Alternate name(s):
Mata; John; Omer
Date of birth:
Tuesday, 14 September 1920
Marital status:
single
Ethnicity/Nationality:
Canadian; French; Syrian
Profession:
student; truck driver
Hometown(s):
Windsor, Ontario; Montreal, Quebec
Political affiliation:
No party affiliation
Approximate date arrived in Spain:
1937-08-12 arrived
Unit:
Trained at Tarazona; French Brigade; Mackenzie Papineau Battalion; Transport; Auto Park
Final status:
Hospitalized 11 November 1937 for ear problems; Note from medical commissioner sending him to front in December 1937; Survived; Returned May 1938; Newspaper report says he escaped Barcelona on British ship Essex Druid to Gibraltar before returning
Disciplinary record in Spain:
Disciplined for desertion 13 April 1938 in Paris, but also deserted "to front."
Sources:
Figueres List; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 558, ll. 95; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 64 “List of Canadian Deserters Who Landed in Paris, List of American Deserters Who Landed in Paris” undated, (under Matta, Homer); Petrou
