Alternate name(s):
Karl; Carl; Charles; Kerkko, Kerkkone; Kirkkanen
Date of birth:
Sunday, 18 June 1911
Marital status:
single
Ethnicity/Nationality:
Finnish
Profession:
labourer; auto mechanic; bush worker; farm worker
Hometown(s):
Toronto, Ontario
Date of Immigration to Canada:
1928
Education:
elementary school education
Political affiliation:
May have joined the Communist Party of Canada, 1934
Approximate date arrived in Spain:
1937-04-13 - sailed
1937-04-29 - arrived
Unit:
Trained at Madrigueras and Tarazona for 2 weeks each; Washington Battalion; 45 Division; Toivo Antikainen Machine Gun Company, attached to Lincoln-Washington Battalion: Commander of this company after others died
Final status:
Hospitalized due to boils under arms at Teruel from cold and fatigue; Survived; Returned to Canada February 3,1939, on the Duchess of Richmond.
Disciplinary record in Spain:
Arrested aboard the Arletta trying to desert in October 1938.
Sources:
RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 1028, ll. 24-31; Opis 6, Delo 555, ll. 53-57; NAC, M-P Collection, Dent, V. 3, F. 20, Subject Files, Kerkko, Kalle; Reminiscences of SCW, 1982; Hoar; Momryk; Petrou; Ancestry; Our Boys in Spain. (fl 539 says not CP)
