Category: Soldiers

Introduction

From the 17th century and mainly during the 19th century, thousands of Swedes emigrated to South Africa. The reasons were mainly trade, religion and work opportunities, especially to work in the gold and diamond mines.

There are still around 4000 Swedes living in the southern part of Africa, mainly in South Africa. (2021). The figures may differ in 2025, as no specific details are available at the moment.

When searching for Scandinavian names in the database of Commonwealth War Grave Commission I find a lot of names within this category. At the moment I have 188 Swedes who served and died in the Great War in my database. They are divided as follows; Canadian Units 118, Australian Units 60, New Zealand Units 3, British Units 6, and South African Units 1. (January 2026)

These figures may differ as I am still researching very actively within my subject.

The sailor from Stigsjö parish

Pvt Richard Emanuel Nydahl was born on May 17th, 1880 in Stigsjö parish in the Västernorrland county, in the landscape of Ångermanland. He was raised by his parents, his mother Katarina Theodora Anneli Charlotta Lundqvist, and his father Carl Gustaf Nydahl.

Richard Emanuel is noted as absent from early 1900 in the Swedish Church books, and there is no specific date when he emigrated from Sweden. It is common when it comes to those sailors who often left Sweden on their normal voyages and never came back, as they jumped ship in other countries, especially in North America, Australia, New Zealand, according to the facts about the other Swedish sailors I have in my research.

Richard ended up in Cape Town, South Africa and got married to Christina Holtmase in October 1904. His profession is then mentioned as Constable.

Military Service in the Boer War

Before he married Christina, Richard served in several units connected to South African Forces. From January 9th, 1901 to April 11th, 1901 he served in Warrens Mounted Infantry (WMI) and later joined the Cape Police from September 16th, 1901 to the end of Second Boer War, May 31st, 1902.

The unit served in different situations during the Boer War in normal war duties but also to to look after the numerous rebels and suspects who were caught during the actions.

I can see other Scandinavian names in the lists and will maybe one day look further into these as well.

Scandinavian units on the Boer side

Richard Nydahl fought on the British side during the Boer War, but there were quite many Scandinavians who fought on the Boer side. According to information on the web page angloboerwar.com, with the main source from the Swedish author Stellan Bojerud, there were around 58 Swedish volunteers together with individuals from Denmark, Norway and Finland. Below a photo of some of the Scandinavians, in the Scandinavian Corps, with their founder, Christer Uggla.

Service in the 1st South African Regiment

At the moment there is not so much information about rosters or other military service documents to find online about the soldiers who served in the South African units in the Great War. I have now emailed the South African National Archive and I hope they will be able to provide me with more information about the service of Richard Emanuel Nydahl.

Richard served in the 1st Battalion in the 1st South African Regiment, when he died from Influenza on October the 18th, 1918. I will try to find more information about when he joined the British Expeditionary Forces and where he served before he died.

He is today buried at the CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, just west of the Brookwood American Cemetery. You can read more about the Swedes in the American Cemetery in my previous article.

In the beginning his name was spelled with an M, Mydahl, but it was later changed to Nydahl, as shown on the photos to the right. Richard died at an age of 38.

It will be interesting to see if I can find more information about other Swedes who fought in South African units. May Richard Emanuel Nydahl rest in peace.

I will change my narrative.

I will develop my research to not only include the Swedish born soldiers, who fought and fell in the Great War, and are buried along the western front, In Belgium and France, but also those Swedes who became a soldier in an organisation, left their home base and went for service to another country.

I will include those who met their fate on their way to the battlefields, and those who were soldiers and officers who were placed behind the lines to support the others who went to the frontline.

I will also include those who served and survived, as I think their stories are very important to remember. They had the chance to tell the world when they came home, even if some of them just wanted to forget.

Does this mean that I will include those who went from their homes to the unit camps, but never left for service? Probably I will, but I will change this gradually, to maybe one day end up with a solid database with facts regarding all of those Swedish born soldiers and other individuals, like nurses, who became a person in a organisation and sacrificed their life trying their best to change the outcome of the Great War. I have now made a slight change to my title and subtitle on my web page, to reflect my expanding research.

I will remember them all.

Background

The armistice occurred on November 11th, 1918, at 11 minutes over 11 am, but the war continued after that on several other locations. According to Commonwealth War Grave Commission, CWGC, 31^st August 1921 marks the date when the First World War officially ended. It is also the date that the last casualties who died during or as a result of the conflict are commemorated by the Imperial War Graves Commission (IWGC).

The official, latest date for an American death in WWI, often recognized for eligibility for federal, government-furnished memorialization is also August 31^st, 1921.

The Swedes at Brookwood American Cemetery

In this small article I will mention some of those soldiers who went towards the battlefields, served in their units, but never came home again, even if they never saw the frontline.

This is not fully accurate, as one of the soldiers went down with a American transport ship, which was torpedoed by German submarines, and in my mind I call that a frontline as well, but not on land.

Pvt Charles E Anderson

Charles E Anderson was born as Karl Einar Per Andersson Zetterström in Johannes parish in Stockholm, on April 8th, 1896.

He emigrated from Sweden in September 1913, and lived in a hotel in Westwood, California, when he was drafted on June the 5th, 1917. I haven’t been able to find notes in the normal church books about his emigration, however, the old “Rådmansarkivet” from Stockholm, gave me some information.

On March 25th, 1918, he went over to Europe and was stationed in Stonehenge, England, with his unit, the 377th Aero Squadron. He never went over to France, as the unit served as an maintenance and support unit.

Charles died in an aircraft accident on October 30th, 1918, according to the American Burial card, even if the the book about the American soldiers says that he was killed in action. I haven’t been able to find other details at the moment about the accident. Charles was a Private and probably ground base personnel and highly likely not a pilot.

Pvt Anton W Lundell

Anton W Lundell was born as Anton Waldemar Hildebrand Lundell in Forserum parish, Jönköping county, on July 7th, 1893.

He emigrated from Sweden in June 1911, and lived in Chicago Heights, Illinois, when he was drafted on June the 5th, 1917.

On May 23rd, 1918, he was on his way over to Europe with his unit, the 58th American Infantry Regiment, 4th Division, when their steamship “Moldavia”with reinforcement soldiers was struck by a torpedo from a German submarine. 480 soldiers from the regiment was onboard the ship and 55 soldiers from Company B went down with the ship.

According to the British War Department the soldiers should have been on deck when passing a dangerous zone, but there hasn’t been proved that the soldiers were inside the ship or on deck when the torpedo struck the ship, or if some of the soldiers were stationed according to the rules. Anton is mentioned on the wall of the missing at the Brookwood Cemetery.

Pvt Alfred Nelson

Alfred Nelson was born as Alfred Nilsson in Trolle Ljungby parish, Kristianstad parish, on September 13, 1886.

He emigrated from Sweden to North America in March, 1903, and he lived in Welch, Goodhue county, Minnesota, when he was drafted on June 5th, 1917.

Alfred left the USA with his unit, Company A, 332nd Machine Gun Battalion, 86th Division, on September 11th, 1918. Alfred had just arrived to England when he sadly died from the cause of Pneumonia on September 28, 1918. That cause of death was very common during the actual period.

Many American soldiers were ill already in America, and the “Spanish Flu” spread quickly among the soldiers, and was brought over to the units already in England and France. The flu was not originated from Spain, but from Kansas in the USA, in the beginning of 1918.

Pvt 1/cl. John Gunnard Sandquist

John Gunnard Sandquist was born as Johan August Gunnar Sandquist in Åseda parish, Kronoberg county, in Småland, on September 4th, 1891.

John emigrated from Sweden to North America in August 1906, and he lived in Avalon, Rock county, Wisconsin, when he was drafted on June 5th, 1917.

He left the USA with his unit, Company L, 343rd Infantry Regiment, 86th Division, somewhere between 2nd and 14th of September, 1918. The 86th Division arrived England before the units were deployed to France. Like Alfred Nelson, John became ill and died of Pneumonia on October 9th, 1918.

Pvt Edwin Swanson

Edwin Swanson is believed to be born as Edvin Svensson in Halland county in Sweden. I haven’t been able to confirm him in any Swedish church book, however, Edwin mentioned in his draft that he was born in Linköping, Östergötland, on July 11th, 1894, but in his American Naturalisation papers he wrote that he was born on July 12th, 1894.

On one page on Ancestry he is mentioned to be born in Genkoping, which is interpreted as Jönköping, which is a town 130 km south of Linköping. I have tried every combination, but still not able to find any correct Edvin in the Swedish church books.

Edwin mentioned in his American Naturalisation papers that he emigrated from Sweden in 1911. He lived in Reynolds, Rock Island county, Illinois when he was drafted on June 5th, 1917. He signed his papers in the camp and got married to his wife Grace before he left for Europe.

Edwin left the USA for England with his unit, Company C, 333rd Machine Gun Battalion, 86th Division, on the same date as John Gunnard Sandquist, between 2nd and 14th of September, 1918. As the latest two soldiers mentioned above, Edwin also died of Pneumonia, on September 29th, 1918.

Edwin, John Gunnard and Alfred, all died of Pneumonia, and they all belonged to 86th Division, in the 332nd, 333rd and 343rd Infantry Regiments, and they all went over in the same period. The Flu could have been brought on the sam ship or among the soldiers within the same Division.

I haven’t been able to find if they went over on the same vessel, when they went over to Europe and England.

None of the soldiers mentioned above reached the Frontline in France or Belgium, but they were soldiers in units meant to participate in the War, and that is the reason for why I choose to commemorate them as well. They are all today buried and commemorated in the Brookwood American Cemetery in Surrey, south.west of London in England.

In addition to those five soldiers mentioned above, there is one more who is mentioned on the wall of the missing at the Brookwood American Cemetery. He is the Medal of Honor recipient Gustaf Adolph Sundquist.

You can read more about him in my article through this link.

So far I have only mentioned those who fought and fell, or died of disease in Belgium or France, along the Western Front, in my database, and I have so far noted 595 soldiers within those criteria.

I will now change my narrative to also include the circumstances around the Swedish born soldiers mentioned above, together with those I know will fall within my now extended criteria, as I think they deserve it.

Through this extended criteria, I have now passed the 600 number in my database, and it will be more. They are not forgotten.

We will remember them.

Sometimes intense situations in life can lead to completely new tracks. I was reading digitized old Swedish newspapers from the period between 1914 to 1921, to scan them for interesting information about Swedish born soldiers and their fate during the Great War.

Most of the information is dark and tragic, but this time a small note caught my eyes.

“A Swedish-French War Wedding”. Of course I had to investigate it further about what these words meant.

The small note described the wedding between the Swedish born Sergeant in the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), Nils Widstrand, and miss Marthe Dubeau.

Nils Widstrand was born as Nils Wilhelm Gösta Widstrand in Hedvig Eleonora parish in Stockholm, September 2nd, 1895. He grew up in Stockholm and became a reporter as a son to a Swedish Publisher, his father Otto Wilhelm Widstrand.

Nils emigrated from Sweden through Norway, to North America in 1916, and lived in Toledo, Lucas, Ohio, when he was drafted on June 5th, 1917. He went over to France with his unit, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, AEF, in November 1917.

In July 1918 his unit was ordered to take a village near Soissons. The name of the village is not known. When I read about the fightings in the history of the 1st Division, and the fightings in July, 1918, it can have been the village of Saconin-et-Breuil, just South-West of Soissons.

The unit with Nils Widstrand reached and took their objectives, and they also took some German prisoners, and put them in a basement. When the situation was over it showed that the Germans had taken some women and had kept them as prisoners. Two specific women showed up. The younger of them turned up to be Marie Madelaine Marthe Dubeau, said in the article to be the daughter of a French Captain, Victor Dubeau, who , according to the daughter, had fallen in the War.

I haven’t been able to find a document that shows the death of a French Captain called Victor Dubeau, but I will ask some of my fellow Great War connections in the Great War Group, if they can help me. It may be some different spellings in the French documents.

Marie Dubeau was born in Montendre, France, on June 25th, 1898. She was raised by her mother Louise Virginie Bernard and her father, Victor Dubeau.

She was, according to the article, very happy to have been released from the Germans soldiers by the American soldiers. Marie said that she wanted to wait in the village before she was sure that her father had received a proper burial.

Then everything seems to have happened very fast.

Nils Widstrand left France with his unit in September 1919. Nils and Marie got married in Bourges in France on July 31st, when Nils still was in France. When I look into some archives it seems like Nils got naturalized through American authorities in Germany in December 1918.

According to the documents found in archives Marie applied for travel documents, to be able to travel to the USA, in August 1918. The document was only valid in France, and for the voyage to the USA.

In the States the Swedish-French couple became parents to two children, their son Herbert, born in November 1919, just a few months after Nils arrived from France, and their daughter Anne Ester, born in December 1920.

I have managed to find some photos that shows Nils, Marie, Henry, and Anne Ester.

The photo of Nils and Henry is from a passport application in 1921, when Nils went home to Sweden to visit his father. Nils mother died in 1910, and his father remarried in 1913. The other photo of Marie and her daughter Anne Ester is from a passport application in November 1921, when they went to Sweden to meet up with the rest of the family.

The adventure that started during an American attack on German positions, which lead to a marriage between a Swedish born soldier and a French girl, lead to a family of four and ended with the family moving to Sweden.

Nils and Marie both died 1960. Marie died in April 1960, and Nils died in November 1960. From the Swedish census documents I know that their son Herbert lived with his parents in Stockholm 1940. The daughter Anne Ester got married to Hans Tillberg in Sweden 1940. I find her living with her parents in Solna, Stockholm, in 1950.

Both Nils and Marie are buried in Norra begravningsplatsen Cemetery in Solna, Stockholm.

I was glad to find this information in the old Swedish newspaper, that shows that not only bad things comes out from war, even if that is true in most cases.

I hope the family had a good life in Sweden. I hope I will find out how it went with Marie’s father Victor Dubeau, the French officer, who died in the war, when searching for more information in the future.