Fort William, Ontario, circa WW1
Capt. John Clarence Milne, 1882-1916
This photo was found behind another when I opened the frame to photocopy the top one. The frame had been hanging in the Dobie house at 12 South High St. in Port Arthur. I see that I wrote "Fryer Studio, Fort William" on the back of the photo, but I have no idea where that info came from.
The identity of the man in the photo was a complete mystery. So I posted it on this website and soon the information came trickling in. First, The Thunder Bay Museum identified him as a member of the Lake Superior Regiment, but his name was still unknown. Then in January 2009, David Ratz of the Department of History at Lakehead University, and Captain and Unit Historical Officer for the Lake Superior Scottish Regiment, pointed me to this page – (SEE WARNING BELOW) – in the archived website of the 28th (Northwest) Battalion. The top photo on that page shows the First Company officers, J.C. Milne being identified as the officer third from left. The men in the two photos are obviously the same, so this mystery has finally been solved.
NOTE – The above link is to the archived version of the battalion's website on "The Wayback Machine", and was tested Jan. 25, 2025.
WARNING – The original website was either hijacked or was left to expire, and the name taken over by an unknown entity which seems to be from Indonesia, and may contain malicious viruses or trojans.
John Clarence Milne was born in Thornbury Ontario, Sept. 27, 1882 (or 1885 or 1887, depending upon what documents are true). He was killed June 16, 1916, in Belgium and is buried at Ypres. He was a nephew of my grandmother Dora (Meikle) Dobie, who lived in Port Arthur. John's parents also lived in Port Arthur at the start of World War One. You can see a genealogy of his Milne family on my genealogy website.