Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthMarch 28, 1896
Place of BirthGlasgow
CountryScotland
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinWilliam, Killough, father, Keewatin
Trade / CallingFlour miller, Lake of the Woods Milling Company
ReligionPresbyterian
Service Details
Regimental Number1036712
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion238th Battalion
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Address at EnlistmentKeewatin, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentAugust 8, 1916
Age at Enlistment20
Theatre of ServiceGreat Britain
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathFebruary 1, 1921
Age at Death24
Buried AtBrookside Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba
PlotMil. 303.

Killough, George

George Killough was born on 28 March 1896 in Glasgow, Scotland. His father William Killough was originally from Ireland and had married Mary Brownlie (née Cowie), a young widow with a small daughter Isabella Brownlie, on 29 July 1894 in the District of Milton, Glasgow. Living a few houses apart on Hopehill Road at the time, William’s occupation was given as iron foundry warehouseman. Their first child, daughter Rubina (Ruby) was born 20 March 1895, followed by George, and then Alexander on 15 February 1898. The 1901 Scotland census found the family living at 20 Grove Street in Glasgow, household members including parents William and Mary, Mary’s daughter Isabella who had assumed the Killough surname, George and Alexander; Ruby was not listed with the family.

George and his father William were found on the passenger list of the  Scotian that arrived in Halifax on 8 April 1912, followed by his mother Mary and brother Alexander who arrived in Canada 7 September 1912 on the  Grampian, destination Keewatin, Ontario to join husband. The Lake of the Woods Milling Company in Keewatin was a drawing card for many recent immigrants, and eventually William, George, and Alexander all found employment with the mill. Isabella and Ruby immigrated in 1913, settling in nearby Winnipeg to work as maids at the General Hospital.

George and his brother Alexander enlisted in Winnipeg on 8 August 1916. With the 238th Battalion (Forestry), the brothers embarked from Halifax aboard the  Scandinavian on 13 September 1916. Once overseas  the brothers were transferred to the  Canadian Forestry Corps, taken on strength in early December in London. However, George’s service during the war was cut short due to chronic suppurative otitis media, middle ear infections. He was returned to Canada aboard the  Saxonia on 30 November 1917 as part of a ‘party of medically unfits, etc, sailing from Liverpool’. His destination was given as Winnipeg where he was to spend time at the Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo as well at the St Boniface Hospital where he had surgery on his ears in June of 1918. His official discharge from service was 17 September 1918.

George was next found as a witness on the Kenora marriage record of 3 November 1919  for Alexander Gudgeon and Isobel Daniels Weir. Born in London, England, Alexander had also immigrated to Keewatin to work at the flour mill, had served overseas with the 52nd Battalion, and returned to Keewatin after the war. George next appeared in the 1920 United States Federal Census for Minneapolis, Minnesota, a lodger with occupation given as miller. Enumerated on 9 January, he crossed back into Canada 20 January 1920, giving his father in Keewatin as next of kin.

Suffering from chronic otitis media (middle ear infection), George Killough died on 1 February 1921 in the Manitoba Military Hospital, Tuxedo, Winnipeg of an abcess that had reached the brain  although several operations had been performed. He is interred in the Military Section of Brookside Cemetery in Winnipeg.

By the early 1920’s George’s parents had moved to 50 Raglan Avenue in Winnipeg. His father William died in 1932, and mother Mary in 1947; both are interred in Brookside. His sister Ruby married Albert Coates in August of 1917 in Kenora and they eventually moved to Vancouver where Albert died in 1950 and Ruby in 1989. It is unknown if they had any children. Isabella married Frank Hurd in October of 1917 in Kenora. They moved to Winnipeg where Frank died in 1948 and Isabella in 1969. Both are interred in Brookside Cemetery. Isabella and Frank had two known children, both sons. Brother Alexander Killough returned to Keewatin from the war aboard the Empress of Britain, first arriving in Quebec  on 11 July 1919. He married recent Scottish immigrant Elizabeth Jack in Winnipeg in 1923. They had one known daughter, Sheila, who was a dancer/choreographer with the Winnipeg Ballet. Predeceased by her husband, Elizabeth died in 1997 in Winnipeg.

George and Alexander were honoured at a Keewatin Roll of Honour Ceremony in Keewatin in August of 1919 and are commemorated on the  Lake of the Woods Milling Company Roll of Honour plaque, the Municipality of Keewatin For King and Country plaque, and the Town of Keewatin Roll of Honour plaque.

By Judy Stockham

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