Chartered accountant.
Born at Belfast, Ireland on 24 December 1892, he moved to Winnipeg with his family in 1910. At the outset of the First World War, he enlisted in the Fort Garry Horse and transferred to the Lord Strathcona Horse in February 1915. He proceeded to France later that year where he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal and was mentioned in Dispatches in December 1915. Severely wounded during a daylight raid on German trenches, he returned to France with the Fort Garry Horse, with the rank of Lieutenant during the British attack in front of Cambrai, in October 1918. Qith forty men he charged the Bois de Gatigny, capturing with no assistance of the rest of the squadron, 38 machine guns and over 200 of the enemy were taken by the Fort Garry and Lord Strathcona’s Horse. In the attack, he was again wounded and awarded the Distinguished Service Order for this action.\
After the war, he returned to Winnipeg during the Winnipeg General Strike. He organized a group of 150 mounted men that acted as a police force until the end of the strike. On 10 September 1924, he married Nora Ellen Bell (?-?, eldest daughter of the late Major and Mrs. W. Bell of Indian Head and Winnipeg) at Winnipeg. They had a son and a daughter. The family lived in Suite 14 of the Mayfair Apartments in Winnipeg and he operated the chartered accounting firm of J. M. Dunwoody and Company.
During the Second World War, he organized an accountancy system for the army after being turned down for active service on account of his age. He moved to Oakville, Ontario in 1943 and became active in community affairs, serving as chair of the fundraising campaign for the local hospital. In 1952, he was named Colonel of the Fort Garry Horse regiment and was active in military affairs until four years before his death.
He died at Oakville, Ontario on 8 December 1972.
Marriage registration [James Moore Dunwoody, Nora Ellen Bell], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Pioneers and Prominent People of Manitoba, Winnipeg: Canadian Publicity Company, 1925.
“Dunwoody dies at 80,” Winnipeg Free Press, 11 December 1972, page 7.
We thank Darryl Toews for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 29 February 2024
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