Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthOctober 5, 1893
Place of BirthNorth Bay, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinMiss Annie Delaney, sister, Bowden, Alberta, Canada
Trade / CallingTinsmith
ReligionRoman Catholic
Service Details
Regimental Number551118
Service Record Link to Service Record
BattalionLord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians)
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Cavalry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Date of EnlistmentJanuary 7, 1916
Age at Enlistment22
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathApril 3, 1974
Age at Death80
Buried AtLakeview Cemetery, Penticton, British Columbia
PlotSection N 054-4

Delaney, Reginald George

Born on 5 October 1893  in North Bay, Ontario, Reginald George  Delaney was the son of John James (James) and Mary Ellen (née Doyle) Delaney. His siblings were Bridget, Ida, May, John James, Lettie, Queeny, Gertrude, Percy, and Annie. For the 1891 Canada census the family was living in North Bay, Ontario with the father’s occupation given as labourer and the family considered as Irish Roman Catholic in origin. By 1901 the family had relocated to Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora) where George’s father had found employment as a fireman with the Canadian Pacific Railway. Still living with the family were Ida, May, John, Lettie, Queenie, George, Gertrude, Percy, and Annie as well as lodgers John McLeod, John Holmes, and Michael Ritchie. By the 1911 Canada census his father and brother John James were living with his sister Ida (Delaney) Morden and family in Keewatin on Front Street. It is possible that George, his mother, and some of his siblings were in Fort Frances at the time.

George Delaney first enlisted on 23 July 1915 in Regina, regimental # 104199, 68th (Regina) Battalion. However he was struck off strength on 28 September 1915 and later re-enlisted In Winnipeg on 7 January 1916. Occupation given as tinsmith, he was 23 years old. With Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians), Private George Delaney was taken on strength in France on 8 October 1916. The Strathcona’s were part of the Canadian Calvary Brigade but sometimes when needed they served as a dismounted infantry unit. Early in 1917 they were attached to the Pioneer Battalion and they spent the next few months in northern France building and repairing roads, digging and wiring trenches, and working on railways. On 24 January 1919, Private George Delaney was struck off strength, returned to England.

After the war George returned to the Kenora/ Keewatin area  where he married Kathleen Lenore Green, daughter of Frank and Margaret (Randall) Green, on 5 July 1926. He worked for the Lake of the Woods Milling Company, eventually reaching the post  of a manager. The couple had at least four children, two sons and two daughters. At some point later in life George and Kathleen moved to Penticton, British Columbia where he died on 3 April 1974. Kathleen had predeceased him in July of 1968. Both are interred in Lakeview Cemetery, Penticton. At the time both daughters, married, were living in Penticton while one son was in Hope, British Columbia and the other in England.

In August of 1919 Keewatin held a Roll of Honour service where George and his brother   Daniel were recognized for their service with medals and badges, and special tribute was paid to their brother Private John James Delaney who had been reported as killed in action on 17 April 1917.

by Judy Stockham

Delaney-Reginald-George-2 Delaney-Reginald-George-4 Delaney-Reginald-George-3 Delaney-Reginald-George-5

obituary courtesy of the Penticton Public Library
grave marker photograph courtesy of Allan (member  #48226094) on findagrave.com

 

 

 

 

 


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