Category: Soldiers

The main part of my research about the Swedes in the Great War is up to this date about the Swedish born soldiers and their fates in the war, but along the way I also see a lot of other Swedish connections among the soldiers who fell and are buried along the Western Front in Belgium and France.

Together with the names of the Swedish born soldiers in my database I will now try to gather information about the soldiers who was born in their new home countries by their Swedish born parents, as I think it will be an interesting value within the research about Swedish emigration.

I will also broaden my research to include those Swedish born soldiers who fell in the great war and were brought home to their new home countries, such as Canada and US of A.

At this moment I have limited my research to include the Swedish born soldiers who fought and fell in the Great War and are buried along the Western Front in France and Belgium, but I realize that I have to highlight more of the Swedish connections to the Great War.

When I do this I have to do it in a organized way, and therefor I have started to look into the casualty lists from the large memorials along the Western Front. I have made a first look into the memorial of the fallen Canadians at Vimy Ridge.

In addition to those 17 Swedish born soldiers mentioned and commemorated on Vimy Ridge Memorial, I will add those soldiers below, born in their new countries by Swedish born parents.

Below you will find some of the soldiers mentioned with their name on this memorial who were born in Canada or US of A by Swedish born parents.

696792 – John Peter Backman – 50th Canadian Infantry Battalion – April 10th, 1917

• Born in South Dakota, USA, March 11th, 1893
• Raised by his parents Anders Persson Beckman, born in Bollnäs, Dalarna, Sweden April 27, 1857, and Anna Margareta Larsson, born in Sweden 1863.
• Lived in Hanns, Alberta, Canada.
• Link to Library and Archives Canada
• Remarks: First assumed to be Missing in action, later on reported Killed in action. In service for less than three months in the field, before killed in action.

925597 – Henry H Bergquist – 5th Canadian Infantry Battalion – April 28th, 1917

• Born in Brunswick, Kanabec county, Minnesota, June 12th, 1898
• Raised by his parents Märta Johanna Svensdotter, born in Ådsalsliden, Sollefteå county, Ångermanland, Sweden, March 13th, 1874, and Jonas Peter Bergquist, born in Resele, Sollefteå county, Ångermanland, Sweden, October 1st, 1866. Both parents left Sweden in 1892, for North America.
• Lived in Yellowgrass, Saskatchewan, Canada.
• Link to Library and Archives Canada
• Remarks: Previous reported wounded and missing, later declared Killed in action after just a bit more than a month in the field.

2138992 – Albert Leonard Lofquist – 72nd Canadian Infantry Battalion – September 2nd, 1918

• Born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, March 21st, 1896
• Raised by his parents Emelie Lofquist (Målgren) born in Traryd, Kronoberg county, Småland, Sweden, May 16th, 1861, and Olof Johannesson Lofquist, born in Hallaryd, Kronoberg county, Småland, Sweden, May 11th, 1865. Left Sweden for as a family for North America in 1890.
• Lived in Salt Lake City, Utah.
• Link to Library and Archives Canada
• Remarks: Killed in action just after around three weeks in the field.

550229 – Olof Swanson – Royal canadian Dragoons – March 30th, 1918

• Born in York, Ontario, Canada, September 29th, 1895
• Raised by his parents Elvira Löfgren, born in Hällaryd, Blekinge, Sweden, April 21st, 1867, and Olof Svensson, believed to be Sven Olof Swanson, born in Asarum, Blekinge, Sweden, September 2nd, 1871. Elvira went to North America in 1889, and Sven Olof believed to have arrived around the same year.
• Lived in Toronto, Canada.
• Link to Library and Archives Canada
• Remarks: Killed in action after have spent almost a year in the field.

101720 – Edward Frederick Wiberg – 31st Canadian Infantry Battalion – September 27th, 1916.

• Born in Alberta, Canada, June 8th, 1895
• Raised by his parents Lovisa Engström, born in Arboga, Västmanland county, Västmanland, Sweden September 8, 1856, and Edward Eriksson Wiberg, born in Lekvattnet, Värmland, Sweden, May 26, 1863. Left as a family to Canada in 1893.
• Lived in Duhamel, Alberta, Canada
• Link to Library and Archives Canada
• Remarks: Reported Missing in action, later reported Killed in action, after just around 2,5 months in the field.

443336 – Harry Harold Wikstrom – 54th Canadian Infantry Battalion – March 31st, 1917

• Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, February 5th, 1896
• Raised by his parents Johan Daniel Wikström, born in Sundsvall, Sweden, December 11th, 1870. Went to North America in 1892. Charlotta Wikström, born May 4th, 1878, Place of birth in Sweden unknown, noted to have arrived North America in 1892.
• Lived in Seven Lakes, British Columbia, Canada.
• Link to Library and Archives Canada
• Remarks: Killed in action after been in the field in around 8,5 months.

Some of the names above doesn’t have any documents from the source “Circumstances of death” due to that the archive was partially destroyed and misses out a part of surnames beginning with an “S” and beyond. In those cases I have included a snippet from the “Library and Archives Canada” instead.

The above mentioned individuals are those I have found so far, looking through the archive files of those who are mentioned on the Memorial of Vimy Ridge. It may be more of them.

I will continue to search for more information with Swedish connections, both in cemetery registers and on memorial registers, to add to my research described in the introduction of this post.

In my research, where I follow up the Swedish born soldiers who fell in the Great War, I have found out that especially individuals in the American Expeditionary Forces had the opportunity to become more than privates. When it comes to those Swedish born individuals who fought and fell for the German Forces, almost everyone of those where officers in the Swedish army and also became officers in the German Army.

Some of them became commanders on different levels, from squad leaders up to company commanders or staff members. Not all of the them fell in the war, and below I will tell you the story about one who survived.

This is the story about Major Nels G Sandelin.

Nels G Sandelin was born as Nils Gustaf Sandelin. He was born on December 1st, 1887, in Pjätteryd parish, Älmhult, Sweden. He was raised by his parents Elna Larsdotter Sandelin and Gustaf Johansson Sandelin. The family left for North America quite early after Nils was born, on April 22nd, 1889.

I have managed to find more information about the history of Major Sandelin, especially from the books from the local counties in the US. Below you will find parts from the books. Some of the parts are citations direct from the text.

The family, Mr. and Mrs. Gustav Sandelin and their children, Christ, Julia, Edward, Oscar and Nels, moved to the United States in 1889 and settled on a homestead in the town of Svea. Erick the youngest was born in Kennedy in 1890. Mr. Sandelin died in 1892.

Mrs. Sandelin then took up the burden of proving up the homestead and supporting the family. Although it was a hard struggle, she lived on the farm until the children could support themselves. She sold the farm in 1905 and moved to Donaldson where she still lives, one of the brave pioneers of Kittson County.

When the Government called for men of previous military training, he enlisted in the First Officers’ Training Camp at Fort Snelling. He spent three months of intensive training with two thousand student officers. Only twenty-one received a higher rank than the major, notwithstanding that the other students were college and university graduates. He had practically no education, having merely finished the grammar grades. He was commissioned as First Lieutenant in August, 1917.

He was granted a two weeks’ furlough, which he spent with his wife and two children. He sailed for France September 6, 1917.

At first, he was an officer of the line attached to the 6th Field Artillery. Later he was put in command of the regimental supply company. While in command of the supply company he was made a сар- tain. About two months before the armistice was signed he was promoted to Assistant Quartermaster of the first division and recommended for promotion to the rank of major. Soon after he was made Division Quartermaster of the first division. He was made a Major in December, 1918.

Major Sandelin participated in the following major operations: Montdidier-Noyon Lorraine Defensive, the Marne (battle of Soissons). St. Mihiel, and the Argonne offensives. He entered Germany from Luxembourg Dec. 1, 1918, and crossed the Rhine Dec. 14, 1918, serving in Germany until Aug. 19, 1919, sailing from Brest Ang. 25, 1919, and arriving at New York Sept. 2, 1919.

The Major received citation for meritorious services overseas. His entire period of service was with the First Division. He was promoted to Major Quartermaster Corps March 3, 1919. He reached the highest rank of any man who was in the service of his county.

Major Sandelin also served in WW2, in the quartermaster Corps, and became a colonel before he retired. Below some snippets of the medals and other symbols he received during his duty in the both world wars.

Nils Gustaf is now buried in San Francisco National Cemetery, at the same cemetery as his wife. Nils died in 1958 and his wife Elsie May died in 1970.

This was the first small portrait about Swedish immigrants as commanders in the Great War.

This is one of the most common questions I get when I do my talks to different kind of audiences, and I always want to answer it with the most correct answer as possible.

It may be hard to find the most correct answer, as I am looking into a combination of different reasons and aspects, but maybe I have found some answers when looking into the great sources of information, the small books which honores the soldiers from each county in the US, who participated in the great war. The people in the county who wrote these texts knew their inhabitants well, and the information given in those different books is probably as close as we can get when I ask myself why and on which side these Swedish soldiers choose to participate on in the Great War.

Currently I am trying to find as many books I can who honor their local soldiers who participated in the Great War, and I have already found and read some of them, from different states. I am now looking into the states that is known for having a larger population connected to Sweden and Scandinavia.

In this case I have studied the Book “Chisago County, Minnesota, in the World War”. The reason for that will be described below.

Back in 1920 Chisago, Minnesota, was the the most typical Swedish-American County in America. They assessed at that time that 95% per cent of the inhabitants were of Swedish birth, or children of Swedish born parents. It had the largest congregation in proportion to the total population of any county in the United States at that time.

The Swedish settlers already presented themselves in the Civil War. Minnesota was the first state in the Union to offer a regiment to President Lincoln at that time. Many sturdy Swedish boys from Chisago County, boys who could hardly talk the language of their new land, but their souls fired with love to their new-found land, “taught by their noble pastors, that loyalty to their country was the first duty of a Christian Citizen“, as it is described in the book.

One pillar of their determination to participate can maybe be brought from their christian heritage. One piece from the book says:

“The early pioneers of this county were of the sturdy, disciplined, religious type, thorough and faithful Christians. Closely following the first pioneers came the ministers of the Gospel sharing cheerfully the privations of the settlers, utterly unselfish, bent only on keeping the religious faith of their people untarnished.

Think of the sacrifice these men had to offer. All of them extremely poor, some with a young wife, and many children, others with aged parents to support, most of them heavily in debt, small patches of clearing in the heavy forest, wild animals prowling in the timber, Indians not entirely friendly, living nearby.

Yet these splendid young men volunteered in great numbers, many of them never to return. The attitude of these Swedish settlers toward their newly adopted country is a shining, glorious mark in Chisago county’s history.“

Other pillars in their determination could have been as described below:

“Why were these men so solidly loyal? Why was there not one single copperhead among the Swedish boys? Many, no doubt were actuated by a spirit of adventure, the joy of battle which had made the name of their Viking ancestors immortal in history. It is also easy to imagine that human slavery, the buying and selling of human beings, though their skin was black, fired the souls of these liberty loving Swedes with indignation, and they freely offered their services and lives to destroy this dreadful institution. But in addition to the splendid attitude of their religious leaders previously noted, one tremendously important matter must here be noted.

One reason could also have been the influence of the only newspaper the Swedish settlers read at that time, the newspaper “Hemlandet”, which was active to the end of 19th century, and of course media, as today had a great influence of what to think and what to do, and maybe a feeling of security to stand among a common taken stand in their new country?

The statement to support its new country was probably rooted already during the end of 19th century and brought further on into those who emigrated later on, with Swedish born children and children born in US by Swedish parents, who later were in the age of to be drafted to the first world war. Read more from a text from the book below:

“Prior to and during the Civil War, our people read really only one newspaper, the glorious old “Hemlandet.” There were no other papers in circulation here among the Swedes. Hemlandet was the semi-official organ of the Swedish Lutheran Church, and its principal contributors were the Lutheran ministers. Thank God for these men! They wrote strong editorials on the duty of a Christian to support the flag of their country they espoused, the cause of human liberty, they upheld the cause of the Union in the plainest and sturdiest of languages. Oh, that full credit might be given to these noble men for the wonderful influence they wielded for loyalty, justice, and devotion, to their God, their country and their flag“

In the book you will find a great amount of soldiers born in the US, by Swedish born parents, and quite many of them paid the ultimate price, by dying of disease or in battle. Most of the soldiers from the county of Chisago died of disease, some of them on the battlefield in France, where some of them also have their final resting place.

One of those 37 soldiers who died when in duty for the American Army was born in Sweden. Most of the other 37 who died were born by Swedish parents in the US. It is interesting in itself to read the surnames of those who died and are honored in the book. Many of the names has clear Scandinavian and Swedish connection. See pictures below.

Perry M Matsson was born as Per Martinus Mattson in Brunflo parish, Jämtland, Sweden, and it is noted in the Swedish church book that Per left with his mother Märta Klingberg, widow after J Mattson, and his sister Anna, in 1900, as described in the picture above.

Why not the German side?

Further on we can read about a very interesting perspective described in the book about why Sweden and Swedes didn’t participate on the German side which would have been more natural, or?

I have earlier mentioned Sweden’s history with Russia as a natural statement to fight together along the words ” Our enemy’s enemy is our friend”. That would have been a more clear way of choosing side in the war. Our political statement from the period of the first world war were also more leaning towards the German side, and some of the officers from the Swedish army went to war on the German side, but not as many as we thought, as my research also shows when it comes to the individuals who fell for the differents sides.

The Chisago County book also mentions four perspectives that makes Sweden more connected to Germany at that time, but in the end also explains a reason why it not became like that when it comes to the Swedes who emigrated to North America at that time. A short summary of the text from the book below:

1. For a hundreds years or more (at least) Swedish people had an intense dislike, even hatred for Russia on account of Finland.
2. England had since the Revolution been our historic enemy. Our school histories, relating the story of the Revolutionary War, influenced the school children against England. The war of 1812 was likewise chronicled in a manner to arouse our indignation.
3. The Swedish people, in many respects are much like the German people. Both are of the Teutonic race. The language is largely identical, or at least very similar. The German people in the United States were simple, honest, thrifty, kindly persons, splendid citizens, law abiding, peace loving, easy to get along with.
4. Germany was the birthplace of Martin Luther, the great founder of the church bearing his name, and to this church belonged the vast majority of the Swedish people. It was almost impossible to believe that the Germany of the great patron saint of the church, the gentle, wonderful leader of the great Reformation, could have so utterly changed, and become the great barbarian nation that characterized the starting of this terrible war, and its conduct thereafter. Aided by clever and perniciously active German propaganda, our people were inclined at the beginning to call these stories “English lies.” The rape of Belgium, the “scrap of paper” incident, the enslavement and deportation of Belgian men and women, the horrid atrocities, carried out in accord with their doctrine of “Schrecklichkeit,” the sacking of Louvain, and other acts which would make an Apache Indian blush with shame, were not believed true.

So – what made us not follow these above described perspectives?

The book describes it with those, quite simple words below, and was probably not the whole truth, more a reason in combination with all the others described above the four reasons above:

“But there were hundreds of our people, yes nearly a majority, who at once saw thru Germany’s plan, and unhesitatingly took the side of the Allies. When our good president made his appeal to our people to be neutral, and avoid controversy on this subject, those friendly to the Allies, followed his admonition more than the other side, we think.“

But was it easy all the way?

I have earlier described in my research that many of the Swedish born soldiers left Sweden before they became 21 and were supposed to be drafted for the Swedish Army through our current service act at that time.

The Chisago county book also describes some anti-war demonstrations, with protests not to send our boys to France. The Audience, many of them probably Swedes, were driven into a frenzy of wild protest against the war. Many asked themselves if the Swedes suddenly had lost the sense giving such aid?

Although, it was then and there determined that there should not be a repetition of such a meeting. The Minnesota Conference later on, of the Swedish Lutheran Church met in annual meeting about a month after declaration of war. About its first act was to pass a resolution of loyalty with much enthusiasm. Even if it was some protest it all went well in the end.

Below some records about the soldiers who participated from the Swedish Lutheran Church in Chisago County:

Almelund – Men in service: 49 – two died of disease while in service

Center City – Men in service: 80 – three died of disease while in service

Chisago City – Men in service: 42 – one died in action and five of disease while in service

Fish Lake – Men in service: 17 – all returned safely

North Branch – Men in service: 46 – one killed in action and one died of disease while in service

Rush Point – Men in service: 17 – all returned safely

Taylors Falls – Men in service: 35 – one killed in action and one died of disease while in service.

Men from Chisago County who died while in service

The reason I want to highlight those is to show the background of the individuals and that the large part of them has scandinavian and Swedish heritage.

Source: Chisago County, Minnesota in the World War

Connections to my research

As the largest group of those Swedish born soldiers, present in my research, who fell and are buried in France or Belgium, were Americans, the reasons explained above are connected to them. It can also include the soldiers who fought for Canada as well, even if I think they probably were affected by English and French values, depending on where they lived in Canada.

I will not draw any final conclusions, but some of the basic religious reasons mentioned above can be applicable on to those soldiers who fought for other countries in the commonwealth, such as Australia and New Zealand.

The poverty and the social situations affected the Swedes and ended up in reasons to emigrate. I believe the economical situation in their new countries affected the individual in a way to see the role as a soldier in an army as a job in itself, without so much influence from any other reasons.

I feel I am a bit closer to present some reasons why the Swedish soldiers mainly fought on either side in the Great War. I think a lot was connected to the inner values but later on affected by the values of the community, in their new home countries. I can see that we have the same situation today, even if the economical and social situations doesn’t affect us as much as back then, in our choice to take part in any modern conflict.

We are not yet in the situation to be drafted as an individual to participate in a specific war for Sweden, and hopefully it will stay like that.

In my research I often find information about American soldiers who were born in America by Swedish parents who immigrated during the late 19th century.

Many of those who fell in the Great War were brought back from the temporary cemeteries in France or Belgium to American cemeteries. I find those cases interesting as well, as I can follow their different backgrounds. I have also found quite many Swedish related American soldiers, with parents born in America, and in their turn with parents born in Sweden.

It would be really interesting to find out how large part of the American soldiers who fought in the Great War, who has Swedish grandparents as well. That would open an another part of the Swedish history related to the Great War. Maybe they are many more than expected?

Below you will find some information about one American officer, 1st LT Albert Emanuel Johnson, born in Connecticut, USA, by Swedish parents, mother Ida E Johnson and Charles J Johnson.

Charles was born as Karl Johan, most likely born June 30th, 1870, in Risinge, Östergötland, Sweden, and Ida was born as Ida Charlotta Emanuelsdotter, on November 20th, 1868, in Våthult, Jönköping.

Albert’s father, Karl Johan, emigrated with his family in 1880, and Ida emigrated with her brother Peter in 1886.

Albert fought for the 102nd Infantry, 26th Division, American Expeditionary Forces, and fell in May 8th, 1918. Below you will find a text from an American newspaper from June 11, 1918, that describes the last hours of Albert E Johnson.

Albert died of his wound and was initially buried near Sevastopol Farm Cemetery near Bruley, France, and was later on brought to St Mihiel American Cemetery, south-east of Meuse-Argonne region in France.

He was later brought home to American on June 6, 1921, and are today buried at Collinsville Cemetery, Collinsville, Hartford County, Connecticut, USA.

Even if the text in the article above mentioned that he would be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, I haven’t been able to find any information about that yet. May Albert rest in peace.

There is always a great feeling when you are able to find original documents about your research subject. In this case I arranged a meeting in Blekinge Museum Archives regarding one of my soldiers in my research, Lieutenant Marcus Grundberg, who fought for the German Forces during the Great War.

I had found information in the Swedish archive “Riksarkivet”, that it would be more information to be found about Marcus Grundberg in Blekinge Museum archives, so I called them and checked if this was correct and it was.

I arranged a day to meet up with the personnel, who introduced me to the material. It was an amazing feeling to look at and feel the material which consisted of letters from Marcus to his family, but also from Marcus to his superiors in the Army.

There were also summarized information made from old news articles, and also some photos. It was really interesting to find text about where he fell and also to find photos from his original burial. I have only been to his final resting place in Menen in Belgium, but I will now try to find his previous burial site.

My upcoming work will now be to transcribe the handwritten text in the documents, and translate those from German to Swedish, and then in to English as well, to create an additional collection in PDF format, to be able to hand it out to those who have bought my first book, in where he is mentioned.

Below you will find some of the text files I scanned during my visit at Blekinge Museum Archives.

At the moment there is no information about who have made this compilation of documents, but it may be the regiment, Karlskrona Grenadiers, to which Marcus belonged, but I will try to get it confirmed. It will be a very interesting work to transcribe these around 65 documents but also quite demanding.

I will keep updates of the work on this page.

I am now home from the trip that was planned with the purpose to follow up some of the Swedish born soldiers who fought for the American Expeditionary Forces in WW1, some of the Swedish born soldiers who fought for the Commonwealth, but also to visit places, related to WW1, that I always have wanted to visit.

It became an amazing trip in the company of Wendy Maddocks, who supported me through all the activities that we planned. We saw almost everything we wanted, and it became quite hectic, but very interesting.

We started the trip by flying to Brussels, and then take the rental car down to the Somme region in France. We spent a few days in the Somme region before heading south to Belleau Wood region. We continued later on east through the Champagne region towards the southern Ardenne region and looked into the areas of Argonne and Verdun. Later on we turned back west back to the Somme through Champagne and ended up in Cambrai before we went to Brussels again, to start our trip back home. Before we went home we spent a day i Le Quesnoy to commemorate the New Zealanders liberation of the town . All this in 10 days with nice weather most of the time.

Below you will find some photos from the different places. They are not marked with any specific locations but please don’t hesitate to comment, and I will explain more about them, if needed.

I am very glad that I was able to do this trip, which also gave me a lot of info and understanding about where the Swedish soldiers fought and where they ended up to have their final resting place. I will definitely do this again, and in spring 2025 I will have a guided tour to some of the places in the photos. More about that later on.

The attack commenced at 6.20 a.m. on a very cold morning while it was still dark. Throughout the whole action there was the most severe fighting. The Battalion however reached its first objective and after a pause for reorganization the two Companies on the right who alone had a second objective, pushed on and won this line too. All Companies had by this time been through fighting of the severest nature and had suffered very heavy losses. The Germans had however suffered still greater losses, losing some 600 prisoners to the Battalion, and leaving a very large number of dead on the field.

This text is from the diary of 1st battalion, Coldstream Guards, the day of November 27th, 1917, when they fought from a front between the northern part of the village of Fontaine, and the north-eastern part of the Bourlon Wood. You can see the area below on the map. The map is a snapshot from the very good map product from Great War Digital.

On this place, the day of November 27, 1917, the soldier Charles Gustaf Nordberg fell, and he is commemorated at the Cambrai Memorial, in Luoverval, between the village of Bapaume and the town of Cambrai in France. Charles Gustaf doesn’t have his own grave as he most likely dissapeared in the fierce fightings this day. So, who was Charles Gustaf?

Charles Gustaf Nordberg was born in April 1893, in South Shields , Durham, England. He was borught up by his mother Kristina Karlsdotter Sköld and his father Erik Johan Johansson Nordberg.

Both parents of Gustaf was born in Sweden. The father of Gustaf, Erik Johan, was born in Fägre parish, east of the the city of Mariestad and southeast of the town of Töreboda in the county of Västra Götaland, in November 9th, 1849. This county is often mentioned in english as “West Jutland” but has nothing to do with Jutland in Denmark. The reason is probably more connected to how it sounds when pronounced in English.

The parents of Charles Gustaf, Kristina and Erik.

Gustaf’s mother, Kristina Karlsdotter Sköld, was born as a daughter to Karl, that’s why her surname is Karlsdotter, “Karls daughter” She was born in the parish of Ekeskog, just southeast of Fägre, where Erik Johan was born. At this moment I don’t know if the knew eachother back then. According to the Swedish church books, Kristina left Sweden in late July 1881. and married Erik Johan Nordberg already in August 22nd, 1881, in England.

Erik Johan was a sailor, and it is noted in the Swedish church books that he left for England around 1873, as the note says 1888, and that he has been in England for about 15 years, since then.

Together they got Charles Gustaf Nordberg, who grew up together with his father when his mother Kristina died in England already in 1907. Charles Gustaf is mentioned in his father’s Naturalisation Papers when he was 16 years old, but I don’t know when his father became an English citizen.

Charles Gustaf Nordberg was only 24 years old when he was killed in action, that day in November, 1917. His name is on the Cambrai Memorial, and I will try to visit him when I am down in France this summer. Even if I don’t know where he is today, I will remember him, as one of the children to Swedish born citizens who one day in their life decided to move to England, and in this way put this story into the context of Swedes in the Great War.

May Charles Gustaf rest in peace.

Swedes who fought on the German side in the Great War were not many. We know from before, from some books by Swedish historians that it is assessed that around 40-60 Swedes chose to fight for the German side in WW1, and I have not find any facts that says anything else. When I read articles from newspapers from the period back in 1914-1918, it is mentioned that around 40-50 Swedes chose to join the French foreign legion in this period. 16 of those are mentioned to have fallen in the War.

I know from before that those 16 soldiers are mentioned at the board at the Swedish church in Paris, but I know also that some of those have their own headstones in French war cemeteries in France, but I haven’t had the time or opportunity until now to visit them.

When it comes to those Swedes who fought for the German side, I have only had the opportunity to visit one of them, Markus Grundberg at Menen Soldatenfriedhof in Menen, West Flandern in Belgium.

So, my main goal is to visit all the around 470 names that I have in my WW1 project, and during May 29th and June 1st I will fly to Paris and then head up to Pèronne and from there visit some of those I haven’t visited before, but also concentrate on those who fought for Germany and France.

Some of the names are mentioned in the church chapel in the Swedish Military Academy Carlberg, where they were educated to officers. In this case it will be Harry Patrik Hilding Carlsson, who fell March 23, 1918, and are buried at Viry-Noureuil German Military Cemetery. I have already visited Johan Erik Markus Grundberg who is buried at Menen Soldatenfriedhof in Belgium. Sadly Willy Höglund doesn’t have any known burial place, as he was moved from Montcornet Cemetery in France already in 1919, to a new site not known for now.

Below you will find the full list of those I will visit and the dates when I will do it.

29th of May

• Villers Cotterets National Cemetery – Conrad Sjöberg – French Foreign Legion
• Necropole Nationale Royallieu – Rudolf Petersen – French Foreign Legion
• Viry Noureuli German Military Cemetery – Harry Carlsson – German Forces
• Manicourt German War Cemetery – Olof Hedengren – German Forces

• Hotel I Pèronne – Best Western Hotell St Claude.

30th of May

• Peronne Communal Cemetery – Carl Sundqwist – Australian Imperial Forces
• Herbercourt British Cemetery – John Leonard Petersen – Australian Imperial Forces
• Dompierre French National Cemetery – Ivar Svensson och Erich Agne Göthlin – French Foreign Legion
• Marcelcave Cemetery – Ivan Lönnberg – French Foreign Legion
• Crucifix Corner Cemetery – Edmund Petrus Hilmer Eriksson – French Foreign Legion
• Adelaide Cemetery Villers Bretonneux – Ernest Ohlson – Australian Imperial Forces
• Villers Bretonneux Memorial – visit 15 Swedes – Australian Imperial Forces

• Back to hotel i Pèronne.

31st of May

• Tincourt New British Cemetery – William Sandberg – Australian Imperial Forces
• Roisel Communal Cemetery – William Lovegrove – Australian Imperial Forces
• Unicorn Cemetery – George Bernhard Bergdahl – British Forces
• Selvigny German Military Cemetery – Hans Ahlmann – German Forces

1st of June I will try to visit the Swedish church in Paris, with the Swedish names on the wall.

If you happens to be in the area those days described above, please don’t hesitate to contact me, it is always nice to meet up on the battlefield!

Below some of the Swedes I will visit, who fought on the German side.

Below some of the Swedes I will visit, who fought in the French Foreign Legion.

This is one more step to my goal, to visit all of the Swedes that I have in my project, it will be an honor to one day have visited them all. May they rest in peace.

The plans started late 2021. I got a question from a friend, if it would be possible to make a historical trip down to Belgium and France, based on my project. I got the task to make some kind of draft for a program which spanned between 4-7 days.

Later on, in summer 2022, we met up again, and draw the basic line for the upcoming trip, which we decided should take part in spring 2023.

We decided to make a four day trip, based on areas between Ypres and Arras-Cambrai-Iwuy.

I thought we would have around 15-20 participants, but later on turned out to be 35 individuals all along. In february 2023 I was able to have a talk about my research, and in that weekend I mentioned the upcoming trip, and many of the participants also took part of that talk, which was a really good start for them, and for me.

The day came, March 31st, when we gathered from different airports in Sweden, down to Zaventem i Brussels, Belgium. All flights were in time, first step cleared, and all the participants were there! Great start!

My basic outline of the 4-day schedule contained a track as follows, and was a geographical schedule, more than a chronological.

Ypres-Lys offensive 1918 – Swedes in American Expeditionary Forces. (AEF)

Palingbeek – fights in the Bluff 1916.

Ypres – Swedes at Menin Gate Memorial and Last Post ceremony.

Messines Ridge – Swedes in the June 7-8 fightings 1917.

Passchendaele – Swedish Australians, New Zeelanders and Swedish Canadians in the fightings late 1917.

Sanctuary Wood – Swedes in the battle of Mount Sorrel 1916.

Vimy Ridge – Swedish Canadians in and about April 9, 1917, and Swedes at Vimy Ridge Memorial, not forgetting the Swedish memorial sign on the Maroccoan Memorial west of the large Canadian memorial, commemorating the Swedes in the French Foreign Legion.

100-days offensive – Swedish Canadians late 1918 from Arras to Iwuy.

In addition to the places mentioned above, we also visited a lot of cemeteries connected to the different sites, where Swedes are buried and commemorated. We also went through some WW2 actions around Arras, when in the area.

The weather was really bad the first two days, but we managed to survive, and the last days we actually saw and felt some sun!

All in all, I am very pleased about the result, and I have a really good feeling after my first trip as a guide, and of course I want to do this more times! It was reaaly fun and I picked up a few lessons learned for the future!

Always a bonus as well to meet some of the persons that I follow on Twitter, to finally see them in real life! Nice to meet you Jon Wort and Bart Debeer!

Thank you very much to my companion and veteran in organizing historical trips, Jan Ågren at Historic Travels who made all the logistical arrangements, such as coach and flights, and thank you very much to all the participants who made this trip possible!

When do we do our next trip?

Next part of following in the footsteps of the Swedes will preliminary take part in April 2025, where we will go down in the area between Somme and Argonne in France, to follow the Swedes who fought for the Americans.

Looking very much forward to that! And if anyone wants a Swede on their own tours, adding some fates of Swedish born soldiers in the WW1, just let me know! 🙂

Below some photos from the trip, with a mix of authors, participating in the trip.

“On the following day these units continued their advance to the road running from Sivry-sur-Meuse to the Villeneuve Farm, but at dusk a powerful attack delivered
against their right flank forced a retirement to the Tranchee du Cable
just south of the Bois de Chaume, Reinforcements were immediately despatched
across the river and by an attack on the morning of October 10th regained
all ground lost, which was subsequently held notwithstanding that the
right flank remained exposed for four days.”

(Brief Histories of Divisions, U.S. Army 1917- 1918.)

“The following day” mentioned above was October 9th, 1918. One day later John H Erlandson was killed in action, and before the fightings was over in the specific area, also Elof H Johnson was killed.

We don’t know if John and Elof knew eachother, but it is highly likely that they did. They fought in two different companies in the 131st Infantry Regiment, 33rd Division, in the American Expeditionary forces, when they finally met their destinies in the Argonne area in France during fearceful fightings against the enemy.

They ended up in the same field cemetery before they were moved to their final resting place, the American Meuse-Argonne Cemetery.

But they were not the only Swedish born soldiers in that field cemetery.

John H Erlandson, or Johan Herman Erlandson, which was his name when he lived in Sweden, was born in November 27, 1887, in my home town of Jönköping, in the western part of the town. He was raised by his mother Eva Mathilda Ring and his father Johan Peter Erlandson.

Some of Johans siblings had moved to North America before him, and Johan followed in their path June 11th, 1910. It looks like Johans mother Mathilda died already in 1903, but his father died later in 1938. Johan mentioned his brother Axel Birger Erlandson as his next of kin in his papers.

Johan signed his draft June 5th, 1917 in Chicago, Illinois, and it was also here he lived before he went on training with his unit. The 33rd Divison was organized in Fort Logan, Texas, in July 1917, and Johans unit, 131st Infantry Regiment, went in under the 66th Brigade.

Elof H Johnson

Elof H Johnson, or Frans Hjalmar Elof Johannesson as he was called in Sweden, was born October 24th, 1891 in Pjätteryd parish, quite close to the town of Älmhult. (Most famous to be the founder city of the Swedish furniture company IKEA).

Älmhult and Jönköping is not far from eachother, around 130 km, but at that time the travel between those two cities could be quite long. Elof is also mentioned as Olof or Elaf in some documents, which makes it a bit tricky when trying to find information in digital archives.

He was raised by his mother Sara Kristina Salomonsdotter and his fatherJohannes Jonasson. Elof went to North America in 1911, and it looks like that he was the only one in the family that moved to the large country in the west. Elof signed his draft in June 5th, 1917, also in Chicago, Illinois, and maybe John and Elof met eachother in this situation?

Elof and John went over to France with their units, John with company M, and Elof with company L, on the same ship, LEVIATHAN, in May 2nd, 1918. The first units from the 33rd Division went over in May 1918, and the last units reached France in June, 1918.

The 33rd Division trained together with the Brits near the town of Abbeville. In September they acted as the right flank of the 57th French Division.

During October the 33rd Division constructed bridges over the Meuse in quite exposed circumstances under heavy shelling.

On October 10th, John was exposed for heavy shelling and these are the words from 1st Sgt O’Keefe, Company M:

“Pvt. Erlandson was killed instantly by the concussion of a shell. It occurred on the morning of Oct. 14, 1918. We were at that time in the trenches, in rear of Consenvoye, France. He was preparing his breakfast at the time.”

It was assumed that John was killed during October 14th, but was later changed to October 10th, according to the information on the casualty card.

There is no known information about how Elof was killed, but both John and Elof was buried in the same field cemetery. John was buried October 16th, but there is no info when Elof was buried. John was disinterred April 21st, 1919, the day before Elof. Both were moved to the American Meuse-Argonne Cemetery, buried on the dates mentioned above.

On the same day as John was disinterred, thare were also another Swedish born soldier disinterred from the same field cemetery. He was John A Dahlgren, or Johan Alfred Dahlgren as he was called in Sweden, born in Hällsjö parish in Jämtlands county., September 28, 1888.

He left Sweden with his family at an age of 2, and lived in Minnesota, in Kanabec county. John Dahlgren was killed in action on the same day as Elof, when fighting for the 129th Infantry Regiment, and buried in the same field cemetery as both John and Elof.

He was shipped backed to the US and are now buried in Kanabec county in Minnesota. You can find his name in the cemetery plan mentioned in the beginning of this post.

There are a lot more Scandinavian traces all over the Argonne area, and it will be so exciting to finally visit the area this summer.

May the soldiers Erlandson, Johnson and Dahlgren rest in peace.

These are a few of many Swedish soldiers who fell in this part of the Western Front and I will do what I can to mention their stories, of how they gave their lives for their new country in the First World War.