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, William

William Guernsey was born on 31 January 1889 in Stuartburn, Manitoba. His parents were William Robert Guernsey and Frances Fuller who had come to Manitoba from England in 1882. William was one of thirteen children born to this couple. By 1901 the Guernsey family was living in Rat Portage (Kenora), Ontario. In the 1911 Census… Read More »

Kaluses, William

According to his obituary as published in the Kenora Miner and News on 2 May 1968, William Kaluses, born on 5 June 1898 in Lithuania, served in Lithuania during WW1, details unknown. At some point he immigrated to Canada, settling in Kenora, Ontario. Over the years he worked for the Peterson Lumber Company, and latterly… Read More »

Waltenbery, Arthur Henry

Although he gave Bracebridge, Ontario as his place of birth on his attestation papers, Arthur Henry Waltenbery was born in nearby Dwight, Muskoka, Ontario on 17 June 1893. His father George Waltenbery, a carpenter by trade, and mother Margaret Jane McIlwain had married in 1882 in Huntsville. Children born to the couple were Emily Jane… Read More »

Kofalick, Paul

Paul Kofalick was working as a labourer in Doaktown, New Brunswick when he signed his attestation papers in Chatham on 13 January 1916. Located in central New Brunswick, at the time Doaktown, as it is today, was a centre for the lumbering industry. A Russian immigrant, Paul gave his date and place of birth as… Read More »

LeBleu, Samuel Jules

Gunner Samuel Jules LeBleu was the son of Jean (John) LeBleu and Marie Louise LaSalle. Jean and Louise were both born in Quebec, Jean in Gentilly and Louise in Yamaska. They were married in 1873 in Silver Islet in the district of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Silver Islet was a small community on Lake Superior across… Read More »

Lang, Walter William

Private Walter William Lang of Quill Lake, Saskatchewan enlisted in March 1916 at age 24. He served overseas with the 28th Battalion and he was killed in August 1918, during the Hundred Days Offensive. Walter was the oldest son of George Lang and Catherine Daum. George and Catherine were both born in Woolwich Township, Waterloo… Read More »

LaBelle, Joseph Edward Parnell

Joseph Edward Parnell LaBelle was born on 18 January 1897 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora) in northwestern ) Ontario. His parents were Michael LaBelle and Mary Brennan who had married on 4 September 1877 in St Paul the Hermit church in Sheenboro, Pontiac, Quebec. They had been living with their families in nearby Chichester… Read More »

Ruggles, Timothy Dwight

Timothy Dwight Ruggles was born on 11 February 1886 in Paradise, Annapolis, Nova Scotia. He was the second  child  of Charles Frederick and Emily Cecelia (née Gibson) Ruggles who had married in Bridgetown in 1883. Timothy had an older sister Annie Lillian and three younger siblings Frances Elizabeth, Stephen Sneden, and Charles Frederick. Timothy signed… Read More »

Barraclough, John Alfred

John Alfred Barraclough was born on 13 April 1884 in Elland, Halifax, Yorkshire in England. His parents David Barraclough, an insurance agent, and Martha Thompson were both from Yorkshire, their marriage registered during the 3rd quarter of 1878 in Halifax, Yorkshire. Children born to the couple were Annie (1879), James Herbert (1882), John Alfred, Samuel… Read More »

Farquhar, Alexander Stiven

Alexander Stiven Farquhar was born on 08 December 1899 in Gretna, Dumfries-shire, Scotland. He was the youngest son of school master Alexander Farquhar and his wife Margaret Armstrong. Siblings included Jessie, Isabella, Thomas John, Jean, Andrew, Henry and Maggie. When Alex turned 18 he enlisted with the RAF in Dumfries, Scotland. His occupation at the… Read More »