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These are the stories of Kenora participants in the First World War.
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Although he gave his year of birth as 1891 on his attestation papers, John Henry (Jack) Kelley was born on 7 November 1890 in Keewatin, Ontario. Located in northwestern Ontario, Keewatin was a thriving community of the time, largely due to the Lake of the Woods Milling Company. Jack was the first born son of… Read More »
Private Alexander Shayer enlisted in North Bay, Ontario in February 1916, at age 21. He served overseas for almost two years, most of that time with the 5th Battalion, Canadian Railway Troops, and returned to Canada in October 1918 due to illness. Alex was the only child of John Chaillé and Cecile Deschenes of Bonfield,… Read More »
Midshipman Thomas Anthony Morgan-Smith was one of four brothers who enlisted during the First World War. He joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and served until his discharge in April 1919, at age 19. Thomas was the youngest son of Francis Edward Smith and Frances Sarah Morgan. Francis was born in Hull, Yorkshire and his… Read More »
Alfred Ferdinand Rousseau was born on 24 April 1900 in Selkirk, Manitoba. His father Alfred (Fred) Rousseau was born in Alpena, Michigan (according to his WW1 attestations) while his mother Sarah Elizabeth Gunn, of Métis descent, was born in the Northwest Territories. Fred and Sarah married on 23 August 1898 in Selkirk, Manitoba. At the… Read More »
Ervin Gibson was born as Ervin Hume on 24 October 1888 in Clare County, Michigan in the United States. By 1901 he was adopted by William and Sarah Gibson and living in Keewatin Ontario. Despite his young age, Ervin was working as a cook along side his adoptive parents. By the 1911 Canadian census, Ervin… Read More »
Lance Corporal Arthur Bohn Thompson was the son of Benjamin Franklin ‘Frank’ Thompson and Augusta Bohn. He was born on 22 February 1887 in the town of Rat Portage in northwestern Ontario. He had an older sister Sarah (Sadie) and two younger brothers, John (1888) and William Stanley (1890). All three boys were born in… Read More »
Cadet Corporal Henry James Bird enlisted with the 196th Battalion and spent four months in England before he was sent back to Canada due to being underage. When he turned 18 he joined Royal Air Force (Canada) and trained as a cadet pilot. Henry, usually known as Harry, was the oldest son of Joseph Edward… Read More »
Private Louis Desrosiers was the son of Joseph and Hermeline Desrosiers of Whitefish Bay on Lake of the Woods in northwestern Ontario. Joseph, a fur trader, merchant and trapper, was from Sainte-Flavie in Quebec. Hermeline/Emeline was First Nations and born in what is now northwestern Ontario. They were married on 31 January 1892, possibly in… Read More »
Gunner Silas Alexander Beaudro of Kenora, Ontario was called up in February 1918. He served in Canada for ten months with the Canadian Field Artillery. Silas was the youngest son of Joseph Henry Beaudro (Beaudrault) and Sarah Leger. Joseph was born in Sorel, Quebec and moved to Minnesota with his family as a child. His… Read More »
Private Eugene McMonagle was the son of George McMonagle and Ellen Jane McRae of Finch Township, Cornwall and Stormont County, Ontario. He was born on 17 January 1888 in Berwick, Finch Township, his birth registered as Uejane Ezekiel McMonagle. His father was a farmer at the time. Eugene’s parents were married in Avonmore, Stormont County… Read More »
