Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthMarch 16, 1890
Place of BirthGrodno
CountryRussia
Marital Statussingle
Next of KinMrs Nina Nestok, mother, Russia
Trade / CallingLabourer
ReligionGreek Catholic
Service Details
Regimental Number439358
Service RecordLink to Service Record
Battalion52nd Battalion
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Place of EnlistmentPort Arthur, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentJune 15, 1915
Age at Enlistment25
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathFebruary 7, 1969
Age at Death78
Buried AtLake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario
Plot23E-6-1

Nestok, Martin

According to his later obituary, Martin Nestok was born on 16 March 1890 in Russia. Although a record was not found, the 1921 Canada census suggested that he immigrated to Canada in 1910. On 2 June 1915, in Port Arthur, Ontario, Martin signed his attestation papers. His place of birth was given as Gorodnos (Grodno), year of birth as 1891, occupation as labourer, and his mother Nina Nestok back in Russia as the next of kin.

Raised in northern Ontario during the spring of 1915, the 52nd Battalion had its headquarters in Port Arthur. As a Private with the battalion, Martin embarked from St John, New Brunswick aboard the California on 23 November 1915. Once in England the battalion trained at Witley for six weeks under British instructors before moving on to Bramshott for two more weeks of training. By late February of 1916 the battalion was in France.

On 8 June of 1916 during the battle of Mont Sorrel, Martin suffered wounding to both legs and his right foot. While standing in the trench the parapet was blown over by an exploding shell, throwing him down and fracturing both legs with a shrapnel wound to his foot. He was admitted to the No 3 Canadian General Hospital in Boulogne where he had surgery on both legs and his foot. On the 23rd June he was invalided to England for more surgery and treatment and admitted to the General Hospital in Nottingham. He was then transferred to the Kings Canadian Red Cross Convalescent Hospital at Bushey Park. That September he was transferred to the Granville Canadian Special Hospital at Ramsgate and then on to the Princess Patricia Red Cross Hospital in mid March of 1917. Discharged later that month Martin went through a series of military transfers. In late February of 1919 he was struck off strength for return to Canada. In March of 1919 he underwent hernia surgery in London, Ontario and was discharged from service as medically unfit on 2 June 1919. His intended residence was given as Fort William, Ontario.

At the time of the 1921 Canada census, Martin was living in Winnipeg. Along a number of other fellows, he was lodging with the William and Polly Pollack family on McDonald Avenue. A 1940’s voters list had Martin living on Ellen Street in Winnipeg and working as a labourer. In 1949 he retired to Redditt, Ontario, a community about 30 kilometres north of Kenora. In February of 1964 he moved into the Pinecrest Home for the Aged in Kenora.

Survived by two sisters in Russia, Martin died on 7 February 1969 at Pinecrest. He is interred in the Lake of the Woods Cemetery in Kenora.

By Judy Thorburn


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