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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Martin, Angus

According to his attestation papers Angus Martin was born on 22 August 1979 in the Eldon/Belfast area of Prince Edward Island. With two years previous experience with the 17th Field Battery, at the time of his signing of his attestation papers on 24 May 1916 in Kenora, Ontario he had been working as a ‘Gasoline… Read More »

Lizotte, Joseph Oscar

Introduction: On April 2, 1919, the Kenora Miner and News reported on a celebratory evening honouring close to two hundred local men who had served in – and returned from – the Great War. One of those on the list was Rev. Fr. Lizzett, a name that was not recognized. After researching different variations of… Read More »

Dion, Angus Auguste

Private Angus Auguste Dion was the son of Ferdinand (Frank) Joseph Dion and Emilie Michaud. Ferdinand and Emilie were both born in Quebec. By the early 1880s they were married and living in the Keewatin/Rat Portage area in northwestern Ontario, where Ferdinand worked in a sawmill. They had at least eight children: Wilfred (1883), Josephine… Read More »

Dungan, George

Private George Dungan enlisted in April 1916 and served in France with the 78th Battalion. He spent the last three months of the war as a prisoner but he survived and returned to Canada in March 1919. George was the son of Robert Dungan and Sarah Kingstone of Ballydehob, County Cork, Ireland. Robert was a… Read More »

Billedeau, Jerome

Born in Keewatin, Ontario on the 20 November 1899, Jerome William was the son of Hormidas Bilodeau/Billedeau (b Beauharnois St Clement, Quebec) and Sarah Pelletier/Pelchie (b Aroostook Junction, Victoria, New Brunswick) who married on 5 November 1893 in Keewatin. Roman Catholic in origin, the Billedeau family was large. Jerome’s siblings were Addie May, Marie Josephine… Read More »

Scoglund, Oscar Emanuel

Oscar Emanuel Skoglund was born on 25 September 1893 in Norman, Ontario, a small community just west of Kenora. It appears that his father August Skoglund was born in Sätterstad, Sunne, Värmland in Sweden, likely immigrating to Canada in 1887. His mother Betty Nilsdotter was from Г–stra Г„mtervik, Sunne, Värmland, immigrating to Canada in 1888…. Read More »

Humphreys, Hugh Gordon Albert

Signaller Hugh Gordon Albert Stuart Humphreys enlisted in 1917 at age 18 and served for two years in Canada and England. He enlisted again in the Second World War then continued to have a career in the armed forces until 1958, attaining the rank of Captain. Hugh Gordon Albert Stuart, sometimes known as Bert, was… Read More »

McMurdie, Joseph Francis

Joseph Francis McMurdie was born on 19 March 1891 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora), Ontario. Born in Lambeth, Surrey, England, father Charles McMurdie had immigrated to Canada around 1870 while his mother Catherine (née Sullivan) McMurdie was from Peterborough, Ontario. Although Charles was found in the Rat Portage area for the 1881 Canada census,… Read More »

Murray, Hugh

Although a different birth date was used on his attestation papers, Hugh Murray was born on 23 August 1892 in Derrylusk, Parish of Roslea, Monaghan, Ireland. His parents were Patrick and Ellen (Toal) Murray who were farming in Derrylusk at the time of his birth. Other known siblings were Michael, Margaret, and Mary. It appears… Read More »

Awcock, Arthur George

Private Arthur George Awcock enlisted in April 1916 and served overseas with the 78th Battalion (Winnipeg Grenadiers). He was wounded at the Battle of Passchendaele but he survived the war and returned to Canada in January 1919. Arthur was the son of Edward and Mary Awcock of Horsted Keynes, Sussex, England. He was born on… Read More »