Alternate name(s):
Rushonen; Ruchonen; Ruhonin
Nickname:
Tuomas
Date of birth:
Wednesday, 6 September 1905
Ethnicity/Nationality:
Finnish
Profession:
lumber worker; harvesting trips to the Prairies
Hometown(s):
Port Arthur, Ontario; Alajarvi, Finland
Date of Immigration to Canada:
1928
Education:
5 years grade school in Finland; Sunday school
Political affiliation:
Possibly joined the Communist Party in Spain or the Communist Party of Canada, 1929
Prior military experience:
Served in the Finnish Civil War
Approximate date arrived in Spain:
1937-04-18 arrived
Unit:
Artillery; Abraham Lincoln Battalion; Toivo Antikainen Machine Gun Company; English Battalion; Kitchen; Rank Soldado
Final status:
WIA in left foot by a rifle bullet at Fuentes de Ebro; Hospitalized; Survived; Returned to Canada 3 February 1939 on the Duchess of Richmond
Sources:
RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 1021, ll 40-47; Opis 6, Delo 567, ll. 22 (ver finlandeses); Momryk; Petrou, Ancestry; Our Boys in Spain.
