Introduction
In July this year I tried to make my database in my research about the Swedish born soldiers to be more complete. In this case to add photographs of their final resting places, their headstones and the names on the memorials, where those Swedes who doesn’t have a known grave, are commemorated.
In my mind I thought I had everything under control regarding what places I have visited, and the photographs taken during my earlier trips, but no. It turned out to be a quite large work, to find the correct photos and save them with the correct names and so on.
I thought I had made a complete list of which photos I miss, and before this trip I made a list of the places to visit, came home, just to discover that I have several names which I have missed to put up on my Google Earth project map, which is one of the cornerstones in my work. So, there are still Swedes out there, that has to be visited, even in places I visited this time, and have visited before.
That is a quite pleasant problem though, as I have to visit those places again, which I gladly do. I must have my little Swedish flag on the photos, I must fulfill this task, not letting anyone out there to be forgotten.
The first soldier
The first soldier that I had on my list to visit was Charles Franklin. He was born as Karl Magnus Fryklund in Hudiksvall parish in Gävleborgs county, Sweden. He was born on July 31st, 1888.
He emigrated from Sweden around 1909-1910 and entered Brisbane as a sailor in 1911. The Swedish church books noted him as absent around 1909-1910. He probably jumped ship in Australia, as many of the Swedish sailors, who, for different reasons, joined the Australian Imperial Forces around the outbreak of the Great War. He joined the AIF in 1915, and went to war.
In his attestation papers he stated that he was born in Canada. There can be several reasons for that, like he thought it could be a risk to mention that he was a Swede, who at that time could be looked upon, to be more loyal to the enemy, the Germans. It could also just been easier for him to write Canada, as he probably were there before he entered Australia.
His parents Magnus and Emma emigrated to North America in 1914, and lived in Duluth at the time of Charles death. Karl was initially Missing, but later on declared Killed in action, July 20th, 1916, in the battle of Fromelles.
Today you can find his name on the V.C Corner Cemetery and Memorial, near the village of Fromelles in France.
V.C. Corner Cemetery was made after the Armistice. It contains the graves of 410 Australian soldiers who died in the Attack at Fromelles and whose bodies were found on the battlefield, but not a single body could be identified. It was therefore decided not to mark the individual graves, but to record on a memorial the names of all the Australian soldiers who were killed in the engagement and whose graves were not known. The memorial, designed by Sir Herbert Baker, was built to commemorate nearly 1,300 Australian casualties.
The document below is a text from witnesses of his death, that explains the situation when Karl was killed in action.
If you ever will pass the village of Fromelles, you must visit the museum about the battle of Fromelles. I was lucky to meet one of the staff, Geoffrey Bouillet, one of those who are doing a great work in commemorating those soldiers who fell for the Australian Imperial Force in the battle.
Mass grave in Pheasant Wood
After the battle of Fromelles, the Germans collected 250 soldiers who were later buried at Pheasant Wood, close to the Museum, just a few minutes from the V.C Corner Memorial. The 55th was fighting in the vicinity of the grave site and, as of 2024, 17 of the 46 unidentified soldiers from the 55th battalion have been able to be identified by DNA matching from family members.
They have been formally recognized in the Pheasant Wood Cemetery. A total of 180 soldiers have been identified. Karl could be one of the remaining 70 unidentified soldiers from the grave.
We will remember them.