Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthNovember 8, 1894
Place of BirthKeewatin, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinWilliam McCuaig (father), Box 369, Portage la Prairie P.O., Manitoba
Trade / CallingBank Clerk
ReligionPresbyterian
Service Details
Regimental Number2382157
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion1st Depot Battalion, Manitoba Regiment
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedConscripted
Place of EnlistmentWinnipeg, Manitoba
Address at EnlistmentBox 369, Portage la Prairie P.O., Manitoba
Date of EnlistmentApril 19, 1918
Age at Enlistment23
Theatre of ServiceCanada
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathApril 13, 1970
Age at Death75
Buried AtQueen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta
PlotK-55-3

McCuaig, John Duncan

Private John Duncan McCuaig was born on 8 November 1894 in Keewatin, Ontario. His parents, William McCuaig and Mary McLean, were both born in Ontario and John was the oldest of at least six children. Neil Dougald (1897) and twins Annie May and William Angus (1899) were born in Keewatin where William worked as a miller. By 1901 the family had moved to Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. Two daughters were born there, Janet Margaret in 1902 and Katherine (Kate) in 1905. Sadly, William Angus died in infancy and Neil died in 1906, at age eight. When the 1911 census was taken William was working as a foreman at a flour mill and the four surviving children were all at home.

Conscription started in Canada in the summer of 1917, as the war entered its fourth year. John registered as required and had his army medical in Portage la Prairie on 9 November. He was called up for service the following spring, on 19 April 1918. His address at the time was Portage la Prairie, his occupation was bank clerk and he was 5’4″ and 117 lbs. He was assigned to the 1st Depot Battalion, Manitoba Regiment, which was based in Winnipeg, and he trained with his unit for about five months before becoming ill. In September he was a patient at the King George Memorial Hospital as a diphtheria carrier and starting in late October he spent ten days at the Manitoba Military Convalescent Hospital in Tuxedo, suffering from influenza. In October and November he was also reported as an absentee several times and given two weeks detention. John was discharged on 26 December 1918 in Winnipeg, due to demobilization and being in a medical category lower than ‘B’ (fit for non-combatant duty overseas).

John returned to Portage la Prairie but in the late 1920s he and his family moved to Calgary, Alberta. His sister Janet became a nurse and she spent several years in the U.S., working at a sanatorium. Their mother passed away in Calgary in 1930 and she’s buried at Hillside Cemetery in Portage la Prairie. John worked for many years for the Security Trust Co. and by the early 1960s he was a manager. He passed away on 13 April 1970, at age 75, and he’s buried at Queen’s Park Cemetery in Calgary. He was survived by his sisters Annie (Mrs. Wilmer Folke Peterson) and Janet. Annie and Janet both died in 1986 and they are also buried at Queen’s Park Cemetery.

By Becky Johnson

McCuaig-John-Duncan-90


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