Kenora Great War Project

 

You can also view an Alphabetical List

The People

soldier_photobar

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

Search by name, or filter the search results using the list of options below.

Fortin, Edgar

Private Edgar Fortin enlisted in April 1916, at age 17, and arrived in France four months later. He was killed in November 1917 at the Battle of Passchendaele. Edgar was the youngest son of Charles François Fortin and Emilie Jolicouer of Kenora, Ontario. Charles was from the Gaspé region in eastern Quebec and Emilie was… Read More »

Angus, James Robert

Lieutenant James Robert Angus enlisted with the first Canadian contingent in September 1914 and served in Great Britain, France, Belgium and Canada for more than two and a half years. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant in March 1916. James was the son of James Angus Sr. and Mary Mathilda Dobson of Fort Frances, Ontario…. Read More »

Johnson, Joseph Harvey (Ladd)

Joseph Harvey (Ladd) Johnson was born on 29 May 1895 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora) in northwestern Ontario. His father Joseph Johnson, son of Irish immigrant James Johnson and his 1st generation Irish Canadian wife Ann Sanderson, grew up on a farm in the Omemee area just south of the Kawartha Lakes in southern… Read More »

Starratt, William Blair

William Blair Starratt was born on 25 May 1896 in Hopewell Hill, Albert County, New Brunswick. His parents Charles Spurgeon Starratt and Sarah Alberta Wright were both from Hopewell Hill, marrying on 27 March 1884. Children born to the couple were Charles Gordon (1885), Robert Wright (1887), Albert Wright (1893), and Blair. At the time… Read More »

Robertson, Forbes Proctor

Private Forbes Proctor Robertson enlisted with the third overseas contingent and served for three years, most of that time with the Canadian Army Service Corps. He was discharged for medical reasons in April 1918. Forbes was born on 24 September 1889 in Aberdeen, Scotland. His parents were John Robertson, a master tailor, and Jessie Martin…. Read More »

McDonald, George Angus

Although his attestation papers gave his place of birth as Kenora, Manitoba, George Angus McDonald was born on 15 November 1893 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora), Ontario. His father Duncan Alexander McDonald was from Ontario while his mother Mary Elizabeth Kerr was from Scotland, the couple marrying on 21 October 1886 in East Selkirk,… Read More »

Webster, William Alfred

William Alfred Webster was born on 26 December 1875 in Orangeville, Ontario. His parents Joseph John Webster, a painter, and Elizabeth Zillah Gibbins were both from Barrow Upon Soar, Leicestershire, England, their marriage registered during the third quarter of 1866. The couple gave birth to daughter Ellen Elizabeth followed by son George before immigrating to… Read More »

Hook, Douglas Edgar

Douglas Edgar Hook was born on 13 September 1899 in Rat Portage (Kenora), Ontario.  His parents were Henry (Harry) Hook and Harriet (Hattie) McGinnis. Henry Hook was an affluent business man who controlled real estate and mining claims in the area. He was manager of Burns and Company, a wholesale meat business. His other children… Read More »

Martin, Edwin Charles

Edwin Charles Martin was born on 14 June 1871 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. His father Charles William Martin was born in Wolverhampton in Staffordshire while his mother Mary Clark was from St Helier in the Jersey Channel Islands. The couple married on 21 August 1870 in Portsea, Hampshire. Edwin was their first born child, followed… Read More »

Pickett, Lewis Sherwood

During most of the First World War British regulations required soldiers to be 19 years old before serving in a front line unit. Private Lewis Sherwood Pickett enlisted just before his 17th birthday and he served in Canada and England for over two years. After he turned 19 he was sent to France by his… Read More »