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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Derry, Willard John

Throughout the war railroads were essential for evacuating the wounded and moving troops, equipment and supplies. Skilled workers were needed for their construction, maintenance and operation. Sapper Willard John Derry enlisted with a railway unit in February 1917 and served in France and Belgium for two years. Willard was the youngest son of George Derry… Read More »

Wreggit, Truman Albert

Private Truman Albert Wreggit was born in Barrie, Simcoe County, Ontario on 1 March 1891. His mother, Susannah Calvert, was unmarried and his birth was registered as Truman Albert Calvert. Susannah was married in Barrie in October 1895 to George Wreggit, a widowed farmer. George and Susannah had five children: Ethel May (1896), Carrie Elizabeth… Read More »

Winters, Earl Hersel

Private Earl Hersel Winters joined the 141st Battalion in May 1916 and went overseas in April 1917. He served in England and France for almost two years and returned home with a war bride. Earl was the only son of William Thomas Winter/Winters and Alice Marian Brydges of Kenora, Ontario. Thomas and Alice were both… Read More »

Van Norman, Harry Hinds

Lieutenant Harry Hinds Van Norman, MC, enlisted in January 1915 and served overseas for three and a half years. He was promoted from Private to Sergeant in October 1915 and commissioned as a Lieutenant in April 1917. He earned a Military Cross in the last weeks of the war. Harry was the oldest son of… Read More »

Linklater, William

William Linklater was born on 8 April 1888 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora) in northwestern Ontario He was the fifth born child of Charles Patrick Linklater and Margaret Donald who had apparently married on 12 March 1880 in the RM of St Andrews in Manitoba, both having Métis roots in the Red River Settlement…. Read More »

Brimble, Gerard

Gerard Brimble was born on 05 May 1894 in Cardiff, Wales.  His parents were James Brimble and Rebecca Tiplin. Gerard had three older siblings: brother, Sidney (b. 1886), and sisters Mabel (b. 1889) and Amy (b. 1893). In 1905 the family immigrated to Canada and settled in Rat Portage (Kenora), Ontario. Sidney married Catherine Young… Read More »

Francis, David

Private David Francis arrived in France in August 1916 and joined the 43rd Battalion in the field in September. He was killed in action two weeks later in the attack on Regina Trench, one of 24,000 casualties suffered by the Canadian Corps during the Somme Offensive. David was the oldest son of James Francis and… Read More »

Partington, Charles Thomas

British born Major Charles Thomas Partington was an officer in the militia before he enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in the fall of 1915. He was sent to England and then to France, where he joined the 29th (Vancouver) Battalion in August 1916. He died eight weeks later at the Battle of the Somme…. Read More »

Bates, James Wesley

James Wesley Bates was born on 26 January 1886 in Penetanguishene, Ontario. His parents were Robert and Cathrine Ann (née Quigley) Bates who had married in 1882 in Orillia. Over the years Robert was involved in the lumbering business. Known children born to the family were Elizabeth Ann (1884, Parry Sound, Ontario), James, Walter (1888,… Read More »

Symmes, John Arnold

  Lieutenant John Arnold Symmes served as an officer in the Canadian infantry for a year then he enlisted in the Royal Naval Air Service in 1917. He trained in France and returned to Canada in April 1918. John was the only son of Ernest William Symmes and Eliza Jane Arnold of Niagara Falls, Ontario…. Read More »