetermined.  

Brunsel, George

George Nelson Brunsel, son of Angus and Elizabeth Brunsel was born in Manitoba on 17 February 1873. He came to Rat Portage in 1879. He operated the first boat building company in Rat Portage with his brother Neill located on the lakefront between Main and Matheson street. Between 1899 and 1904 the company built many… Read More »

Hay, Gordon Climie

Captain Gordon Climie Hay enlisted in 1915 and served in France and Belgium for more than two years. He was wounded in September 1916 during the Somme Offensive and returned to Canada in August 1919. Gordon was the son of John Climie Hay and Araminta (Minnie) Adelaide Copeland of Listowel, Perth County, Ontario. John was… Read More »

Dingwall, William Haldane

William Haldane (Hal) Dingwall was born on 17 June 1882 in the Township of Charlottenburg in the county of Glengarry, Ontario. Located in southeastern Ontario, the nearest city in the area was/is Lancaster. Charlottenburg and Lancaster were two of the original eight ‘Royal Townships’, established along the Saint Lawrence River in Upper Canada in the… Read More »

Elliott, Richard Hingston

Acting Sergeant Richard Hingston Elliott enlisted in February 1915 and served for more than four years in Canada, England and France. He was wounded at the Battle of Mount Sorrel but he survived the war and returned home in September 1919. Richard grew up in Arbroath, Forfarshire, Scotland, one of eight children born to Arthur… Read More »

Johnson, Gustave Adolph

Private Gustave Adolph Johnson was called up under the Military Service Act in May 1918 and served overseas for a year. He returned to Canada in July 1919. Gustave was the oldest son of Andrew Gustave and Alena/Alina Johnson of the township of Pellatt in northwestern Ontario. Andrew was born in Sweden, possibly in Stockham,… Read More »