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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Smith, Charles Henry

Charles Henry Smith was one of three brothers, the oldest of seven sons of Charles Alexander Smith of Keewatin, Ontario to enlist during the Great War. Charles Henry Smith served with the U.S. Army while his brothers John Wesley Smith and Leonard Edward Smith served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Charles Henry was Charles Smith’s… Read More »

Grant, John

Lance Corporal John Grant enlisted with the 47th Battalion in March 1915 and he was seriously wounded six months later in Belgium. After recovering he served in Great Britain, France and Siberia, returning to Canada in June 1919. John was born on 3 May 1887 in Elgin, Morayshire, Scotland, the youngest son of William Grant… Read More »

Shouldice, James Robert

James Robert Shouldice was born on 4  September 1888 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora), Ontario. His father Joseph Shouldice was from the Gatineau River/Wakefield area of Quebec and had come west to Winnipeg in 1877 to work on CPR construction. His mother Christina Sutherland was from West River, Pictou County, Nova Scotia. The couple… Read More »

Charge, Frank

Frank Charge was born on 4 June 1881 in the inner parish of Aston in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England. His father Leonard Charge, grocer and baker, was from Worcester, Worcestershire while his mother Frances Adams was from Taunton in Somerset. The couple had married on 5 October 1879 in Aston. Their first two children, Arthur (1880)… Read More »

McLeod, Cecil

Cecil McLeod joined the war effort as soon as he was old enough, enlisting with the 76th Canadian Field Artillery Depot Battery in Winnipeg in March 1917, just three months after turning 18. McLeod had been born in Rat Portage Dec. 8, 1898, the son of Edward Donald McLeod, a CPR engineer, and Elizabeth Eakins…. Read More »

Adams, Lester Alexander

Lester Alexander Adams and his twin sister Hester Isabel were born on 22 September 1894 in Norman, Ontario, a community now amalgamated with Kenora in northwestern Ontario. Their parents Alexander John Adams and Harriet Christie Farrell were both from Canada but likely married in 1883 in Minnesota, United States. Their first child, daughter Edith Electra… Read More »

Bryant, Alfred George

Alfred George Bryant was born on 18 September 1895 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora), Ontario. His father George Paul Bryant was from Ashwell, Hertfordshire in England and had immigrated to Canada around 1887, settling with his parents and siblings Walter and Silas in the Miniota area in Manitoba where they farmed. His mother Mary… Read More »

Shaw, Stanley Richard

Stanley Richard Shaw was born on 9 November 1896 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora) in northwestern Ontario. His parents William Shaw and Harriett Jane Swan were both from England, marrying on 14 May 1883 in Wallasey, Cheshire. The couple gave birth to two children in Wallasey, son William Beresford in 1885 and daughter Beatrice… Read More »

Armstrong, Walter

Private Walter Armstrong enlisted in February 1915 and served overseas with the 27th (City of Winnipeg) Battalion. He was wounded four times, including once by mustard gas. He survived the war and returned to Canada in September 1919 with a war bride. Walter was born on 7 May 1895 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England. He was… Read More »