Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthDecember 9, 1890
Place of BirthMaybole, Ayrshire
CountryScotland
Marital StatusMarried
Next of KinWife: Mary Fisher - Keewatin, Ontario
Trade / CallingMiller
ReligionPresbyterian
Service Details
Regimental Number199297
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion47th Battalion
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Place of EnlistmentKenora, Ontario
Address at EnlistmentKeewatin, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentApril 12, 1916
Age at Enlistment25
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathOctober 18, 1985
Age at Death95
Buried AtLake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario
Plot67E-14-2

Fisher, James

James Fisher was born on 9 December 1890 in Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland. His parents were William Fisher and Elizabeth Armour.  Siblings included: John, William, Charles, Mary, Janet, Elizabeth, Alexander, David, Isabel and Agnes.  James immigrated to Canada in 1909 and married Mary Weir on 22 October 1913 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Daughter Margaret was born in Manitoba and then the family moved to Keewatin, Ontario where son James was born in 1915.  James Sr. worked at the flour mill.

On 12 April 1916, James enlisted with the 94th Battalion in Kenora, Ontario.

After a short time training in Port Arthur his unit sailed for England aboard the S.S. Olympic on 28 June 1916. James was transferred to the 17th Reserve Battalion and spent a month in hospital with a blood cyst. The medical notes reveal that it occurred when James was wrestling on horseback. He refused an operation to remove the cyst, and he was then attached to the 47th Battalion and sent to France in November.

According to his service record, during the battle of Vimy Ridge, on 12 April 1917, James received shrapnel wounds to his right leg that eventually led to the amputation of his right foot.  He underwent three operations at Horton War Hospital in Epsom and then spent time in the Canadian General Hospital in Liverpool.  James was invalided to Canada at the end of 1917 and sent to the Manitoba Military Hospital in Winnipeg.  Continuing problems with his  wound led to the amputation of his right leg below the knee on 24 October 1918.  James received his official discharge from the army on 3 December 1918, classified as unfit for further military service. He is commemorated for his service on the Municipality of Keewatin For King and Country plaque, on the Town of Keewatin Roll of Honour, and on the Lake of the Woods Milling Company Roll of Honour.

James returned to Keewatin and the 1921 Canadian census showed his family living north of the CPR tracks.  He was working as a caretaker and another daughter, Edith, had been born in 1919. One more daughter, Fernie, was born in 1927. James lived a long and productive life in  Keewatin, working for the flour mill for forty-two years until his retirement in 1955.

James died at the age of 95  in October 1985 and  is buried along with his wife Mary who passed away in October 1989 in the Lake of the Woods Cemetery at Kenora, Ontario.

by Penny Beal

 


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