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Dr. Alexander Anderson Numbers was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland in 1897, to father Andrew Numbers and mother Margaret Thomson Numbers. He emigrated to Canada with his family at the age of 15 and enlisted in the army in 1916 during the Frist World War, serving in France as a stenographer for three and a half years. Coming back from the war in 1919, he spent five years attending night school at Hamilton Collegiate Institute while at the same time working as a stenographer and a bookkeeper during the day. Dr. Numbers studied medicine in the medical school at the University of Toronto from 1924 to 1930 and interned at the Hamilton General Hospital after graduation until September 1931, when he joined a practice in Ancaster and started his own business on King East a year later. During his years of medical practice, Dr. Numbers held posts as chief of medical staff at both the Hamilton Civic Hospitals and St. Peter’s Centre and was honoured by the Hamilton Academy of Medicine as one of the first two recipients of the first distinguished achievement award in recognition of his remarkable career and his leadership in developing the Academy’s archive and museum.

Dr. Numbers died in 1989.

William Kardash was born in Hafford, Saskatchewa on 10 June 1912. The youngest of nine children of Ukrainian Canadian parents Danylo Kardash and Ulyta Byck, he spent his early years in Saskatchewan and received education at Hafford High School. Interested in politics at a young age, Kardash joined the Communist Party of Canada and become an organizer for the Farmers' Unity League in Saskatchewan and Alberta. During the Spanish Civil War, Kardash served in the Mackenzie-Papineau (Mac-Pap) Battalion of the International Brigades from 1937-1938 and became an officer in command of 5 tanks. He was seriously wounded by shrapnel at the battle of Fuentes de Ebro and lost his right leg eventually. His experiences fighting in Spain was later turned into a pamphlet: I Fought for Canada in Spain.

Returning to Canada in 1938, Kardash moved to Winnipeg the following year and was elected to the Manitoba Legislature in 1941. He served as Winnipeg MLA from 1941 to 1958, as Worker's Candidate at first, then as a representative of the Labor-Progressive Party. In 1948, Kardash became the general manager of the People's Co-operative Dairy, Fuel and Lumber Yards and held this position until his retirement in 1982. He served as president of the board of directors for the co-operative until the business was sold to its employees in 1993, after which he chaired the Co-op Wind-up Committee.

On 27 March 1940, Kardash married Mary Kostaniuk (d.1994), daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Myron Kostaniuk of Winnipeg. They had one son, Teddy Vincent Kardash. Throughout his life, Kardash was active in Winnipeg's Ukrainian community, and, as a member of the Mac-Pap Veterans Association, he campaigned on behalf of the Veterans of the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion. After his death in 1997, the Manitoba Legislature held a moment of silence in his honour.

Leonard Norris was born August 30, 1904, to father Arthur George Norris and mother Elizabeth Wooten, in London, England. Norris emigrated to Canada with his mother from England in April of 1920, where he worked on various farms in the prairies before joining the Communist Party of Canada in 1936. From July 12, 1937, Norris fought in the Spanish Civil War as part of the Mackenzie Papineau Battalion of the International Brigades. During the Spanish Civil War, Norris served at Fuentas De Ebro, Segura de los Banos, The Retreats, the Ebro Offensive, and Gandesa. Norris then contracted tuberculosis and returned home in January of 1939. He later enlisted in the army for the Second World War but was discharged after 3 months due to the progression of tuberculosis.

After the Second World War, Norris participated in various unionization efforts such as the Relief Project Workers' Union and the Canadian Labor Defence League. He was the editor for the Newsletter of the Veterans of the Mackenzie Papineau Battalion and visited Spain with the Veterans Delegation in September of 1979.

Ronald Schofield was born in Lancashire, England in 1912 and immigrated to Canada in 1928 to join his father and brother. In 1931 Schofield travelled around the country to work in government camps with the many other unemployed men affected by the Great Depression. In 1935, Schofield participated in the “On-to-Ottawa trek”, a mass protest movement organized by restless relief camp workers. This event is widely recognized as helping to unseat Prime Minister R.B. Bennett’s Conservative government in the next election.

When the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, Schofield became interested in the plight of the Spanish people and feared, like many others, that the conflict could ignite another World War. He vowed to get involved and in spring of 1937, travelled to Spain as part of the International Brigades. Schofield first served as an infantryman until a slight wound and bout of anemia landed him in a convalescent hospital near Madrid, Spain. When the hospital’s quartermaster post became vacant, Schofield filled it and stayed on for three months until the hospital was shut down. He was then sent to Teruel, Spain to join the Canadian Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion. In summer 1938, Schofield took a two-week first aid course and became a first aid man, stretcher-bearer, and grave digger.

After the dissolution of the International Brigades when the Civil War ended, Schofield and other soldiers were kept for some time and interviewed in Ripoll, Spain, near the French border. The Americans and English were sent home, but the Canadians were not. It was only because he was suffering from acute dysentery and his status as a British citizen that Schofield was allowed to leave for England. He remained there for three months convalescing before he was given passage back to Canada.

William Frederick Slater was born in Birmingham, England on September 2nd, 1908, to James and Julia Slater. When he was about 6 years old, his father was called up for service in the First World War and lost his life due to injuries from shrapnel. Slater started education at a grammar school in Chester, England, and, at the age of 14, he went to Canada, where he attended high school at Copetown and Hagersville along with his cousin. After graduation from high school, he worked at different jobs in Hagersville as a truck driver, a staff in a bakery and a worker in a stone quarry. In the meanwhile, he taught himself sociology and economics, getting acquainted with the intellectuals and philosophy of the left-wing politics. He also volunteered at the office of The Daily Worker (later The Clarion), the communist newspaper at that time.

With the outbreak of Spanish Civil War, Slater left for Spain in July 1937. He went from Toronto to La Harve, from La Harve to Paris, and Paris to Perpignan, marching over the Pyrenees and finally reached Figueras, an old fortress in the north of Spain. Along with other 95 or so volunteers, he was assembled at Albacete, the headquarter of the International Brigade. Due to his ability to drive and speak Spanish, he was kept around Albacete as an ambulance driver, serving for the 15th Division Service Sanitaire. Slater returned to Canada on 11 February 1939 and was later involved with the MacPap Veterans Association.

Slater passed away in 1982.