Alternate name(s):
Isohanni; Ishanne; Isobanni; Soini
Date of birth:
Saturday, 29 February 1908
Marital status:
single, later married Varma
Ethnicity/Nationality:
Finnish
Profession:
miner; bush worker; lumberjack; painter
Hometown(s):
Port Arthur, Ontario; Kannus, Finland
Date of immigration to Canada:
Thursday, 20 May 1926
Political affiliation:
Communist Party of Canada, 1932, though another source says no party
Approximate date arrived in Spain:
1938-02-22 arrived
Unit:
Trained at the Tarazona Base of Instruction; Served with Partisans; Mackenzie Papineau Battalion, Machine Gun Company, group leader; Rank Cabo from 17 May 1938; Served in the Retreats at Calceite, Gandesa and the Ebro Offensive at Gandesa, Corbera, Sierra Pandols, and Sierra Caballs
Final status:
Returned to Canada 3 February 1939 on the Duchess of Richmond; Mackenzie Papineau Veterans Assocation
Sources:
RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 553; Delo 1027, ll. 69-76; Momryk; Petrou; Ancestry; Our Boys in Spain; Hoff
