My previous article about the Swedes in the Austria-Hungarian army during the Great War received a lot of very interesting comments, and I have decided to write a small follow-up article about another Swede, Gösta Melin, who also served in the Austria-Hungarian Army for one and a half year, before he joined the Polish Legion and their activities in Lemberg (Today called Lviv) and in Przemysl during late 1918 and in the beginning of 1919.
Gösta Melin
Gösta Melin was born in the parish of Gothenburg Domkyrka on July 11th, 1899. He was raised by his mother Anna Gernandt, born in Germany as Anna Levisson, and his stepfather, Major in the Swedish Army, Herman Christian Ferdinand Gernandt.
Gösta’s real father was Ernst Waldemar Melin, and Gösta kept his surname Melin after Ernst.
It is very interesting to read about Gösta’s experience from the Great War, as he started as a very young soldier in the Austria-Hungarian Army, to later join the Polish Legion.
Below I have decided to give you the transcribed version of one of his stories, that I found in the Swedish Newspaper “Svenska Dagbladet” from March 24th, 1919.
A recent Sunday supplement of *Svenska Dagbladet* featured a dispatch from Lemberg by a correspondent writing under the pseudonym “Hake.” It told the story of a young Swedish ensign whom everyone praised for great bravery, yet whose name—beyond “Gustaf”—was unknown to all.
This brave Swedish ensign is Lieutenant Melin, stepson of Major Gernandt of Stockholm; (born in Malmö) he is currently visiting his homeland to recover from shattered nerves. He is staying at Saltsjöbaden, where a *Svenska Dagbladet* reporter spoke with the admired young man on Sunday.
“I haven’t performed any miracles,” he says modestly. “If I ever did anything worthwhile during my service with the Polish Officers’ Legion, it was simply what all my comrades were doing all along—and still do. The Polish officers are truly extraordinarily brave and courageous men; it has been, and will continue to be, a pleasure to serve alongside them.”
Lieutenant Melin is only 19 years old. Before joining the Polish Officers’ Legion as an ensign, he had served in the Austrian army for about a year and a half. He began his participation in the Polish war of independence in Kraków and subsequently took part in the relief expedition to Przemyśl and the storming of Lemberg on November 20–21 of last year (1918). Shortly after the latter battle, he was promoted to lieutenant and awarded the Lemberg Cross of Liberty. He has also received the decoration awarded to officers who led the infantry at the forefront of the action at Przemyśl.
In the text above it is mentioned that he received the “Lemberg Cross of Liberty”. I haven’t been able to find what decoration that is, and if anyone know what decoration they could have meant, please comment below.
Update: Through great help by Gregory Benu on Twitter I can here below present a photo believed to be the “Lemberg Cross of Liberty“. Together with the medal the recipients also received a Diploma, also shown below.
Although, as I understand, the decoration which was awarded to the officers who were in the frontline in Przemyśl, can be the decoration illustrated below. If you are of another opinion, please let me know by commenting this article below.
The article continues:
The struggle down there, says Lieutenant Melin, is a war in miniature—a war marked by great cruelty and horror. The Ukrainian hordes rampage in the most atrocious manner, and the Polish population will never forget the unspeakable deeds they committed in Lemberg. Before evacuating the city, they slashed all the precious and historically invaluable paintings in the town hall, and all prisoners were murdered and mutilated in the most gruesome fashion.
I myself saw a 17-year-old Ukrainian girl who, during the fighting at Spoiska outside Lemberg, stabbed a Polish legionnaire seven times with a large kitchen knife until the poor man died. I have also seen the corpses of Polish soldiers whose eyes had been gouged out and tongues cut off—to say nothing of other horrors. During the capture of Janow, the detachment commander—a Polish captain and one of the finest men in the officers’ legion—along with a lieutenant, had ridden slightly ahead of their troops into a village that turned out to be occupied by Ukrainians.
The two officers were forced to dismount and take refuge in a house, where they were soon discovered by the enemy. When the Polish unit entered the village just half an hour later, the captain had already suffered several broken ribs from rifle-butt blows, and the lieutenant had been wounded by multiple shots.
Lieutenant Melin has much to tell about the atrocities committed by the Ukrainians and Russians, and he cannot help but breathe a sigh of relief at having escaped as lightly as he did. He was wounded only once—and then only slightly—though he often heard bullets whistling past him by mere millimeters; on one occasion, a rifle bullet even grazed his neck, burning a long, narrow strip into his skin. During a single skirmish, one of his comrades was struck by fifteen bullets but wounded by only one; the others had merely hit his binocular case, helmet, map satchel, and so forth.
It does not surprise Lieutenant Melin at all that the Poles know him only by the name Gustaf. Throughout his time there, he was known simply as “our Swedish brother,” so he is pleasantly surprised that they at least remember his first name.
In a few months, Lieutenant Melin will return to Poland to resume his service. During his time as a legionnaire, he has grown deeply attached to the Polish people; words fail him when trying to express his admiration for their courage, hospitality, self-sacrifice, and truly admirable conduct.
I find this very interesting compared to the situation we witness today, in the war in Ukraine. Back then the situation was completely different, and in between we also have experienced the Second World War.
I have also been able to find Gösta’s card of conscription to Swedish Army. In the Swedish text below his service in the different armies is mentioned. He served in the Austria-Hungarian Army from 1917, at an age of 18, and then later on in the Polish Legion.
I understand that he also served in Latvia after the War, and wrote a lot of articles about the activities in Latvia at the time. In the articles it is mentioned that he is a Captain in the General Staff of the Latvian Forces. He must have experienced a lot. Below a photo from one of his articles the magazine “Hvar 8 dag”
The eminent Swedish Authors Lars Gyllenhaal and Lennart Westberg has also been writing about Gösta Melin in his second version of “Svenska i Krig”, Swedes in Wars, and also in the book “Svenskar under Järnkorset”, Swedes under the Iron Cross.
In my bookshelf at the moment, I only have the first version of Swedes in Wars, but I will get myself a copy of the the second book, and also the Swedes under the Iron Cross, to read more about Gösta.
Gösta sadly died quite young already on May 6th, 1945, suffering from kidney problems, and he is today buried in Gustav Vasa columbarium in Stockholm.
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