Category: Soldiers

This could have been the words from the United States department of war, or the American Battles Memorial Commissions (ABMC), when it was discovered that her brother, who they buried in Siloa Lutheran Church Cemetery in Minnesota, April 18th, 1922, wasn’t the soldier they thought it was.

Gustaf E Hoglund was killed in action in France, November 1st, 1918.

I am amazed over that I haven’t seen more of these cases, where the soldiers have been mixed up during their repatriation back home to the USA, when the relatives had the opportunity to be able to get their sons or husbands repatriated and reburied close to the family, instead of still be buried at their last resting place in France or Belgium, or other places.

It must have been a huge logistic operation to take care of the remains from the soldiers that may have been buried directly after their death, disinterred and reburied into a larger cemetery and then be removed from that burial, to finally be buried in a cemetery, close to their descendants, or other cemeteries, like American Military Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, depending of the specific situations.

In this case, Frieda Carlson (born Frida Christina Catharina Höglund) received the remains of her brother, Gustaf E Hoglund (Einar Gustaf Höglund), back to Minnesota where Frieda lived at the time. The body was buried in Siloa Lutheran Church Cemetery, April 18th, 1922. It is noted in the church book from that moment. See below.

Einar Gustaf Höglund was born in Nysätra parish in Västerbotten County, Sweden, November 12th, 1888. He was raised by his parents, his father Gustaf Höglund, and his wife from a second marriage, Anna Serafia Persdotter, who also was Einar Gustaf’s mother.

There is no specific note in the Swedish church books about when Einar Gustaf left Sweden, but he is noted to have arrived to Ellis Island in the USA in May, 1908, and he also stated that year in his petition for Naturalization, in July 29th, 1918.

Before that he was drafted in June 5th, 1918. He left the USA with the 343rd Infantry regiment 86th Division, who became a reserve unit for other units when they arrived in France. The transport arrived to France around September-October 1918, no specific date is mentioned on Einar’s shipment.

He must have been integrated in the 78th Division, in 311th Infantry regiment, as it is this unit that is mentioned on his Burial Card. He was killed in action November 1st, 1918, and we can read the following from the unit diary:

“On November 1st Hill 180 in the southeastern part of Bois de
Bourgogne was taken. The capture of this position rendered the Bois des-Loges
untenable. and on November 2 these woods were completely cleared of the enemy,
and the division pushed on, capturing the town of Briquenay, advance elements
entering the town of Boult-aux-Bois.”

Einar Gustaf Hoglund was initially buried just around 2 km north of Grandpré, just beside of the road, in the cemetery. It looks like he was the only burial described on the blueprint from that time.

On May 22nd, 1919 he was finally reburied into the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, and he should have been shipped to his Next-of-Kin, Mrs Frieda Carlson, his sister, in Braham, Minnesota. The body is noted to have been disinterred in February 22nd, 1922, and then shipped from Le Havre in France, February 27th, 1922, to finally arrive in Hoboken, New York, March 19, 1922.

The body was finally buried in Siloa Lutheran Church cemetery in April 18th, 1922.

But it wasn’t him.

It seems that the body that was shipped the above mentioned dates was the body of William H Scott.

William H Scott seems to have been in the same unit as Einar Gustaf, Company I, 311th Infantry Regiment, 78th Division. The interesting thing is that the same position of the original burial in the woods, north of Grandpré, is also noted on the burial card of William H Scott. But on the blueprint above, I only find Gustaf Hoglund’s name.

I don’t know how or when they discovered that the body was the wrong body, probably through some documents. It must have been after the notes in the Church books from the Siloa Church, from April 1922.

It may have been in 1926, when they shipped, as I can read from the document, the correct body of Gustaf Einar Hoglund, back to the USA. There is also a new note in the church book from Siloa Lutheran Church, which says that he is buried again on September 5th, 1926.

I haven’t been able to find much history about William H Scott, or what happened to his body, which probably was buried in Einar Gustaf’s place in the USA. I can’t find any information or a photo from the last burial of Gustaf Einar Hoglund, but I hope I can follow some more leads, and find it later

Please feel free to give your opinion on my thoughts above.

It makes me glad to read that Einar Gustaf Hoglund finally was buried again in 1926, I wish I could find a photo of his last burial. I also hope that Frieda, his sister could find some peace after the mix up finally was cleared up.

“In the end, more than 45,000 American families opted for repatriation, and throughout the early 1920s ships bearing flag-draped caskets, sometimes thousands at a time, landed in Hoboken, New Jersey, where military and civilian dignitaries, including President Warren G. Harding (1865-1923), were on hand to receive them. From there, the caskets went by rail to cities and towns across the nation, where a posthumous hero’s welcome awaited each one. Behind the patriotic hoopla, however, were gruesome realities.

For understandable reasons, some of the caskets contained the wrong bodies, others no bodies at all – just body parts thought to belong to the same individual.”

(Source: https://verdun1916.eu/?p=7073)

I always want to know who the soldiers were, where they came from and how their life were, before it ended on the battlefields. I seldom give up. This case is not an exception.

I was looking through some lists from the American National Archive, some lists of those who fell in the great war and never came home again. I am looking through the documents about the soldiers from different states, in this case Wisconsin.

I know that I won’t find many soldiers that I don’t already have in my database, but there are other things to learn from these lists, such as finding those Swedish born soldiers who were brought home to America and reburied in a new American Cemetery, or in another local cemetery.

I look for Scandinavian names, and I can see a lot of Swedish, Norwegian and also some Finnish names, and this gives me a good picture over where the immigrants lived, in what county, in what state, and learn from where the different groups settled.

In this case I found the name Fred Orquist, and “quist” gives me a clue that this might be a Swedish born soldier, or a soldier from a Swedish family, born in America.

I searched for more information about Fred on Ancestry, but that gave me quite few results,. I managed to find some notes from Veterans Administration Master Index, that gave me some date of birth, and date of death. The date of death was the same as in the list over dead soldiers from Wisconsin. Now I also had some other dates to look for.

I also find a photo of his headstone, from “Findagrave”, and also the document over his present burial on Arlington American Cemetery in Virginia. On the card it says “White European, Died in France”

I decided to stay on Ancestry and search for Swedish versions of his surname. This is when I use my earlier experience.

Could it be Örquist? No, no more result from that. Maybe Årquist? No, not at all. I start to take away information, to find more clues, but no result.

I tried Öquist. without the “R”. Ah, another hit, here I get his draft document, and in this case it says Fred Oquist. The date of birth is also the same. This must be the same soldier as Fred Orquist. When did they put in the extra “R”?

Fred Oquist was from Sweden, but from where in Sweden? “Hökenso”? Hm, can it be “Hökensås” a place quite near to where I live today?

I decided to look in the Swedish Archives, but Fred is not a common name in Sweden at that time, not now either, so Fred must a nickname from something else, more Swedish like.

I know from earlier that Fred has been “Fredrik”, “Gottfrid” or “Enfrid” before, but this time I use only the surname, “Öquist”, to search for more clues. It gives me a quite long list as it seems to have been a quite common surname at that time.

I decided to take the chance to search for “Fredrik”, and also use the date of birth, December 22nd, 1891. I don’t use “Fredrik Öquist”, as it seldom comes up with both name and surname in those cases, as they mostly only had the name in the church books, and the surname on the row of the father or mother.

I get several hits, and then something suddenly caught my eye. I saw the name of a farm, “Håkansö”. Could this be “Hökenso”?

On one row I find an individual whose name was Fredrik August, born December 22nd, 1891, in Piteå parish, Norrbotten county, on the farm of Håkansö. Could Fredrik August Öquist be “Fred Orquist”?

Yes, most likely Fred Orquist was Fredrik August Öquist from Håkansö. The name on the list of Wisconsin dead soldiers, has now become an known individual.

Fredrik August Öquist is noted in the church books to have left Sweden in 1910, but I went back to Ancestry and used the real name, and found passenger lists from 1907, when he went over to North America. I can read a weak note in the church book, that he is in Kalix, and that correlates with the destination in the passenger list, Nederkalix.

He first went to Chicago, via Copenhagen, and later ended up in Sandstone, Minnesota, where he lived when he was drafted.

Fred went over to France in February 1918, and as his Next of Kin, he gave his friend’s wife, as his friend, Archibald R Mix, also were on the ship. Fred seems to have been in the States alone, without any relatives. Fred belonged to Company “G”, 127th Infantry Regiment.

Fred seems to have been involved in heavy fighting around the area of Juvigny in France, when he was killed in action. Fred was buried in the field among other Americans who also fell in the region. He seems to have been moved directly from his first grave to the site he has now on Arlington Cemetery, and I find that quite unusual.

Maybe that was a common thing, but I think it was more common that the soldiers were moved to the larger American cemeteries in France, and then moved to another locations, depending on what their relatives wanted.

On his casualty card we can also see his friend’s wife’s name, Mrs A. R. Mix, the same as on the passenger list.

“I now know who you were, Fred Orquist. I really wonder how you were as a person, and what you did in North America, except working as a Concrete Labourer. Maybe I will find out more about you, but most of all I want you to rest in peace.”

At the moment I have limited my research database to contain those Swedish born soldiers who fought and fell in the Great War and are buried or commemorated on memorials along the Western Front in Belgium and France.

I will now extend the research to also connect those Swedish born soldiers who fought and fell in the war and are buried in other countries.

In this small article I will mention those soldiers who were involved in the sinking of SS Tuscania on February 5th, 1918.

On 24 January 1918, Tuscania departed Hoboken, New Jersey, with 384 crew members and 2,013 United States Army personnel aboard. On the morning of 5 February 1918, she turned south for the North Channel en route Liverpool. The German submarine UB-77 sighted Tuscania′s convoy during the day, and stalked it until early evening. Under the cover of darkness around 6:40 pm, the submarine’s commanding officer, Korvettenkapitän Wilhelm Meyer, ordered two torpedoes fired at Tuscania. The second of these struck home, sending her to the bottom of the Irish Sea within about four hours. Tuscania sank nearly three years to the day after her maiden voyage as a passenger liner. About 210 of the troops and crew were lost, while many others were rescued by the Royal Navy destroyers Mosquito and Pigeon.Some of the U.S. Troops were rescued by an Irish fishing boat as well. (from Wikipedia)

Onboard the ship, on his way to France, to join the war with the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF), were George Nelson Bjork (George Björk). He was born in Bäcke parish in Västra Götaland county in Sweden, June 13th, 1892.

The family left Sweden for Norway in March 5th, 1897, and stayed there at least until his father, the soldier and later on the corporal, August Björk, died in Norway in 1908. His father is also mentioned once as August Nilsson Björk, and that may be the reason that George is called George Nelson Bjork.

George was drafted for the American Army on June 5th, 1917, and left New York on January 24th, 1918, together with his unit, the 6th Battalion in the 20th Engineers, AEF. In the passenger list his nine years older brother, Victor Nelson, but also a note that Victor doesn’t have Nelson as his real surname. It should probably have been Bjork as well.

Around 11 days later the ship SS Tuscania is hit by torpedoes from a German submarine.

The wreck of Tuscania lies today between Scotland’s Islay and Northern Ireland′s Rathlin Island, about 7 nautical miles (13 km) north of Rathlin lighthouse, at roughly 55°22′N 6°13′W at a depth of 100 m (330 ft). (Wikipedia)

George died during the attack, but his body was found and initially buried at Kilnaughton Cemetery, Port Ellen Islay Argyll, Scotland. It was later moved to the Arlington American cemetery in Virginia, USA. His mother, Sofie Bjork (Sofia Pettersdotter Björk) was informed, as mention Next of Kin on his casualty card.

Sofia lived with her son Anton in Montana at the time of George’s death, and she applied for Naturalisation in 1912, after have emigrated from Norway via England and Canada, before ending up in the USA.

Another Swede survived

Onboard the ship was also the Swedish born soldier Carl M Anderson (Karl Martin Andersson). He survived the sinking of the ship and was later on engaged in the war in France, but later died from disease (Tuberculosis Pulmonary) in a field hospital in Le Mans, France, on April 15th, 1919.

He was later moved to the American Arlington Cemetery in Virginia.

Carl was born on January 15th, 1894, in Asker parish, Örebro, Sweden. He was raised by his parents, his mother Hilma Carolina Nilsson and his father Per Adolf Andersson. His mother died already in 1897, and his father was the remarried to Alma Maria Nilsson.

It has been hard to find the correct information about Carl M Anderson, but I know that he lived in Barren, Wisconsin, when he was drafted to the American Army on June 5th, 1917.

His Aunt, Mrs Ernest Nelson (her husband) is mentioned on his casualty card, and he was working with his uncle, Ernest Nelson. His family may have stayed in Sweden.

I will put in Carl into my research as he participated on the battlefield in France together with the American units, but I will put George into a side project as he never reached the battlefield in France. As for now I will keep those separated.

Although my main purpose with my research is to commemorate all the Swedish born soldiers who joined the different armies in different countries after they have emigrated from Sweden, to fight in WW1, so I might change the focus to include all of them, even if they never reached the battlefields.

That will also include those who became ill and died of disease in England, before they went over to France, and are buried in England.

They did their service, and for that they will be remembered.

Links:

Wikipedia

Western Front Association

As we know from earlier, some of the Swedish born soldiers who fought and fell in the Great War was brought home an reburied in Sweden. This was the case of the soldier Herman I Hermanson, or Irving as his name was in the family.

The special situation with Irving is that he was born in the USA, went back to Sweden with his mother, and later on sent back to US by his family as they were afraid of that Sweden would be dragged in to the War at that time. The situation for Irving and his family became totally different than expected.

With great support from the the Swedish descendant to Irving, Olof Svanberg, we can now read the full, very interesting, story about Irving in our article at doughboy.org. Read more here

(Photos above from Olof Svanberg.)

I have managed to find 17 of the soldiers within those criterias, that fell in the war, were buried in France but later brought home to Sweden by US authorities , after their descendants have had their wishes granted.

Those 17 has also been mentioned in American magazines from where you can see a snippet below.

You can read more about the other 16 soldiers here through my earlier post on this page.

Read more here

In preparation for my upcoming Swedes at the Western Front tour, which will take place in April 2025, I keep looking into those Swedes, both Swedish born and 1st generation US Swedes, who took part in the Meuse Argonne Offensive 1918.

One specific tour station will be about those who fought within the units who became surrounded by German units during the campaign, known as the “Lost Battalion”. The units were surrounded from 2nd to 7th of October 1918.

Dozens of sources were consulted for the creation of the full list which contains the names of those who fought in the units involved in the actions during those days and it represents what may be considered to be the most accurate accounting possible. Among those names I have up to this date found names with Swedish connections.

I have in earlier posts presented a list of those Swedes who were in those units.

I will now present an updated list with some new names added. (marked in yellow)

Erik Larson

Erik was born in Lysvik parish in Värmland, Sweden, October 20, 1894. He also had a twin sister. They were raised by their mother Maria Eriksdotter and father Lars Olsson. He took his surname from his father’s name Lars. Erik and his twin sister left Sweden for North America in February 1914.

Erik survived the actions during the days in October 1918, and later on died in September 18, 1978, in Seattle, Washington State, USA.

David Magnusson

David was born as David Natanael Magnusson in Sunne parish, Värmland, Sweden, January 24th, 1895. He was raised by his mother Brita Kajsa Lindberg and his father Magnus Gustafsson. He took his surname from his father’s name Magnus.

Magnus left Sweden for North America in October 1914. Magnus injured his left foot during the actions in October 1918, but survived the war and wet back to the USA, and later died in March 25, 1946, and is buried in Hartford, Connecticut.

Gustave A Munson

Gustave was born as Gustave Adolph Munson in Etter, Minnesota, USA, in May 13th, 1894. He was raised by his parents Anna Lovisa Gustafsdotter, born in Säby parish, Jönköping County, and his father Johan August Magnusson, also from the parish of Säby in Sweden. August left Sweden already in 1868 and Gustave’s mother Anna Lovisa left in 1879.

Gustave surname Munson comes from his father’s surname Magnusson, which sometimes becomes a shorter version, Månsson, and then it is easy to see how Månsson became Munson. This is the way of how I have to think when looking for history of those Swedish emigrants who went to North America and Canada, as they often changed their names, to make them easier to handle over there.

Gustave was injured in his right hand during the actions in the Argonne Woods, but survived the War and went home to the USA again. Gustave is today buried in Wayne, Michigan, USA. He became 90 years old.

Oscar A Swenson

Oscar was born in Pierre, South Dakota, October 30th, 1895. He was raised by his mother Julia Swenson and his father Ola Swenson. Both parents born in Sweden. At this moment I have no information about from where in Sweden his parents left, but Ola emigrated to North America in 1887, and Julia emigrated in 1891, according to census documents.

Oscar was killed in action October 8th, 1918, during the aftermath of fightings that took place during those days mentioned above. He is now buried in Meuse Argonne American Cemetery in France.

May them all rest in Peace.

One of the heavy and time consuming things in my research is to collect facts. I find it interesting to look through the facts I collect and in the future they will be a part in some compilations or studies, to create other perspectives in the subject about Swedish connections to American Expeditionary Forces in the Great War.

I have spent some time reading through files and lists containing the names of those who died during their service in the War. In this case I manually went through lists showing names of soldiers sorted in order of the states in the USA.

I have relied on my ever increasing experience to sort out names that I assume have connections to Sweden. I can not guarantee that I have found all of them, in this case, connected to the criteria below.

Below an example of how the lists look like.

The criteria in this compilation of names are as follows:

• Officer who fought in the war
• Born in Sweden and raised by Swedish born parents (both parents born in Sweden)
• Born in the USA and raised by Swedish born parents (both parents born in Sweden)

The individuals are presented below with some basic facts.

Entered service from:

Colorado

1/LT Victor Bryan Wallin – Born April 15, 1896, Washburn, North Dakota – Died November 11, 1918, Pouilly, France. Buried in Riverview Cemetery, Washburn, North Dakota.

Illinois

2/LT William Chandler Peterson – Born December 24, 1894, Crystal Lake, Illinois – Died June 6, 1918, Chateau-Thierry, France. Buried in Union Cemetery, Crystal Lake, Illinois.

Lt Col Emil P Laursen – Born February 4, 1880, Oneida, Illinois – Died August 13, 1918, Gironde, France. Buried in Suresnes American Cemetery, Paris, France.

1/LT Eric Frederick Pihlgard – Born April 9, 1893, Chicago, Illinois – Died February 28, 1919, in Wilferdingen, Luxembourg. Buried Oak Woods Cemetery Chicago, Illinois.

Indiana

1/LT Arthur Theodore Johnson – Born March 31, 1896, Porter, Indiana – Died September 12, 1918, Flirey, Lorraine, France. Buried Augsburg Lutheran Church Cemetery, Porter, Indiana.

Iowa

Capt Edward O Fleur (Adolf Sigurd Flör) – Born June 22, 1872, Höreda, Eksjö, Sweden – Died May 27, 1918, Baccarat, Lorraine, France. Buried Woodland Cemetery, Des Moines, Iowa.

1/LT Oscar Bernhard Nelson – Born April 15, 1880, Knäred, Halland, Sweden – Died October 16, 1918, Meuse, France. Buried Ottumwa Cemetery, Ottumwa, Iowa.

Kansas

2/LT Fred G (Gustaf Ferdinand) Austrom – Born February 13, 1891, Sundsvall, Västernorrland, Sweden – Died November 5, 1918, Issoudun, Centre, France. Buried in St Mihiel American Cemetery, France.

Massachusetts

2/LT Fred G (August Gottfrid) Wahlstrom – Born May 5, 1875, Horn, Mariestad, Skaraborg, Sweden – Died August 21, 1917, Bazeilles, Vosges, France. Buried Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, France

Michigan

1/LT Carl Adolph Johnson – Born July 22, 1891, Hennepin, Minnesota – Died June 23, 1918, Alsace, France. Buried in Hillside Cemetery, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Capt Oscar Thomas (Germun) Falk – Born August 12, 1863, Stockholm, Sweden – Died August 1, 1918, Brasles, Aisne, France. Buried Riverside Cemetery, Menominee, Michigan.

Minnesota

Capt Oscar Emanuel Youngdahl – Born March 2, 1888, Red Wing, Minnesota – Died October 8, 1918, La Cheppe, Marne, France. Buried Oakwood Cemetery, Minnesota.

Missouri

1/LT Otto C Carlson (Otto Walfrid Häll Karlsson) – Born April 23, 1877, Ekebyborna, Motala Kommun, Östergötland, Sweden – Died August 17, 1918 in Suresnes, France. Buried Grandview Cemetery, Missouri.

New Jersey

2/LT Oscar Emil Hellquist – Born July 11, 1895, Brooklyn, New York – Died October 17, 1918, Busigny, France. Buried Somme American Cemetery, France.

New York

1/LT Rudolph Emmanuel Peterson – Born June 30, 1888, Jamestown, New York – Died November 4, 1918, Etraye, Lorraine, France. Buried Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, France.

2/LT Nils Johan Holm – Born September 22, 1890, Östhammar, Uppsala, Sweden – Died October 31, 1918, Clery-Le-Grande, Lorraine, France. Tablets of the missing in Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, France.

1/LT Arthur Edward Granberg – Born June 25, 1888, Brooklyn, New York – Died November 1, 1918, Lambezellec, Bretagne, France. Buried Oise-Aisne American Cemetery, Picardie, France.

1/LT Charles G (Carl Gustaf Herman) Ostberg – Born July 4th, 1881, Stockholm, Sweden – Died September 30, 1918, Rouen, France. Buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York.

Ohio

1/LT Herbert Edward Anderson – Born January 28, 1894, Defiance, Ohio – Died September 28, 1918, Gesnes, Lorraine, France. Buried in Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, France.

1/LT John Norman – Born March 25, 1870, Säffle, Värmland, Sweden (Not confirmed) – Died March 7, 1918, Rouge Bouquet, Luneville, France. Buried Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, France.

Wisconsin

1/LT Henry Stephanns Blomberg – Born August 3, 1892, Superior, Wisconsin – Died October 5, 1918, Cierges-Sous-Montfaucon, Lorraine, France. Buried Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, France.

Texas

2/LT Oscar William (Wilhelm) Nordquist – Born August 8, 1892, Sollefteå, Västernorrland, Sweden – Died September 26, 1918, Prény, France. Buried St Mihiel American Cemetery, France.

One day I may come back to this compilation of facts, and they may have some meaning i future products. In my mind they will always have that.

May all of them rest in peace.

Snippets in this post are from Ancestry, US National Archives and my own files.

During the lastest week I continued to visit soldiers within my research, Swedish born soldiers who fought and fell in WW1, and are buried or commemorated at the Western Front in Belgium and France.

We visited 20 cemeteries and 24 soldiers.

After these visits I have only 23 soldiers to visit of all the 480 I have in my research, so I have spent quite some time at the Western Front, that’s for sure.

For me this is a very important thing to do, and I will keep visiting them in the future.

Below you will find photos from my latest visit.

I have just arrived back to Sweden from my second, amazing, trip to New Zealand. The trip went very well, and the settings in New Zealand was very well organized by Wendy, which made the time over there fruitful and a nice combination of research and well needed recreation for both of us.

Those trips has made me more and more interested in the the Swedish connections to New Zealand, and I have realised that there are a lot more connections than I initially have understood.

In the mail the other day I received a book that I ordered, about Swedish emigration to New Zealand. A very interesting book indeed, by the Swedish Author and former Ambassador in Wellington, Sten Aminoff. (1918-2000) “Svenskarna i Nya Zeeland – Den svenska emigrationen till 1940”. (1988)

It turned out that I wasn’t the first Swede to New Zealand. 🙂

The book describes the first early immigration, from mainly 1877 to 1940, the reasons behind, mentioning the “Push and Pull” factors, and then a register of most of the almost 5000 Swedes who emigrated during the period mentioned above.

It also mention the censuses, the anglification of the surnames, the naval traffic between Sweden and New Zealand.

A lot of the facts connects to my own research, and I could also find the names of those Swedish soldiers who fought for New Zealand forces in WW1, and it turned out that I have found them all in my research. The interesting part will now be to continue to find more Swedish connections to WW1, looking into the descendants of the immigrants, who were born in New Zealand, and fought in WW1. During my latest trip I discovered some more soldiers, who were sons to Swedish Immigrants, and it will be interesting to see if I can find more of them.

I so wish I had found this book before I went on my latest trip, as we went through a lot of the places mentioned in the book.

The first Swede

The first Swede who is believed to have put his feet in New Zealand was the sailor Sven Sjögren, who was a sailor on a American Whale Catcher which anchored in the Banks Peninsula in Akaroa, outside Christchurch, around 1829. I visited Akaroa in January 2023.

The story tells us that Sven sold a rifle to the Maori chief Te Waaka-Rapa, and in return Sven received a Necklace of Greenstone. The trade made it easier for the Chief to defend himself from the, from their perspective, “evil” Chief Te Rauparaha. The trade also included the daughter of Te Waaka-Rapa, Hinahina, as a bride. Hinahina followed Sven back to Sweden, but tragically she died from smallpox, in Sweden.

The Necklace was sold by a relative Sven, in an auction house in Wellington, in 1972, but was later brought back to the museum in Akaroa.

The first Swede who became naturalised in New Zealand was Charles Hopkinson. His Swedish name in not known. He was the owner of a hotel in Dunedin in 1840, and became naturalised in 1854. He later on became a “squatter”, a sheep farmer.

Another Swede, still at this date, quite famous name in New Zealand, was Charles Suisted, born in Fryksände, Värmland, Sweden, in 1810, as Carl Eberhard Sjöstedt.

He arrived as a Naval Captain with his british wife to New Zealand in 1842, from Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. He became a famous sheep farmer on the farm “Goodwood”, and he also owned the “Barret’s Hotel” in Wellington. The mountain “Mount Charles” close to Palmerston on the South Island is named after him. Carl died, age 49, and left 9 sons and 1 daughter. It is believed that more than 300 descendants to Carl is living in New Zealand and Australia today.

When Carl returned to New Zealand in 1859, after some time in Great Britain, he arrived as a passenger on, believed to be the first Swedish passenger ship to enter a New Zealand harbour, the “Equator”. The ship was loaded with expensive equipment for the new hotel, after the first one was burned down, and some other goods from Sweden.

Six swedish sailors from the “Equator” jumped ship in New Zealand.

There we have the connection to my research, about the Swedish soldiers in the Australian and New Zealand forces in WW1, which shows that most of them were sailors who jumped ship and started their new lives before joining the Army. Some of them payed the ultimate sacrifice and are today buried in Belgium and France.

The soldiers

On my recent trip I collected more information about the Swedish soldier Oscar Backman, who fought for New Zealand in WW1, and sadly died from suicide, and he is today buried in Belgium. You can read more about Oscar in the Article by Wendy Maddocks here.

The research continues

My next step is to widen my research and try to find more information about the descendants to those Swedish immigrants who decided to join the New Zealand Armed Forces, and to fight in WW1.

During my recent trip I visited three of those soldiers, today mentioned on the War Memorial in Ashburton, south of Christchurch. Those were the Nordström brothers, who today are commemorated on memorials in Belgium, and still considered to be Missing in Action, and the soldier John Polson (Pålsson) who today is buried on the Sanctuary Wood Cemetery in Belgium.

In addition to the above mentioned soldiers I also discovered another Swedish name in the village of Kumara, east of Greymouth, on the West Coast of the South Island.

It turned out that the soldier of the Swedish Immigrant Fredrik Ludvig Lindbom, his son Arthur William Lindbom, was born in Kumara. He fought for the New Zealand Forces in WW1, and was Killed in Action April 14th, 1918, and he is today commemorated on the Messines Ridge Memorial south of Ypres in Belgium. I will visit his name this summer.

My experiences from my latest trip to New Zealand has opened my eyes for Swedish immigration, but also to the facts that there are probably more stories with Swedish connection to New Zealand and WW1, which will be very interesting to study more in detail, to find more stories like the one above.

Imagine what life can bring. The interest for WW1 history connected me to Wendy, and that has brought a huge amount of knowledge into my life, and our excursions on the WW1 battlefield will continue this summer. Looking very much forward to that.

Lest we forget.

One of the main reasons for working with my research is the connection to the individuals I discover through my intense work trying to find as much facts as possible to be able to tell their amazing stories, as soldiers on the Western Front in the Great War.

When having my talks I try to transfer the feelings I feel, to the audience, and most of the time the audience feels and understand what I am trying to tell, both the stories about the individuals and also the connection between the soldiers locations back in Sweden, to their final resting place in Belgium and France.

For about a week ago one of the guests to my guided tour in 2023, who also had heard me talking about my research a couple of times, contacted me about a book find. He wanted me to have it and asked me if he could send it to me as a gift.

That made me very happy of course. It turned out to be a story written by a Swedish born soldier, who fought in the great war, and kept the stories from his experiences in a diary, which the book is based on. An amazing piece of information, printed in 1959.

The book “Tillbaka hem”, “Back home”, written by the soldier in the 130th Infantry regiment USNG, 33rd Division, American Expeditionary Forces, who fought on the Western Front from August to November 1918.

But there is a mystery inside, that I haven’t been able to sort out yet. The story about his best friend, Dan, who fought and fell in a very tragic way, November 10th, 1918.

Please follow me in the story of Private 1/cl Bernt A Johnson (Bernt Arvid Johansson) and the great loss of his friend Dan.

Bernt Arvid was born in Västra Torsås parish, Kronoberg county, Sweden, March 2nd 1891. He was raised by his parents Kristina Jonsdotter and Johan Eriksson in Öveshult, Lönashult, Småland. Bernt had 6 siblings.

In the book he writes that he was 18 years old when he left Sweden and emigrated to North America in 1913, but as I will experience later on when I read the book, I think he struggled a bit with remembering his stories a bit differently to what they actually were.

Bernt Arvid was born in 1891 and left Sweden already in 1911, according to Swedish church books, which means he was around 20 year old when he arrived Ellis Island in New York together with his four friends. They split up and he is left all alone in New York, no money or nowhere to live.

In this situation he randomly passes one special place for the Swedish Immigrants, The Svea Hotel, and it was in this situation he met his friend and later on soldier in the same unit, Dan. Dan invited him for free, and from there Bernt found a way how to continue his life in the great country in the West. I haven’t yet found any information about this Swedish Immigrant safe haven.

Bernt later on moved to St. Paul in Minnesota, and in the registration cards he mention a friend, Nordgren, who lived nearby Bernt. Bernt lived at 660 Jessamine Ave, St Paul.

Bernt worked at Casino Palace, St. Paul before he was drafted and started his service at Camp Logan, Texas.

Bernt did his training at Camp Logan, Texas, before he one day sailed for France with his unit, Co “G”, 130th Infantry Regiment, 33rd Division. They arrived France in May, 1918. In his book he mentioned that they stepped on the ship “Agamemnon” May 7th, and the card says they sailed May 16th.

They spent their time in different parts of western France and in Paris, were educated and trained by british units before they went to the area west of Toul, near Tronville-En-Barrois, France.

Bernt spent a lot of time in the area, but all of his adventurous time was spent only in the two last days of the war, from the 9th to the 11th of November 1918. He mention in his book that they are supported by British tanks during their advancements, and there is only one place mentioned in this chapter, the village of Mézierés, but I am not sure in which geographical area that is. Please enlighten me if you as a reader have more information than me, I would really appreciate that.

On sunday November 10th he mention that he was involved in real action, and here he mention the village Villers-su Ally, which I haven’t been able to locate.

It is also hard to know if he is telling stories about things he had heard about or if he were involved in them, but he also mention the hard situations for those American engineer units who tried to build bridges over the river Meuse.

Bernt participated in fierce fightings against the Germans during this day, and he also managed to act bravely, for which he was awarded the French Croix De Guerre. Bernt and his fellow soldiers tried to find more wounded during their withdrawal and for a moment they were so far away from the frontline they thought it was OK to relax a bit, but then the horrible happened.

His best friend Dan, with, according to Bernt, had the surname of Charlstrom, was hit by a huge piece of shrapnel from a grenade, which separated Dan’s head from his body. Bernt and the other soldiers were totally shocked.

They managed to get permission to bury Dan the same day, November 10th, 1918, and in the book he mention that they bury Dan at the cemetery near Chateau-Thierry, in my opinion far east of the are which he mention to have been fighting in, but I can be wrong. I believe according to the photos in the book that it was near the place where the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery is today.

After 16 months in military service, Bernt left North America and went back to Sweden in June 1919. He felt that he had done his part of this War.

In 1958 Bernt and his wife decided to travel to France and to the Battlefields, where Bernt wanted to visit the grave of his best friend Dan Charlstrom. He describes that he is by his headstone in white marble, with the letters in Gold, and talking to Dan.

This part of the book gripped me a lot emotionally , as he did the same thing I am doing today, when I am visiting the soldiers I have in my research. He describes a lovely text in Swedish, “talking” to Dan. Dan was very important to Bernt, who was the first person he met when he had emigrated and who helped him during his time in North America.

But who was Dan Charlstrom? I have tried to find him in different archives, spelling his name in all ways, but I still can’t find him. Dan was, according to Bernt, born in New York by Swedish parents.

I really hope I can sort it out. According to the text in the book he must have died November 10th 1918, just one day before the armistice.

If anyone out there know more ways how to proceed, or maybe find him in any archive, feel free to contact me. May Dan rest in peace.

Thank you very much Bernt for your amazing story. I am very grateful having received this book from my friend Alf Görsjö. Thank you very much.

One of the most interesting things I like to do with the names I have in my database is to trace the life and fates of each individual. By doing this I realize that some of those individuals experienced a lot in different places around the world.

I decided to follow in the footsteps of the Swedish born soldier Alfred Lofdahl. Alfred was born as Johan Alfred Löfdahl in Själevad parish in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, November 17th, 1878. He grew up in Umeå together with his parents and his six siblings.

He was raised by his parents, his mother Anna Beata Löfqvist and his father Alfred Johan Samuel Löfdahl.

It has been a bit difficult to find the correct date of birth, but in the book of birth it is noted that he was born November 17th, but in some other church books it is noted that he was born November 7th.

In the Swedish church books I find information about that Alfred joined Umeå Naval Corps in 1899, and became a sailor.

In the church books it is noted that he is absent from the Swedish locations from year 1902-1904. This correlates with information that I have found about his activities in South Africa, where he served in Prince Alfred’s Volunteer Guard. During this duty he received The South Africa Medal and clasp (Cape Colony) issued April 1st, 1901.

Probably Alfred stepped off in South Africa during his service as a sailor and in some way contributed to the activities.  About the last days of December 1900 a party of about 60 of the corps were in a train which was derailed in Cape Colony. They promptly got out, and fired till their ammunition was exhausted; two were killed and about five were wounded. Alfred could have been among those soldiers who were active during this event.

Alfred later left South Africa and continued to Australia. He arrived to the port of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, in May, 1906, and by that time he lived on Bonds Road, Punchbowl, Canterbury, Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia. He lived there with his wife Mary Ann Lofdahl and their three children. Alfred applied for naturalisation in January 1916.

Alfred worked as a Wharf Laborer and something made him apply for the Australian Imperial Forces, AIF, in February, 1916. In those papers he states his correct date of birth, November 17th, 1878.

Alfred was posted to “C” Company, 18th Battalion on 3rd February, 1916 for recruit training. He was transferred to “D” Company of 18th Battalion on 10th February, 1916, then “B” Company on 9th March, 1916. He was transferred to 12th Reinforcements of 18th Battalion on 21st March, 1917.

Alfred proceeded overseas to France on 5th September, 1916 from 5th Training Battalion in England. He was marched in from England Etaples, France on 6th September, 1916. Alfred joined 118th Battalion in the field on 14th September, 1916 from 12th Reinforcements. Alfred was sent sick to Hospital on November 21st, 1916 and then transferred and admitted to 6th General Hospital at Rouen, France, on November 25th. He suffered from Trench Feet and was transferred to England on December 4th, 1916.

He later on marched in to No. 4 Command Depot at Wareham, Dorset, on January 31st, 1917 from Perham Downs. He was transferred from 18th Battalion to 61st Battalion on March 23rd, 1917, and later on taken on strength of 61st Battalion on March 23rd, 1917.

Sadly Alfred died on Wareham Military hospital at Worgret Camp in Wareham of Rapture of “anumpare haemopericordium”, May 11th, 1917, in some kind of life threatening rapture of organs close to heart, or caused by blood in the heart sack.

Alfred was a huge loss to his family, still far away from England, back home in Australia. It is emotional to read the texts from the Australian Newspapers.

Alfred is today buried at Wareham Cemetery, Dorset, England, among 48 other WW1 burials.

Imagine the trip Alfred did, from Sweden, South Africa, Australia, and then back to Europe to participate in the Great War, to finally die of Illness, after have experienced the war within the Australian units.

Alfred’s son, Eric Samuel Lofdahl, went in his father’s footsteps, and participated in WW2. He served on the Island of Marotai of a period of around 9 months. I haven’t found any photo of Alfred, but maybe there is some resemblance of Alfred in Eric?

I will continue to inform my Swedish fellow citizens about what some of them experienced during the period of the Great War, as this is close to my heart. May Alfred rest in Peace.