Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthDecember 6, 1887
Place of BirthMaybole, Ayrshire
CountryScotland
Marital StatusMarried
Next of KinRobert McLeod Gordon, his brother
Trade / CallingTeamster
ReligionPresbyterian
Service Details
Regimental Number439030
Service Record Link to Service Record
BattalionYoung Soldiers Battalion
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Address at EnlistmentKeewatin, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentDecember 24, 1914
Age at Enlistment27
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathJune 8, 1969
Age at Death81
Buried AtLake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario
Plot22E-22-2

Gordon, Hugh Blair

Hugh was born  December 6, 1887 in Maybole, Ayrshire Scotland to Alexander and Mary (McLeod) Gordon.  He was the 11th of 14 children. Some of the family, including Hugh, set sail for Canada on the SS Corinthian, leaving Glasgow on August 18, 1906.   Upon arrival in Montreal, the family arrived in Keewatin, Ontario September  1, 1906 (from diary of his brother James Gordon).   Hugh began his working career around the local sawmill.   He began as a carpenter then moved to the yard.   He took a position with the Prince Albert Lumber Company, then transferred to the Hudson Bay Company where he drove a fur buyer’s team north of Prince Albert.   From there, down to Grand Falls, Montana, where he had family connections, working for the Washburn-Crosby Milling Company. Coming back to Keewatin, he began work with the Lake of the Woods Milling Company until the start of World War 1 in 1914.

Hugh enlisted with the 4th Canadian Infantry Battalion on December 24, 1914, and listed his occupation as a teamster.

He set sail for Europe on the SS ‘Missanabie’   April 9, 1915.   Serving in Belgium and France, he saw battle with the 4th Canadian Battalion at Courcelette, Vimy Ridge, and Ypres where he was wounded in the right arm June 14, 1916.  He was wounded again October 2, 1916;   admitted to Woodgate Park Hospital, England;   discharged December 29, 1916.  On June 1, 1917 he transferred to the Canadian Military Police at Hastings, England with the rank of Acting Sergeant.   Six months later, December 21, 1917, he requested transfer to the Young Soldiers Battalion at Bexhill, England.  On December 7, 1918 he set sail for Canada and was discharged in Winnipeg   January 31, 1919.

His service in Belgium and France entitled him to the service medals for those war theatres and he applied for these medals on June 1, 1922.

Hugh  returned to Keewatin and resumed work with the Lake of the Woods Milling Company until 1928.   He worked construction until January 1944 when he joined the Ontario Minnesota Pulp and Paper Company as Camp 44 foreman.

Hugh married Bertha Brugge on September 20, 1912, and they had two sons, both of whom served in the Canadian Armed Forces during   the Second World War.   Robert McLeod Gordon   who served with the Algonquin Infantry Regiment in Italy was killed in action in 1944.   Son John (Jock) Herman Gordon also served overseas in the Royal Canadian Army Ordinance Corps.

In his later years, Hugh enjoyed his time at his cabin on Dogtooth Lake east of Kenora.   He was also a member of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 13 Keewatin and the Keewatin Masonic Lodge. His wife,  Bertha, passed away   in 1960.    Hugh passed away June 8, 1969 and both are   buried in the Lake of the Woods Cemetery.

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