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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Muggaberg, Walter George

Private Walter George Muggaberg was the son of Julius Muggaberg Jr. and Margaret Ann Park. Julius was likely born in the Northwest Territories or in the Red River Settlement, which became part of Manitoba. His father was from Norway and his mother was Scottish Métis. By 1881 his family had moved to Rat Portage, Ontario…. Read More »

Stewart, Harry Raymond

Harry Raymond Stewart was born on 9 March 1894 in the township of Bristol in Pontiac, Quebec. His father Ephraim Stewart was from Bristol while his mother Emma Way was from nearby Shawville, both families farmers. The couple married on 12 August 1891 in Ottawa, the city about 75 kilometres east of Bristol. The next… Read More »

Sorel, Peter

According to his attestation papers Peter Sorel (Sorle) was born on 28 July 1882 in Stockholm, Sweden. Signing his attestation papers in North Bay, Ontario on 11 September 1916, Peter had been working as a miner and living in Kenora, Ontario. He gave his father Jonas Matson (Sorle) of Ndland, Sorle via Namos, Norway as… Read More »

Mathers, William Matchett

Sergeant William Matchett Mathers enlisted with the 27th Battalion in October 1914 and went overseas the following spring. He survived three years as a front line soldier in France and Belgium and returned to Canada with his battalion in May 1919. William was the oldest child and only son of Robert Mathers and Mary Matchett… Read More »

McRitchie, John

Sapper John McRitchie was born on 1 November 1873 in Englishtown, Cape Breton Island, one of at least twelve children of Donald McRitchie and Anna McLeod. By the 1890s his family had moved to the town of Rat Portage (later called Kenora), in northwestern Ontario. When the 1901 census was taken John and his brothers… Read More »

Pull, John

John Pull was born on 27 September 1879 in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England. His parents were John Pull and Frances Clarkson. He served in the Second Boer War (1899 – 1902) with the 3rd Battery Grenadier Guards, earning the King’s South Africa Medal. He was suffering from rheumatism when he was discharged. He also saw action… Read More »

Smith, Leonard Edward

Leonard Edward Smith was one of three of seven sons of Charles Alexander Smith of Keewatin, to enlist during the Great War. Leonard and his older brother   John Wesley Smith served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, while Charles Henry Smith served with the U.S. Army Born May 4, 1895 in the Muskoka District of central… Read More »

Jackson, J W

As published in the 2 April 1919 edition of the Kenora Miner and News, the towns of Kenora and Keewatin held a reception at the Tourist Hotel to welcome back the returning veterans. One name on the list was JW Jackson. His identity and service could not be confirmed. It is possible that he was… Read More »

Moore, Stewart William

With brown hair, gray eyes, and only 1/2 inch difference in height, the Moore twins were born on the same day, had their medical examinations on the same day, both were working as trainmen for the Canadian Pacific Railway at the time of the war, and both were called up for service on the same… Read More »

Adams, James Andrew

Lance Sergeant James Andrew Adams served with the 5th Regiment Canadian Mounted Rifles in France and Belgium. He was wounded three times and he died in November 1917 during the Battle of Passchendaele. James was the oldest son of Donald Fraser Adams and Isabella Alice Alford of Matapédia, Bonaventure County, Quebec. Donald was a farmer… Read More »