Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthSeptember 14, 1885
Place of BirthNashville, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusMarried
Next of KinEdith Burton, wife, Keewatin, Ontario
Trade / CallingMiller
ReligionPresbyterian
Service Details
Regimental Number199298
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion13th Battalion
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Address at EnlistmentKeewatin, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentApril 12, 1916
Age at Enlistment30
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathJanuary 19, 1973
Age at Death87
Buried AtLake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario
Plot2W-32-1

Burton, Frank

Frank Burton was born on 14 September 1885 in the Vaughn district of Ontario where his father Robert Burton was a farmer.  His mother was Margaret Ann Lawrence. Frank came from a large family. He had 12 siblings: Mary Gertrude, Henry, Margaret, Frank, Annie, William, Gideon, Berla, Charlie (who also served in WW1), Orville, Alvin and Robert.

By 1906 Frank was boarding in Portage la Prairie, where he got employment with the Lake of the Woods Milling Company.  He transferred to Keewatin, Ontario and worked in the flour mill there until his retirement in 1950.  On 8 September 1915, Frank married Edith Cook in Portage la Prairie.

World War 1 was raging in Europe and Frank enlisted with the 94th Battalion in Kenora, Ontario on 12 April 1916. By June of that year he was boarding the S.S. Olympia in Halifax on his way England with the battalion.   When he arrived he was transferred to the 17th Reserve  Battalion and spent two weeks in isolation in Folkestone with the mumps.  Frank was taken on strength by the 13th Battalion (Black Watch – Royal Highland Regiment of Canada) and arrived in France on the 27th of September 1916.  He served with this unit for over two years in France without injury.  However, he did suffer three bouts of PUO (fever – unknown origin) that required hospitalization in May of 1917, July of 1917 and August of 1918.   Frank returned to England in March of 1919 and sailed back to Canada the following month.  When he received his official discharge due to demobilization on 20 April 1919 he stated his intended place of residence was Keewatin, Ontario.

Frank returned to Keewatin, his job at the flour mill, and his wife Edith.  The couple had two children – Eileen born in 1920 and Harold born in 1921. Both served in the Canadian Forces in WW2. Frank lived a simple life in Keewatin.  He loved the outdoors and enjoyed fishing, hunting and picking blueberries. His family lived on Ottawa Street in Keewatin for many years and Frank was somewhat of a fixture with his raccoon coat walking to collect the daily mail at the post office or to play pool or checkers at the Memorial Building.  He was also an avid curler. Frank was an ardent member of St. Andrews United Church in Keewatin and he also belonged to the Minnetonka Lodge of the I.O.O.F.

Frank Burton died in Kenora on 19 January 1973 and is buried there in Lake of the Woods Cemetery.   His WW1 service is  commemorated on several plaques that hang in the Keewatin Legion.

Burton-Frank-2 Burton-Frank-3 Burton-Frank-4 Burton-Frank-5 Burton-Frank-6 Burton-Frank-7 Burton-Frank-8 Burton-Frank-9 Burton-Frank-10 Burton-Frank-11 Burton-Frank-11b Burton-Frank-12 Burton-Frank-13 Burton-Frank-14 Burton-Frank-15 Burton-Frank-16

 


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