Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthJune 8, 1893
Place of BirthKenora, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinFlorida Degagne, mother, 34 Valade St, St Boniface, Manitoba
Trade / CallingChauffeur
ReligionRoman Catholic
Service Details
Regimental Number1012962
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion230th Battalion
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Address at Enlistment34 Valade St, St Boniface, Manitoba
Date of EnlistmentDecember 11, 1916
Age at Enlistment23
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathMarch 23, 1970
Age at Death77
Buried AtSt. Boniface Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Degagne, George

George Degagne was born on 08 June 1893 in Rat Portage (later known as Kenora), Ontario. He was the oldest son of Pierre Degagne  and Florida Charron. Siblings included: Emile (1894-1953), Joseph (1896-1966), Leo (b. 1897), Maria (1899-1899), Albert (1901-1901), Ida (1902-1903), Flora (b. 1904) and Clovis (1906-1915). The 1911 census shows the family  living in the neighboring town of Keewatin where Pierre was working as a boat builder.

By 1916 the Degagne family had moved to St. Boniface, Manitoba. Reporting three months previous service with the Strathcona Horse in Winnipeg, George, who was working as a chauffeur, enlisted with the 230th Forestry Battalion on 10 December 1916. His father had signed up with the same battalion four days earlier and his brother, Emile, a day later. They all sailed to England aboard the S.S. Scandinavian arriving on 06 February 1917.

George was taken on strength by the 11th Company of the Canadian Forestry Corps in Carlisle on 02 May 1917. He served there until 15 June 1918 when he was transferred to the Canadian Army Service Corps Depot in Shorncliffe. He became ill and spent two months in #11 Canadian General Hospital with chronic bronchitis starting on 01 July 1918.

George was sent to France with the Canadian Army Service Corp on 01 October 1918. On the 28th of October he was attached to the 1st Canadian Field Ambulance and served with this unit until 15 March 1919 when he was struck off strength to the Canadian Depot of Motor Transport. George returned to England on 09 April 1919 and to Canada in May 1919. His official discharge due to demobilization came on 09 May 1919.

Little is known about George’s life after the war. His service record indicates he spent some time in Bolcarres, Saskatchewan.    In 1936 he joined the Canadian Legion in Kenora, Ontario. At the time he was living at 522 Second St. South.  At some point George married. According to her obituary, George’s wife Clarinda was born in 1893 in Massachusetts and had immigrated to Canada in 1903. Although living in the St. Vital area of Winnipeg at the time, Clarinda died suddenly in Kenora on 23 April 1966.

George Degagne died at Deer Lodge Hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba on 23 March 1970. Along with Clarinda he is buried in St. Boniface Cemetery.

Degagne-George-2 Degagne-George-3 Degagne-George-4

George’s gravemarker photo courtesy of Elizabeth Rochon-Levesque on Findagrave.com


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