One
place where Canada is starting to plan commemoration of the First
World War in 2014 is Kenora, Ontario.
Canada
declared war on Germany August 5, 1914 following Britain who had declared
war a day earlier.
Over
the next four years, 620,000 Canadians, and over 400,000 would serve
overseas on the battlefields of France. 67,000 Canadian servicemen,
and women died, and 173,000 were wounded. There were over a thousand
local men from Kenora who joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force.
The
Lake of the Woods Museum, in conjunction with the Kenora Public
Library, and local genealogy group Ancestor Seekers of Kenora are
undertaking a huge project of producing a data base where they will
list every local man and woman who served in the First World War.
They will also
make biographical sketches on the soldiers, and put any other
information that can be supplied by the public for each man and
woman.
Right
now, there are over two dozen people who are working on the project,
but more are needed.
Tomorrow at 7 p.m. the museum will be hosting an
information, and training session for volunteers who would like to
help with research.
If
you want more information, you can go to the Ancestor Seekers of Kenora webpage at http://askgen.ning.com
to read more about the project.
