As you can see in my earlier blog posts, I am telling the stories about the soldiers I visited on my last tour to the battlefields in Belgium and France, earlier in July, 2025
This is the story about the seventh soldier I visited during my tour.
Oskar Oder
Oskar Oder was born as Olof Oskar Öder i Järvsö parish in Gävleborgs county, Sweden, on May 11th, 1894.
He was raised by his mother Anna Andersdotter Forsgren and his father, the former soldier Olof Öder. Oscar was born before his parents were married and is therefore noted as “illigemite” in the book of birth, in the Swedish archives.
Oskar emigrated from Sweden to North America in April 1913, and when he signed his Canadian Military attestation papers he stated that he lived in Dubuc, Saskatchewan, Canada. He stated that his Next of Kin was his grandfather Olof Öder, but he was his father. The reason for why he said that is unknown. He also wrote his place of birth as “Jarvesund” but that should be Järvsö in Swedish.
Oskar is one of three soldiers in my research who were born in Järvsö parish.
I have always wondered if they were interviewed during this process, and that another person filled the papers in for them, or if they wrote the information by themselves. Maybe it was a combination. If anyone knows, don’t hesitate to inform me.
Oskar arrived to England with his unit on May 14th, 1917, and was then sent overseas to France on September 7th, 1917, and joined the 27th Canadian Infantry Battalion. Oscar is the only soldier in my research who belonged to the 27th battalion.
He was killed in action on April 26th, 1918, when he was fighting with his unit in the area east of Mercatel in France. The unit diary stated that one Other Ranks was killed during the day, and that was Oskar. The casualty card says only “killed in action” and mention the location as “Trenches east of Mercatel” It could be close to the area seen on the map below.
Oskar is buried in Bellacourt Military Cemetery in the commune of Riviere in France. It is a very nice cemetery built on a little slope, just below a field.
He will not be forgotten.