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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Riley, Edward

Private Edward Riley was in his early 50’s when he enlisted in Winnipeg in 1916 and was to serve with the Canadian Forestry Corps in England for the last two years of the war. Although a birth record for Edward could not be found it is likely that he was born in 1865 in the… Read More »

Frisbie, Allan Grant

Corporal Allan Grant Frisbie was born in Canada and living in Portland, Oregon when the U.S. entered the war in 1917. He enlisted with the Oregon Engineers and served overseas for about a year. Allan was born on 31 October 1899 in Rat Portage, Ontario. His father, George Clayton Frisbie, was born in Pennsylvania and… Read More »

Desilet, Norman Alexander

Norman Alexander Desilet was born on 3 March 1888 in Norman, Ontario, the community now amalgamated with Kenora in northwestern Ontario. His parents Joseph Desilet and Caroline Provost were both from Quebec, marrying on 21 April 1873 in St Theodore de Chestsy, Montcalm. At the time of the marriage Joseph’s occupation was given as cultivateur… Read More »

Dauphin, Leonard George

Sapper Leonard George Dauphin enlisted in Victoria, British Columbia in November 1915 and served overseas for three years. He survived gas poisoning and influenza and returned home in April 1919. Leonard was the only child of Joseph Dauphin and his wife Annie Belleau. Joseph and Annie were both born in Quebec but by the time… Read More »

Torrance, Victor

Victor Torrance was born on 18 December 1885 in Ottawa, Ontario. His parents William Torrance and Sophia Johnston were both from the area, William from Ashton and Sophia from Gloucester. At the time of their marriage in 1879 in Ottawa William was working as a carpenter. Also born in Ottawa was Victor’s older brother Robert…. Read More »

Banks, Alfred George

Alfred George Banks was born on 11 August 1884 in London, England.   His father, Alfred George Banks was a railroad engineer. His mother was Charlotte Elizabeth Fish. Siblings included: Elizabeth (Lilly) who married Ernest Wilson, Harriet Daisy and Philip who died in infancy. Alfred served in the Boer War and then in 1903 emigrated… Read More »

Nairn, John White

Although he gave his place of birth as Edinburgh in Scotland, John White Nairn was born on 19 April 1892 in nearby Leith. His father John Nairn was from Johnstone, Renfrewshire while his mother Isabella Stuart was from  Deskford, Banffshire. John and Isabella had married in 1887 in Edinburgh. After the marriage the couple lived… Read More »

Alcock, William Henry

William Henry (Billy) Alcock was born on 25 October 1898 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora), Ontario. His parents were George and Emma (née Barker) Alcock who had married on 1 January 1883 in Faraday, Hastings, Ontario. After the 1891 Canada census the family had moved to Saskatchewan but by the 1901 Canada census they… Read More »

Byers, Henry Joseph (Harry)

Although he gave his date of birth as 12 April 1896 on his attestation papers, Henry Joseph (Harry) Byers was born in 1898 in Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario. A birth record was not found but elsewhere in his records the year was 1898 and was also given in census records and his obituary. His mother… Read More »