Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Service Details
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Place of EnlistmentKenora, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentAugust 1914
Death Details

Nesbitt, Fred

When Canada entered the war on 4 August 1914 the Miner and News in Kenora, Ontario followed the recruiting activities and listed the names of local volunteers.

One of the Kenora recruits was Fred Nesbitt, listed in the 12 August issue of the Miner and News as a volunteer with the first Canadian contingent. By the time the unit left town about ten days later it included 45 local men. They were sent to Valcartier, Quebec where a large military camp was being established. The men trained at Valcartier and were assigned to various battalions before going overseas.

On 19 September the Miner and News stated that Fred Nesbitt had left Valcartier for service in Bermuda. A Canadian battalion, the Royal Canadian Regiment, had been sent to Bermuda where they provided garrison duty from September 1914 to August 1915.

Details of Fred’s service are not known and his deployment to Bermuda has not been confirmed. There are WW1 service records for several men named Fred Nesbitt but it hasn’t been determined if one of them is the Fred from Kenora. At this time, nothing further is known about him.

By Becky Johnson