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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Olson, Knute

Knute (Cnute) Ole Olson was born on 09 January 1891 in Laxviken, Laxsjo, Jamtland, Sweden to Ole Olson and Martha Carlson.  He received his education in Norway. In 1912 he came to Canada settling on a farm in the Pellatt area near Keewatin, Ontario.  On 02 September 1913 Knute married Cassandra Signe Ingrekson in Kenora,… Read More »

Ross, William

According to his attestation papers, William Ross was born on 10 May 1893 in Keewatin, Ontario, a small community about five kilometres west of Kenora in northwestern Ontario. However the 1901 Canada census gave the date as 8 January 1895 and his later obituary as 3 January 1889 in Rush Bay west of Keewatin on… Read More »

MacDonald, Herbert Robertson

Major Herbert Robertson MacDonald enlisted in December 1915 and served with the Canadian Forestry Corps in Great Britain and France. He returned to Canada in March 1919. According to his service record and other documents, Herbert was born on 28 July 1880 in Martintown, Glengarry County, Ontario. His mother, Katherine Janet MacDonald (nee Robertson), was… Read More »

Klabunde, Gustave Frederick Carl

Gustave Frederick Carl Klabunde was born on 6 April 1886 in Pembroke, Ontario. His parents Carl Wilhelm (Charles William) and Emilie (née Shultz) Klabunde were from Wusterbarth, Germany, and along with their one year old daughter Anna had arrived in New York on the 30th of March aboard the  Eider, just days before Gustave’s birth…. Read More »

Paterson, John (Jack)

John (Jack) Paterson was born on 15 January 1899 in Neepawa, Manitoba. His parents Robert Paterson and Agnes Helen Scott were both from southern Ontario, Robert from the Woodstock area and Agnes from King County. Shortly after Agnes graduated from the Toronto General Hospital the couple married in May of 1894. After the marriage Agnes… 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 »

Foster, Percy Samuel

Corporal Percy Samuel Foster enlisted in November 1915 and served with the 16th battalion in France, Belgium and Germany. He returned to Canada in May 1919. Percy was the son of Edward John Foster and Annie Hayward of Kenora, Ontario. Edward and Annie were both born in Ontario and they were married in Simcoe County… Read More »

Nelson, Alexander

Private Alexander Nelson served with the 1st Canadian Motor Machine Gun Brigade in France, Belgium and Germany. He suffered gas poisoning twice but he survived the war and in April 1919 he was awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre. According to his attestation paper Alexander was born on 23 November 1886 in Kenora, Ontario. He… Read More »

Nixon, Harry Jordan

Gunner Harry Jordan Nixon was 23 years old and living in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba when he was called up for service. He spent nine months overseas and returned to Canada in June 1919. Harry was born on 10 April 1895 at Stoney Lake, Dummer Township, Peterborough County, Ontario. His parents were David Nixon and… Read More »

Lough, Charles Leslie

According to his attestation papers Charles Leslie  Lough was born on  29 March 1899  in Nassau, Quebec. His parents John Robert and Helen (Nellie) (née Storey) Lough, had married on 27 November 1889 in Buckingham, Quebec  although neither were of French Canadian descent. It appears that their first child, George Garfield, born in 1891, died… Read More »