Swedes on The Western Front

Reading digitized newspapers from the period of the Great War is so interesting, and this day I stumble over a small article that mention that the soldier who claims to be the youngest enrolled soldier in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces was a Swede with the name of Frank Burstrom. I decided to look this up.

The article says that he just after his 15th birthday left his home in Edmonton, Canada and went to join the Canadian Army.

I easy find his papers from when he registered in the Canadian Army in 1916, and in those papers he claims to be born September 3, 1898, but it also says that he is born in Tromsö, Norway, and other facts points on that.

Some other facts I found in archives says that his father, also named Frank Burström, is Swedish and his mother, Nora, is Norwegian.

I find out that his father is born in Sweden as Frans Bjurström, August 13, 1874, in Norra Råda, Värmland, Sweden, and in the Swedish Church Books I connect the information in the Canadian census file, that he left for North America in 1908.

Franks mother Nora, left a few years after father Frans, and that is also connected to the Canadian census, that mention that she emigrated in 1912. She went over with their sons, Frank was one of them, stated in the papers to be 10 years old, which maybe make it more probable that he was born in 1902, and not in 1898, that he states in the registration papers.

Frank went to England and France in 1917 and was connected to the 77th Artillery battery, and according to the newspaper article he went through the war of a period of 14 months ans a ammunition driver, without any injuries.

His father, Frans, was also over on the Western Front, and he fought for the 197th Regiment. Noth father and son survived, father Frans arriving home in Canada before his son, and I can imagine the joy in the family when all was gathered again.

There is no other evidence than the travel documents that Frank Burström was born in 1902, I havent yet found any data from Norweigian church books, but there is a note in Ancestry Archive that he is born september 3, 1901, but it isn’t confirmed in any way.

Probably the correct date is 1901, if he now claim to just been 15 years when he register for the Army.

So, the article tells us about that a Swede that claims to be the youngest soldier in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces, but it turns out that he is probably born in Norway and raised by a Swedish father, and a Norweigian mother, and maybe the date September 3, 1902 is correct, many things points on that.

From a Scandinavian perspective it is an interesting piece of history.

Sometimes I find great pieces of Swedish history, which is out there online, well worth to be announced on other forums.

Like this little story about two Swedes, who left Sweden and went out west in the world, to another continent, to search for other qualities in life.

I am following up a small note in a digital magazine, which tells me about the death of Ernest Julius Alfred Erickson, who fell in the Great War in the Meuse-Argonne offensive, when he fought for 361st Infantry Regiment, 91st Division in American Expeditionary Forces.

Ernest is in this case buried back home in the United States, and not at the Western Front, but I think it is nice anyway to mention him and his family within my project, even if I dont put him in my database, as he falls outside my criterias of the project.

Ernest was born in Torpshammar parish, Ånge, Sundsvall, Sweden, in January 9th, 1889 and were raised together with his siblings by his mother Britta Kristina Olofsdotter and his father Anders Alfred Ersson.

Below I will present the text that I found on the web page findagrave.com and the photos I found are in the credit of Mark Erickson and Brian Backes. I find them great as they are in colour, and are supposed to show Ernest and his brother Frank, which I will describe later on further down.

The family description can be viewed in a larger version through this link.

The text below are assumed to be written by Mark Erickson:

“In early 1917 my grandfather Frank Severin Erickson and his older brother Ernest Julius Erickson had gone out west by train from North Dakota together seeking adventure and warmer climates. Also on their minds was buying some land along the west coast. Deep into Winter when they arrived on their first stop at Astoria, they were surprised how cold it could get in Oregon. Over the next months they considered how the Great Northwest was similar to where they had come from in Dakota.

Frank and Ernest Julius were working by mid Summer as deputies on the Oregon Railroad out of La Grande. Both had joined the army in June and had full intention of becoming members of the American Expeditionary Force that was being formed at hundreds of army camps all over the states.

An excerpt from Ernest Julius’s diary dated Tuesday, June 5th, 1917 goes simply:

“Went and signed up for Uncle Sam today, so if he wants me, I’m ready to go.”

Ernest Julius would be first to enter service in late 1917 and train at Camp Lewis near Tacoma, Washington. He shipped out to England from Brooklyn Harbor on July 6th, 1918 and ported in Liverpool. By September of 1918 Ernest would find himself in the Argonne Forest in France serving with the 361st Infantry.

By late September of 1917 Frank and Ernest Julius went deer hunting up near Mt. Baldy, Oregon. They camped and cooked outdoors and enjoyed the time together up in the woods.

My uncle Ernest Julius Erickson September 25th, 1917 standing in front of his horse with a deer packed aboard and rifle in hand after a successful deer hunting week up in Mt. Baldy, Oregon.

By the end of 1918, with Ernest Julius already at Camp Lewis training, Frank would move to Tacoma and await his induction into the AEF. Soon enough he would be at Camp Lewis preparing for combat duty.

On August 8th, 1918 Frank like his brother would ship out of Brooklyn Harbor heading to England. In September he along with other members of his Company H of the 308th Infantry would be preparing to take part in the Meuse Argonne Offensive. An odd twist of fate was in store for Frank by early October. On October 2nd Frank along with roughly 553 men of the 77th Division led by Major Charles White Whittlesey launched an attack into the Argonne Forest, with the incorrect knowledge that French forces were supporting their left flank and that two American units including the 92nd Infantry Division were supporting their right. With this all in collapse, the 77th was isolated by German forces. Frank would serve during this time as a runner rifleman for Captain William J. Cullen.

Fortunately Frank would become a surviving member of the Lost Battalion when 194 men would escape through a pocket in the Argonne. The 356 remaining men were either killed, went missing in action or were captured by the Germans.

The quality of photographs unlike the one below taken by Frank and Ernest Julius in September of 1917 are superb with two examples here:

The photo posted here along with others had quite a life. One hundred years old and they have gone through the mill as Frank would say. Forty years in a photo album and then in 1952 the Missouri River, North Dakota Flood hit Bismarck and my grandparents house was waist high in Missouri water. They told me of items floating out the open windows and things lost or damaged.

It is quite fortunate that these photographs even exist. This and other similar images taken on September 25th, 1917 up in Oregon all faded and water damaged, but still stunning and in my opinion true Cowboy gems.”

So interesting to also read about Ernest brother Frank, who fought in Company H, 308 Inf Regt, 77th Div, and survived the fights in the Argonne Wood, in the battalion which later was called “The lost battalion”

In the text above Ernest and his brother Frank are mentioned, and their real names are Ernst Julius Alfred Ersson and Frans Gustav Severin Ersson. The family left Sweden in March 30, 1903 from the farm in Sweden called Klöstre, in Torpshammar parish, Ånge, Sundsvall, Sweden.

I will probably find more facts about those Swedes who were brought back to their new home area in the US, after they fell at The Western Front, and this facts brings very much knowledge to me, when it comes to our Swedish Emigration history, which I carry very close to my heart.

May Ernest and his family rest in peace. We will remember them.

This is one of my most exiting finds so far in my research. Not in any great or sensational way, but more in the way how I tried to find all the clues to really fit to all individuals, and it wasn’t easy, but it is highly likely that I have found all the correct facts to say, that this individual actually was born in Sweden.

I wonder sometimes, is it worth all the time I put into this, does anyone bother, if I have found the correct info or not, but I always end up in my head, that it is important to make the individual more alive, with background and everything, and that is the main reason I do this. It is still many quiestions left in this story, but I will try to give you the picture I have in my head when I put all the facts together.

I found a small article in a digitized Swedish-American newspaper from 1916, that says the following text in Swedish. (see photo) I have also translated it to English below the photo.

“A Swede has fallen in the War.

Erik Lind in Ishpeming, Michigan, received one day, last week, a telegram from Ottawa, Ontario, that his son Edward has fallen at the Western Front, October 8th, (1916). he belonged to a regiment from Canada. He was born in Huså, Koll (Kall) parish, Jämtland, 34 years ago”

OK. I have the father’s name, the son’s name, the date he fell, and where the son was born. Easy, I thought, I will probably find him right away … No. It wasn’t easy at all. I was on my way to give up, the strings were really loose, but I decided to try.

I searched for Edward Lind, dead October 8th, 1916, but no hit in several archives. I assumed he was born in about 1882 (1916-34), but still no hit. Even if made a span between 1880-1885 I didn’t find him.

Did he had another surname? Maybe Eriksson, after his father Erik? No, no hit.

I decided to search for his father Erik Lind, who probably lived in the actual parish Koll, in Huså, Jämtland. I started with Ancestry.

I find a family from the United States Federal Census from 1910, Eric P Lind, Marie and Edward, and some other siblings. OK, maybe I have found something?

I decide to search in Swedish archives after Erik Lind and there are a lot of them, but after a about an hour I find something interesting. An Erik Person Lind with wife Märit Eriksdotter. It actually says Eric P Lind in the Census, and could Märit be Marie? There is no Edward in the Swedish Archive, though. Both Eric, Marie and Edward is stated to be born in Sweden, but Edward is more fluent in English, according to the document. Was he a small child when he emigrated? Could so be …

I am trying to find Edward in Kall parish, and I search through a lot of combinations, with different date of birth, but no success. I decide to try again with Ancestry and also with CWGC, to look for an Edward who died October 8th, 1916. No luck in CWGC with that combination, but with Ancestry I get a hit on a specific Edward Lynn, who actually died October 8th. Could Lynn be Lind? Really interesting! But there are a lot of Edward Lynn, but I find only one who died the date mentioned.

I recognize Ishpeming, Michigan, He states that he is born December 17, 1884, not in 1882, that we had from the article in the newspaper, and also that he is born in USA, not in Sweden. He has a Next of Kin though, who he calls E. Lynn. Could it be Eric Lind? The father?

I look more into the documents from the Canadian archives as I now have his regimental number, 9689, and I also find E Lynn in CWGC archive, that states the date of death, and also the unit he fought for, 3rd Infantry battalion, CEF.

And here I find some more interesting documents, that connects info that we have from earlier documents. Remember Eric P Lind and Marie? We also have Ishpeming, Michigan.

OK. Most likely I have connected an Edward, who is stated to be born in Sweden according to the census, and also we find the same names Eric and Marie in the Canadian documents, but still no evidence that we have found the correct Edward, because different place of birth is mentioned in the two documents.

I decide to try to look further in Ancestry, with combinations of all the facts that I have. Here I spend some more hours. Suddenly I find something interesting.

I find Per Edward, born in Sweden December 17, 1883. Hm. Same date as in the Canadian documents, but another year, that could of course be normal as that have happened before, especially when soldiers have emigrated in early years.

And I also find some more info, who connects a lot of other facts from earlier. In the document from the Swedish church book I also see the name of the parents to Per Edward. Erik Lind and Märit Ersdotter. Also Kall, Huså and Jämtland is mentioned. I dont think I can come closer at this stage. This must be them.

I also find the document from the church book, that I found in the earlier Swedish archive, Arkiv Digital.

This document says that Eric Person Lind is going to North America in July 1883, And his wife Märit moves over in November 1886.

I think it is like this. Edward Is not born when his father leaves for North America, he is born i Sweden, as we also find in the Census document. But when I read the explaining text to the census it says that Edward emigrated to North America in 1885. Maybe that year is wrong, or just estimated. In this case I cant exlain this.

Edward Lynn is probably Per Edward Lind, a lot of facts points in that direction. I dont say I am 100% sure, but most likely I have found the correct individual.

Edward Lynn is buried at Adanac Military Cemetery, Somme region, in France, after has been killed in action October 8, 1916.

I will also put some prints from the diary of 3rd Infantry battalion, CEF, which explains in which region he was when he was killed. I will also put some snippets from the trench maps.

The fight which Edward participated in was cruel. From the 14 officers and the 481 Other ranks who started this specific battle, only 1 officer and 85 Other ranks were left when the day was over.

Please feel free to point me in another direction if you find some info above, that may be wrong, but I will put him in my database as soldier #409 until anything else comes up.

May Edward rest in peace. We will remember them.

The letter from the Oskar reached Carl a couple of months too late. The letters had many questions and wishes to meet again, but also some information about the situation back home in Sweden.

I find out that a soldier named Carl E Anderson in killed in action, but it was a bit of detective work again to really find out who he was and where he came from. Not much information to work with, and the names, Carl and Anderson, are among the most common names in Sweden, even today. But I found him, and also some other interesting facts.

In these times we know quite fast what is happening around the globe, within hours, sometimes within minutes. We have too much information sometimes. Imagine how it would be to not know exactly what is going on in the world all the time?

I am so impressed about the organisation when it comes to handle letters and post during the Great War. They took care of so much letters from the soldiers, we almost can’t imagine. I have read somewhere that the British post managed 11 bags of mail, daily, during a period in the war. Amazing.

I can order something today on internet, but I know I will have to wait almost a week nowadays, before I receive it. I know a friend who posted a package with a gps tracker, just to see where it went, before it came to the receiver, and he could follow the package heading to the central terminals in the country, quite far away, before it went back again after a couple of days, to the receiver, who just lived around 20 kilometers away.

Probably it took some time before the letters came to the correct receiver, and also it was probably a lot of letters and cards that never came through.

This was the case when it comes to the letter from Oskar, who he sent to Carl, who he thought was in North America, in February 23, 1919. He did not know that Carl actually was killed October 14th, 1918, in fights near Exermont in France, when he fought for the 167th Infantry Regiment, 42nd Division in American Expeditionary Forces.

I was not sure if I had found the correct Carl E Anderson, but after som research from different dates of birth and dates of death that was presented in different archives, I am now pretty sure that I have found the correct soldier.

He is, in some documents, stated to be born in August 25, 1893, and also that he he was killed both the 13th and 15th of October. The Casualty card above says 14th of October, and that is most likely the correct date. Below you will fins some documents from the Swedish church book that also says that he was born August 29th, 1893, which I also find in the draft from 1917.

Carl is born in Lundby parish, in Gothenburg, Sweden, 1893, as Carl Edvin Anderson Frimodig. I can read from the church books that his brother Oskar is mentioned as Oskar Sigfrid, and I also find the name on the envelope of the letter, and also in the letter, where he signed it with the name Sigfrid. From the church books I have not found any date about when Carl is leaving Sweden but he is noted “absent” in 1914-1917. In the letter Oskar also mention the other brother, Bror Olof Waldemar, with the name Olof.

This was one of the leads to, that I probably have found the right Carl. Below you will find some pictures from the letter. The letter is written in Swedish. In the letter Carl is called Calle, a very common way of calling people who has the name Carl, even today. Oskar is like Carl also a sailor. I think that is the way Carl came to North America, he probably went there with the ship he worked on, because I cant find other travel documents.

Above you can see the place, Sörgården, Krokslätt, and that is also mentioned in one of the church books, below, as a place where they lived in one period.

Some text from the letter that I translated:

“Thank you so much for your letter, is it good to hear that you are alive …” When Oscar is writing this letter, Carl is already dead, and buried at the initial burial site near Exermont, Ardennes, France.

“… You haven’t heard anything from Hammarström, I wrote them as well to ask them where you were, but I did not hear anything from them, probably they moved from the address where they lived then. As you know I came to New York 1916, in the autumn, when you were supposed to meet me, but you had travelled up to Buffalo, I wrote a card to you, but you did not answer as you did not receive it, I believe …”

“… It was meant that I would have been travelling to you, I had brought up a lot of cash, and if I had met you I thought I could have stayed by you, I was walking around for 4 days, but I had to go on the ship again as I did not meet you …”

“… It is quite bad here now (in Sweden) so you have to send home some dollars, that can be good to have when you are coming home again …”

“… I can tell you that I will try to get on a boat this summer, as it should be really fun to see you again!”

” … If you think you will come over this upcoming summer, just write us a letter in advance, so we know that you are coming.”

The letter itself is really interesting, and I found it in the US archive together with some other documents below, that tells us when Carl was moved from his first burial to The Meuse Argonne American cemetery, which is his final resting place today.

I hope that I one day can visit the place of Carl’s final resting place, and also the first burial site that he was in, after he fell that day, during the Meuse Argonne offensive, togehter with his unit. The coordinates are mentioned on the casualty card.

The story above, and especially the letter, moved me a bit, and I so wonder how it felt for Oskar to finally be told that his brother actually died before he wrote that letter. Below you will find some notes from the Swedish death book and also a photo of his headstone.

May carl rest in peace.

This evening I am searching in some other archives than usual, and I came across one interesting document about a Swedish 2.Lt, who seems to have been killed in action in the Meuse Argonne Offensive in 1918. It turned out to be an interesting story.

The Swedish born soldier Nils Johan Holm, stated as Nils Holm in the documents from the American Expeditionary Forces, was born in Harg parish in Östhammar, Stockholm, Sweden, and in his younger years he was raised by his parents Sofia Lovisa Traneus and Carl Robert Holm.

But when looking into the Swedish church books it looks like his parents went over to North America in 1898, leaving Nils Johan and his brother Karl Ludvig in Sweden by their mother’s parents, Gustaf Fredrik Traneus and his wife Katarina Karolina Lundin.

I also find in the church book a vague note about that Nils is leaving Sweden for North America in 1907, at an age of 16, and I can later on confirm that through documents about his emigration. It also looks like the family is reunited in North America, in the town of New York.

Nils is drafted in the 5th of June draft in 1917, and he is sent over to France in April 1918. Articles in Swedish-American newspapers tells the story about Nils, that he went over as a private, but quite soon showed some skills in leadership, and was sent to an officer course in France, and became 2nd Lt in the 4th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Division, American Expeditionary Forces.

He was appointed to 2nd Lt in October 1st, 1918, quite fast progression, for a reason not known.

Nils was fighting in the Meuse Argonne Offensive when he was killed in action october 31st, 1918. His name is found in the Missing in Action tablet in Meuse Argonne American Cemetery, in France. The two newpaper articles is in Swedish, but I have made a short summary in this post.

It is very interesting to find the story about Nils, when reading the old digitised newspapers, which tells the story about about a young Swede who lived in New York, after have emigrated in quite young age, and how he worked as a private driver to a leader in the paper industry in New York, Alvah Miller.

We now know that he in in 1917 became connected to the Army, and later on went over to France.

The interesting with this result in my research is that I did not find Nils through the normal casualty cards from AEF, but from the cards in the New York archive with abstracts from WW1.

That leads me into thoughts that it may be more soldiers that doesn’t have a casualty card, but anyway became killed on the battlefield, which may mean that there are more Swedes to find? The future will tell.

Nils is now #401 in my research and within my criterias over Swedes who fell at the Western Front in the Great War. Maybe one day Nils will be found, and maybe he will get his own headstone. May Nils rest in peace.

Let’s stop and reflect for a while.

It is a special feeling to actually find and track down, in my research, within my criterias, Swedish born soldier number 400. I remember when I found number 100, and felt that, wow … 100, for me, unknown Swedish born soldiers who had died at the Western Front and are buried there. Amazing, I thought then.

Then I was grabbed by the constant drive to see if it were more of those, who left the mother country, for different reasons, and went over to their new country, a new life, an unknown life, who either went well, or became totally different.

I am so in to this. My feeling for those individuals are just growing stronger and stronger for every day. They are my precious in a way, hard to describe. Call me mad, but when looking into their eyes, I almost can here them talk to me. The Swedish people have to know, a lot of our sons at that time grabbed a weapon for a nation quite new to them, to fight the enemy, and to give their life on the battlefield. For that, in my eyes, they are worth all respect.

So, number 400. Who is he? We talk about Otto Erhard Peterson, born in Gislövs läge in Trelleborg on the most southern coast of Sweden in Skåne county.

When looking into the Swedish church books you will find him with different names, and the name which is registered in the book is actually Otto Eihard, not the most common names i Sweden at that time. He is also called Otto Richard, but Otto Erhard is also mentioned, and that is also with that name he is registered in the American Expeditionary Forces.

Otto Erhard is born March 10th, 1895, and raised by his parents Cecilia Eriksson and Peter Olsson. He has probably his surname Pettersson after his father, Peter.

He is one of three kids in the family. It is not known what made him emigrate to North America in June 13th, 1913. He arrived in Jamestown, Virginia July 4th, 1913, and departed from Malmö in Sweden, quite near from his home.

When finding other documents in different archives, it is not easy for those who is reading and writing his home address. We find “Frelleburg, Galorlage, Sweden”, “Gislous Lage Trallshorg”, and it is actually Gislövs Läge, Trelleborg.

He was drafted in the 5th of June draft, 1917. He left on the ship Mauretania from New York, July 30th, 1918. Otto belonged to 109th Infantry Regiment, the Machine Gun battalion, in the 28th Division, in the American Expeditionary Forces. Otto was killed not long after he arrived to the battlefield. He fell just on the start of the Meuse Argonne offensive, in the capture of Varennes, September 26th, 1918, where he was killed in action.

I so wonder what he felt in these moments …

He was buried in the Forest de Boureuilles, Farm de Rochamp, in Argonne, France, and he was later moved to the Meuse Argonne American Cemetery in November 21, 1920, where he has his stone today. Otto Erhard fell at an age of only 23. May Otto Erhard Peterson rest in peace.

I made a reflection last weekend, when I was over on a very interesting conference hosted by the eminent organisation Great War Group, and was able to listen to very professional individiuals who told me a lot about different historical moments, and I felt like “I must develop my own research in one or another direction, or must I do that?”

I have realised, that for many countries, who participated as a nation in the Great War, the question about that their people participated in the war is obvious. I can imagine that it is other aspects that is more natural to talk about when talking about the Great War, such as leadership, tactics, leaders and other subjects, to develop it in different directions.

I felt that I have to do that as well, but stopped for a minute in my thoughts. Do I have to do that? No, not yet.

I have realised that for us in Sweden we must first understand that it actually were Swedish born soldiers who participated in the War, even it we did not participate as a country. The other aspects in the research will come later on.

We protected ourselves, as our neighbours Denmark and Norway, and as a country we still were afraid for the large old enemy in the east, which in these times had their border right next to us. I dont blame my country for that.

So, I will continue to tell, everyone who wants to know, the history of the Swedish individuals who took their new friends from America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Great Britain and Germany in the hands and joined them in the fight at that time.

That will be my mission. There will be plenty of time to develop this at a later stage, I am pretty sure about that. So please join me on my quest. I hope you will find it interesting.

It has just started.