I am finally back again after a large Army Exercise Nordic Polar region, and it feels great to write some small articles again. Why not connect the article to what happened just about 108 years ago?
So far I have documented 12 Swedish born individuals in my database, who fought and fell on the German side in the Great War.
There are more of them, who were born in Sweden, however, they were raised by German parents, and so far I only put those who were born and raised by Swedish parents into my research.
Two of them died during the first days of the German Operation Michael, which started the German Spring Offensive, 108 years ago, on March 21st, 1918. The Spring Offensive consisted of four operations, Michael, Georgette, Gneisenau and Blücher-Yorck. There was also a fifth one, Operation Marne-Reims who often is called The second Battle of the Marne, during July 15th to 17th, 1918.
The Operation Michael was the main attack, which was intended to break through the Allied lines, outflank the British forces and defeat the British Army. Once that was achieved, it was hoped that the French would seek armistice terms.
Operation Michael started on March 21st, 1918, and ended on April 5th, 1918. Below there is a map which explains the progress.
Much of the ground fought over was the wilderness left by the Battle of the Somme in 1916. The action was therefore officially named by the British Battles Nomenclature Committee as The First Battles of the Somme, 1918, whilst the French call it the Second Battle of Picardy (2ème Bataille de Picardie).
The failure of the offensive marked the beginning of the end of the First World War for Germany. The arrival in France of large reinforcements from the United States replaced Entente casualties but the German Army was unable to recover from its losses before these reinforcements took the field.
Operation Michael failed to achieve its objectives and the German advance was reversed during the Second Battle of the Somme, 1918 (21 August – 3 September) in the Allied Hundred Days Offensive. (Wikipedia)
The soldiers
Harry Carlsson was born in Slöta parish in the county of Skaraborg, in the landscape of Västergötland. He was born as Harry Patrik Hilding Carlsson on November 12th, 1882. He was raised by his parents, his mother Anna Elisabeth Peterson, and his father Gustaf Carlsson.
Harry was a soldier in his life and soul, although in his private life he was very calm. When it became serious he quickly became very determined and did not let any resistant to break him down. Early in his life he became an officer after his education at Karlberg Military Academy in Stockholm. He later became a lieutenant at Uppsala Artillery Regiment, north of Stockholm in Sweden. However, he wasn’t satisfied, the life as an officer in Sweden was to simple and calm, and he was looking for more adventure in his life.
He left the Swedish Army, and went down to Argentina in South America to search for adventure, which he got a lot of, and soon the thoughts of “Away is good but home is best” grabbed him. The war broke out and as a person Harry was quite determined to fight for the Germanic cause, but it wasn’t easy for him to go back to Europe, as he lacked money.
During a couple of months he worked his way up to Buenos Aires on the Argentinian coast, and finally managed to reach Sweden. Shortly after reaching Sweden, he decided to travel to Berlin to apply for the German Army. He understood that the fastest time to become a German citizen was about nine months.
It was really hard for Harry to become an officer in the German Army, and he said to himself “if they don’t want me as an officer I can become a private, because I think I am good at something”
It would have been much easier for Harry to just go back to Sweden again, but he was determined. He finally became a German citizen, and immediately began the training. This was in May 1916. He advanced quickly in the ranks and became corporal, and after that a German Sergeant Major.
He participated in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, which became a very hard experience for his unit. He avoided to become a victim, but experienced an eye infection due to the the environment of the heavy bombardment . He was treated in hospital, and after his time in the hospital he received a couple of weeks off and went to his relatives in Sweden, in March 1917.
For his actions during the battle of the Somme he received the Iron Cross and became a Lieutenant. After his trip to Sweden he went back to the war, and spent a short period on the Eastern Front before he went back to the Western Front just when the German Spring Offensive began.
He fought for the German 27th Infantry Regiment and he was just about to become a battalion commander but on March 23, 1918, the death reached him, when leading his unit, positioned in the front of the advancement.
According to an eyewitness, who was interviewed by a Swedish journalist, when the German soldier was on leave in Berlin, Harry shouted “Alle Mann raus” before he went over the top and headed towards a small wood where the englishmen had mounted their machine guns, that day, on the 23rd of March. Harry fell after have been hit by a bullet through his heart, and his “Feldwebel” was also dead, laying over Harry, after have been trying to help him. Harry was initially buried where he fell. He was, according to the eyewitness, a very good officer, adored by his soldiers.
I visited his grave in Viry-Noureuil German Cemetery north-west of Chauny in France, in May 2023, and put a Swedish flag at the side of his cross.
Olof Hedengren
The, so far known, second of the Swedish born individuals who fell for the German Army during Operation Michael , is Olof Hedengren.
Olof was born in Örebro parish in the landscape of Närke in Sweden, on September 18, 1890. He was raised by his mother Gerda Lillienhöök and his father, the Lieutenant Colonel in the Örebro Grenadier Regiment, Josef Hedengren.
Olof decided not to follow in his footsteps and decided to strengthen his knowledge in languages which he studied in both Germany and North America. He fulfilled his conscript period at the Lifeguard Regiment. He spent a few years as a businessman, however, driven by his thoughts about the military life, he decided he left Sweden for Germany in 1916.
Olof did not study at the Karlberg Military Academy, as Harry did. Olof volunteered in the German Army, and was placed in the 20th German Infantry Regiment, the Graf Tauentzien von Wittenberg Regiment. In December 1916 he served at the Western Front and climbed quickly in his ranks.
He received the Iron Cross in September 1917, after his actions during a night patrol in the French Trenches during the Second battle of the Aisne in the fightings near Chemin des Dames.
He went home to Sweden for a short visit during Christmas time in 1917, before he went back to the Front again.
Olof fell on March 24th, 1918, near the area of Golancourt, a small village between the villages of Ham and Noyon in France. He is today buried in the Manicourt German Cemetery, east of Amiens, not very far from Harry Carlsson.
I visited him on the same day as my visit to Harry Carlsson, and took a photo of his cross together with his photo and a Swedish flag.
Harry’s name is on the board in the chapel of Karlberg Military Academy, where the students who fell in foreign armies are mentioned. Harry is mentioned but Olof wasn’t a student, and his name is therefore not on the board.
Later in April, 1918, another Swede, Markus Grundberg, fell during the Operation Georgette, further up north along the front, in Belgium.
Operation Georgette was originally planned by General Erich Ludendorff as Operation George but was reduced to Operation Georgette, with the objective of capturing Ypres, forcing the British forces back to the Channel ports and out of the war. In planning, execution and effects, Georgette was similar to (although smaller than) Operation Michael, earlier in the Spring Offensive.
The story about Markus Grundberg I will tell another time, I have his notes from his letters to Sweden, and they contain very interesting information.
May they all rest in peace.