Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthNovember 30, 1877
Place of BirthGirvan, Ayrshire
CountryScotland
Marital StatusMarried
Next of KinWilliam McKie (father), Keewatin, Ontario
Trade / CallingTeamster
ReligionPresbyterian
Service Details
Regimental Number439067
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion52nd Battalion
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Address at EnlistmentKeewatin, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentDecember 29, 1914
Age at Enlistment37
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathFebruary 9, 1956
Age at Death78
Buried AtLake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario
Plot28E-20-3

McKie, William Anderson

Born 30 November 1877, William Anderson McKie was the  second child of  nine born to William McKie and Agnes Hill  of  Girvan, Scotland.  His parents were married in  December 1875 in Girvan, Ayrshire, a coastal village in southwestern Scotland. He had an older brother, James.  William’s younger siblings were Samuel, Mary, John, Alexander, David, Elizabeth and Allan. After the first  three children were born, the family moved to the nearby town of Maybole, Scotland.  His brothers, James, Samuel, and David,  and  his mother had all died by 1908.

On June 8,  1900 William Anderson McKie married Agnes Gordon in Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland.  Their first  three children, Agnes (1900),  William (1902) and Mary (1904)  were born there.  Their baby  Agnes died in 1901.

William (Jr.)  immigrated with his wife and  two children  leaving from Glasgow,  Scotland. They boarded the ship Corinthian in April 1907 and disembarked in Montreal, traveling by train  directly to Keewatin, Ontario.   Here William worked as a blacksmith.  Five more children were born after moving from Maybole to Keewatin.

William enlisted in Kenora with the 52nd Battalion in December 29,  1914, occupation given as teamster. Five feet, six inches tall with brown  eyes and black hair, he was 37 years old.

He was sent to France in the fall of 1915 and  survived three years of war, returning to Canada in July 1919.  He became a Sapper during his time overseas which was equivalent to a Private.  Sappers also had the dangerous job of building the zigzag trenches while being targets for the enemy.

William’s  brother Allan Paton McKie was also in the 52nd Battalion; he died of  wounds June 5, 1916 in the Battle of Mount Sorrel.  Allan  is buried in  the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery in Belgium.  Another  brother, Alexander, served with the British Army Service Corps, 2nd Water Tank Company. Alexander  was killed in action on 25 October 1917 and is buried in Aeroplane Cemetery near Ypres, Belgium.  By the time war was declared his father had married for the second time to Annie Kennedy and they were also living in Keewatin.  Father William and Annie  returned to Maybole, Scotland after the war.  William (Sr.) passed away in Maypole in 1921.  A family stone  is in the Maybole Cemetery.

When William Anderson McKie returned home to Keewatin after the war he went to work for  the Lake of the Woods Flour Mill in the elevator.  Later William was employed with Bentz Brewery in Kenora.  Then he moved on to work as an inspector  for the Liquor Control Board. William retired in 1948.

William Anderson McKie  passed away February 9, 1956 at the Kenora General Hospital.

When he died, he had  four sons: William, David, Gordon, Allan and  two daughters, Mary (Polly) and Catherine.    They also had another daughter Annie who had passed away earlier in Keewatin plus his baby daughter Agnes who had died in Scotland before immigrating.  Agnes, his wife, lived  until April 7, 1964 and passed away in Keewatin.

Both William Anderson McKie and Agnes are buried in the local  Lake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario.

By Linda Pelletier

McKie-William-A-80 McKie-William-A-81 McKie-William-A-82 McKie-William-A-83 McKie-William-A-84 McKie-William-A-85 McKie-William-A-86 McKie-William-A-87 McKie-William-Anderson-6 McKie-William-Anderson-7 McKie-William-Anderson-5

Veteran death card courtesy of Library and Archives Canada.


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