Category: Soldiers

This evening I am searching in some other archives than usual, and I came across one interesting document about a Swedish 2.Lt, who seems to have been killed in action in the Meuse Argonne Offensive in 1918. It turned out to be an interesting story.

The Swedish born soldier Nils Johan Holm, stated as Nils Holm in the documents from the American Expeditionary Forces, was born in Harg parish in Östhammar, Stockholm, Sweden, and in his younger years he was raised by his parents Sofia Lovisa Traneus and Carl Robert Holm.

But when looking into the Swedish church books it looks like his parents went over to North America in 1898, leaving Nils Johan and his brother Karl Ludvig in Sweden by their mother’s parents, Gustaf Fredrik Traneus and his wife Katarina Karolina Lundin.

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I also find in the church book a vague note about that Nils is leaving Sweden for North America in 1907, at an age of 16, and I can later on confirm that through documents about his emigration. It also looks like the family is reunited in North America, in the town of New York.

Nils is drafted in the 5th of June draft in 1917, and he is sent over to France in April 1918. Articles in Swedish-American newspapers tells the story about Nils, that he went over as a private, but quite soon showed some skills in leadership, and was sent to an officer course in France, and became 2nd Lt in the 4th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Division, American Expeditionary Forces.

He was appointed to 2nd Lt in October 1st, 1918, quite fast progression, for a reason not known.

Nils was fighting in the Meuse Argonne Offensive when he was killed in action october 31st, 1918. His name is found in the Missing in Action tablet in Meuse Argonne American Cemetery, in France. The two newpaper articles is in Swedish, but I have made a short summary in this post.

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It is very interesting to find the story about Nils, when reading the old digitised newspapers, which tells the story about about a young Swede who lived in New York, after have emigrated in quite young age, and how he worked as a private driver to a leader in the paper industry in New York, Alvah Miller.

We now know that he in in 1917 became connected to the Army, and later on went over to France.

The interesting with this result in my research is that I did not find Nils through the normal casualty cards from AEF, but from the cards in the New York archive with abstracts from WW1.

That leads me into thoughts that it may be more soldiers that doesn’t have a casualty card, but anyway became killed on the battlefield, which may mean that there are more Swedes to find? The future will tell.

Nils is now #401 in my research and within my criterias over Swedes who fell at the Western Front in the Great War. Maybe one day Nils will be found, and maybe he will get his own headstone. May Nils rest in peace.

Let’s stop and reflect for a while.

It is a special feeling to actually find and track down, in my research, within my criterias, Swedish born soldier number 400. I remember when I found number 100, and felt that, wow … 100, for me, unknown Swedish born soldiers who had died at the Western Front and are buried there. Amazing, I thought then.

Then I was grabbed by the constant drive to see if it were more of those, who left the mother country, for different reasons, and went over to their new country, a new life, an unknown life, who either went well, or became totally different.

I am so in to this. My feeling for those individuals are just growing stronger and stronger for every day. They are my precious in a way, hard to describe. Call me mad, but when looking into their eyes, I almost can here them talk to me. The Swedish people have to know, a lot of our sons at that time grabbed a weapon for a nation quite new to them, to fight the enemy, and to give their life on the battlefield. For that, in my eyes, they are worth all respect.

So, number 400. Who is he? We talk about Otto Erhard Peterson, born in Gislövs läge in Trelleborg on the most southern coast of Sweden in Skåne county.

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When looking into the Swedish church books you will find him with different names, and the name which is registered in the book is actually Otto Eihard, not the most common names i Sweden at that time. He is also called Otto Richard, but Otto Erhard is also mentioned, and that is also with that name he is registered in the American Expeditionary Forces.

Otto Erhard is born March 10th, 1895, and raised by his parents Cecilia Eriksson and Peter Olsson. He has probably his surname Pettersson after his father, Peter.

He is one of three kids in the family. It is not known what made him emigrate to North America in June 13th, 1913. He arrived in Jamestown, Virginia July 4th, 1913, and departed from Malmö in Sweden, quite near from his home.

When finding other documents in different archives, it is not easy for those who is reading and writing his home address. We find “Frelleburg, Galorlage, Sweden”, “Gislous Lage Trallshorg”, and it is actually Gislövs Läge, Trelleborg.

He was drafted in the 5th of June draft, 1917. He left on the ship Mauretania from New York, July 30th, 1918. Otto belonged to 109th Infantry Regiment, the Machine Gun battalion, in the 28th Division, in the American Expeditionary Forces. Otto was killed not long after he arrived to the battlefield. He fell just on the start of the Meuse Argonne offensive, in the capture of Varennes, September 26th, 1918, where he was killed in action.

I so wonder what he felt in these moments …

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He was buried in the Forest de Boureuilles, Farm de Rochamp, in Argonne, France, and he was later moved to the Meuse Argonne American Cemetery in November 21, 1920, where he has his stone today. Otto Erhard fell at an age of only 23. May Otto Erhard Peterson rest in peace.

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I made a reflection last weekend, when I was over on a very interesting conference hosted by the eminent organisation Great War Group, and was able to listen to very professional individiuals who told me a lot about different historical moments, and I felt like “I must develop my own research in one or another direction, or must I do that?”

I have realised, that for many countries, who participated as a nation in the Great War, the question about that their people participated in the war is obvious. I can imagine that it is other aspects that is more natural to talk about when talking about the Great War, such as leadership, tactics, leaders and other subjects, to develop it in different directions.

I felt that I have to do that as well, but stopped for a minute in my thoughts. Do I have to do that? No, not yet.

I have realised that for us in Sweden we must first understand that it actually were Swedish born soldiers who participated in the War, even it we did not participate as a country. The other aspects in the research will come later on.

We protected ourselves, as our neighbours Denmark and Norway, and as a country we still were afraid for the large old enemy in the east, which in these times had their border right next to us. I dont blame my country for that.

So, I will continue to tell, everyone who wants to know, the history of the Swedish individuals who took their new friends from America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Great Britain and Germany in the hands and joined them in the fight at that time.

That will be my mission. There will be plenty of time to develop this at a later stage, I am pretty sure about that. So please join me on my quest. I hope you will find it interesting.

It has just started.

When you are stuck sometimes in your research, and you feel that you have tested everything with the facts that you have, but it doesnt lead you forward, that is so frustrating.

That was the case in my latest find in trying to confirm a soldier that I found in a American National Archive. I have saved this casualty card for a while, as I by those moments did not find any facts that really confirmed that he was born in Sweden, and I gave up many times.

So, last evening, I just guessed about his real name, and it turned out to be the solution, that finally revealed everything. Strange but nice!

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The card of the American soldier named Fritz Erickson, Killed in Action October 1st, 1918, fighting for 111th Regiment, 28th AEF Division. It can be read on the card that he previous was reported to have died of wounds received in action November 11, 1918, but was later changed. He was earlier also stated as missing in action.

The card says that his mother is Maria Ivanson from Lilla Ryd, Holje, Sweden. So that gives me a hint that Fritz actually can be born in Sweden. At the backside of the card it says that Maria probably has the Surname of Svenson. That is a lead in some way.

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When searching at ancestry I get some results that says that Fritz was born July 14, 1892, in Sweden, in the village of Holjo, and that he was killed November 11th. But we know the date is wrong and changed to October 1st, 1918. There is no village called Holjo, and I am trying other variants like Höljö, Håljo, Holjö etc, but no luck.

I find Lilla Ryd, but there are many small places in Sweden called Lilla Ryd, as it means small cultivated field, or small open Fields so you can imagine … There is no place called Lilla Ryd near anything that could be Holjo.

I am searching for Maria – Lilla Ryd – with Fritz, but no results …

On ancestry it says that he is born in Höljes, Norway, october 1st, 1918, so I think maybe he is not a Swede after all … ?

But I know there is nothing called Lilla Ryd in Norway, Lilla Ryd is a common Swedish expression, and I think that it is like the most common situation, that the parents often stayed at home or nearby, where the kids were born, especially for those soldiers who emigrated alone, or without parents.

So what to do? Maybe Fritz has another name? What could it then be? And here comes my guess. Maybe Fritz is the old Swedish name Fritiof?

Bang on! I search for Fritiof, born July 14th, 1892, and there he is. There is also a Maria Svenson, his mother , and also a father called Erik Svensson. Erickson comes from his fathers name, and Fritiof is Eriks son, Eriksson. And what about Lilla Ryd? It is not Lilla Ryd, it is Ry Lilla …

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So finally I can say that it is highly likely that this is the correct individual. In the church book I can also read that Fritiof left Sweden in 1912, for North America, in the age of 20. The conscript age at that time in Sweden was 21, so many, many Swedes left just before, to not risk to be called in for duty in the Swedish army.

Fritiof called himself Fritz E according to the casualty card, but the E is taken away for some reason, and Fritiof also have the name Erik which explains the E, probably from his father.

Fritiof was registered in June 5th, 1917, and left for France with 40th Division in August 11, 1918. Fritiof were later on heavily involved in the Meuse Argonne Offensive with 28th Division, especially between September 26 to October 9, which is the period in which Fritiof payed the ultimate price at the battlefield. Fritiof is buried at Meuse Argonne American cemetery in France. May he rest in Peace.

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Somtimes I come across really difficult data in my research work, but it doesnt make me give up. I get a strong feeling of really trying to solve it, to confirm that I actually have found a soldier that is born in Sweden. Below you can read about my research that finally led to the correct data, and confirmation.

I am searching in different digtal archives, and in this case I had a soldier in my notes that I have tried to confirm earlier, but did not understand the data, and it did not lead me in the right direction. This Individual was Conrad Allisson who fought for the Canadian Expeditionary Forces in WW1.

The papers states that he died of Wounds in April 21st, 1917, near Vimy, France, after has been shot in the left leg which led to amputation, and together with upcoming Pneumonia, he died. I also see that he is buried at Boulogne Eastern Cemetery in France. But who is this Conrad, which papers say that he is born in Sweden?

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I use Ancestry Archive when searching for data, together with the Canadian National digital Archive, and I find data that tell something about his date of birth and location of birth, and also some names of relatives.

The papers say that he is born in Ospefalla, Rafveinata. I see that his mother is Anna Niklasson. I cant find any Conrad (Konrad) who is born at the date he specifies in his regitration papers, and decide to search for Anna. But where? I see a note about Ospefalla, which also is noted as Askefalla, and I try to google it. I find Åskefälla, and I see that Rafveinata is probably Räfvemåla, later on Rävemåla. It must be this. I decide to search for Anna and Konrad at the place Åskefälla. (Arkiv Digital) And there it is.

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Conrads father in this archive is Elias, and Conrads Surname probably comes from Elias son, which will be Eliasson, and in english it sounds like Allisson. That means also that I probably have found the correct individual. Anna is actually Amanda, but a note in the church book says Anna, above Amanda. Conrads father is Elias Niklasson, which explain the name Anna Niklasson.

The person Andrew who is mentioned in the papers is probably Anders, Conrads brother, who is mentioned incorrectly as father in the papers. Anders follows Conrad to North America in 1911, Conrad left already in 1906, and I assume they lived together in Pincher Creek, Alberta, Canada.

Conrad (Konrad Vitalis Leonard) is born in Älmesboda Parish February 8th, 1891, not in November 2nd, 1893, as he states in the registration papers. That made it difficult to search through date of birth, but through his mothers name and Askefalla, I finally found the correct family.

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Conrad first belonged to 13th Canadian Mounted Rifles but was moved to Royal Canadian Regiment, a Infantry Regiment, when he was injured and later on died of his wounds. Conrad is today buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery in France, a cemetery that is the final resting place for victims in both World Wars. May Conrad rest in peace.

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In my database I have around 16 Swedish born soldiers who fought in the French foreign legion during The Great War, and fell at the Western Front. It is very hard to find information about these soldiers.

Now a relative to one of the soldiers, Emile Benzien, has contacted me. Emile´s brother´s grandchild, Bengt.

Bengt contacted me through the contact form at my home page which you will find in the main menu. It is really interesting to read the words from Bengt, as we realized this is the Emile Benzien that he is related to.

Emile Benzien was born as Emil Herman Benzien i Vänersborg May 31st, 1890 and raised by his Swedish mother Anna Charlotta Karlsdotter and his German father Paul Emil Benzien.

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Bengt has told me some words about the family, and he will also try to talk more with his mother, who is still alive at an age of 97. Emile was the youngest son in the family of 8 cildren, and he was born in Sweden. His mother Anna Charlotta emigrated to Germany and married Emiles father in Hamburg April 16, 1876, and the the family moved then to Sweden. After Anna Charlottas death the family moved to back Germany. I have at this moment not yet found the date of death of Anna Charlotta.

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Bengt has now told me that his mother has more to tell about the Benzien story, and it will be really interesting to learn more about this family.

Emiles sister, Johanna Emilia Augusta, called aunt Milly, told some stories about the family when she lived, but seldom mentioned Emile. Aunt Milly had a daughter, who is told to been married to Kurt Traeger, a German pilot, who flew together with Manfred Von Richthofen, “The Red Baron”. Kurt got injured when he was downed in his plane in 1915, and died later on by his wounds.

Emile is supposed to be one of the children in the photo below, and as Emile was the youngest child in the family it could be the boy in the middle. Kurt, the pilot, received a silver Cup from the Emperor at that time, Kaiser Wilhelm, and that Cup has now returned to Germany. There are also connections within the family to the Piano maker family “Neumeyer”, who also has connections to Sweden.

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I have tried to find out if Emile has a grave somewhere in France, as he are supposed to have been fallen in the area of Dompierre-Becquincourt in the Somme region. Emile was killed in action July the 4th, 1916, just a few days after the Somme Offensive was started.

Today Emile´s name is to be found on the stone outside the Swedish church in Paris among the names of the other Swedes who fought and fell for The French Foreign Legion at the Western Front in the Great War. May all rest in peace.

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Disclaimer: There can be details in this story that not correlates with the info that I have got from Bengt. I will be ready to correct any info if something occures. The story is told with permission from Bengt.

After I have found the soldiers, when have been searching in different digital archives, within the criterias in my research, I put them in my database, that is made in Microsoft Excel.

Next step is to put them in the Google Earth projects, where they will occur on the map, at the place, or in the area where they are assumed to have been fallen, and where they are buried or commemorated.

You can reach the links in the main menu or through the link here. It is updated ones or twice a week.

There you will also find a small story about each soldier, and also some of the facts I have collected. There are small pictures, snippets, from the different digital sources.

One thing that makes it more “alive” is when I find the soldiers names in the unit diaries, when I connect the individuials to the unit, and to the specific terrain where the unit were, that specific day, when the soldier fell at the Western Front.

Below you will find the name of Axel Eugene Larson, born November 10, 1888 in Västanfors Parish, Sweden, 3rd Pioneer Battalion, Australian Imperial Forces. He died of wounds May 7 1917, when a grenade exploded in the Workshop near Armentieres, Belgium, where he was working.

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Axel is buried at a cemetery nearby the place where he was working, which I assume was some kind of camp or base the had in the area.

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In the picture below you can see a snippet from a map tool, where two layers are combined, the map from today, and the old trench map from the period in 1917 over the area where he was. The frontline and the trenches occur more east as this was in the rear area, where the accident with the grenade happened.

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Another example is also the Swede Gustav Adolf Landstrom (Landström), born May 22, 1880 in Stora Malm parish, Strängnäs, Sweden. He fought for the 3rd Canadian Field Ambulance Corps, and he was killed October 9, 1916, when relieving other stretcher bearers from the 1st Field Ambulance, near the area of Courcelette, Somme, France.

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Gustav is buried in the Albert Communal Cemetery Extension in Albert, France. I have not yet a picture of his headstone, but I will visit him as soon I am at the battlefield again.

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During the week I got a ping from a follower on Twitter about a post from another user, that had a photo of a headstone in a cemetery in France that had a Epithaph in Swedish, and I was asked to translate it. It is not common to find stones with Swedish text in the cemeteries, and it is always interesting to follow up the names to see which relation they had to Sweden.

Normally, as you know, my research connected to this page is about Swedish born soldiers who fought and fell at the Western Front in the Great War, but I will also in the future look into those Swedes who fought and fell in the European Theatre in the second World War.

In this post I will look further into the picture of the Headstone of T A Nilsson, Ture Adolf Nilsson, who fought in the 9th canadian Field Section R.C.E, Royal Canadian Engineers, to see what facts it is behind it.

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I managed to find out the story behind Ture. Here it is.

Ture Adolf was born in April 23, 1906 in, in By parish near the town of Säffle in the landscape of Värmland in Sweden. He was raised by his parents Anna Kristina Andersson and Gustaf Nilsson. He worked as a Mason and he did his conscript in Sweden in 1927, also as a Field Engineer. He was a Private, and made his basic training from April to September 1927 and he also managed to do some extra duty during late 1927.

The church book mention that he left Sweden for Canada in February in 1928, but right now I dont know the reason. He went alone to the big country in the West, as many of the Swedes did in the late 19th century, who became soldiers in the Canadian force during WW1. The reason for Ture may have been work or something else, I will try to look further into his life in Canada later on.

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Ture Adolf registered for the Canadian Depot Unit in Saskatoon, and later on the 9th canadian engineer section, as I understand. He was active in his unit in UK during 1943, both as a bricklayer, but also some duty with the 12th Ambulance. He embarked in the UK in July 20 in 1944 and disembarked in July 22 in France. He was killed in action August 10th, 1944, probably near the area where he is buried, the area south of the village Caen in France, near the road between Caen and Falaise. The casualty card mention the village south of the cemetery, Grainville.

He was awarded the Good Conduct Badge during his time in the UK, and he also received the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with clasp during the same period. But he also was noted for some Abcent without leave for almost 24 hours, I guess there were ups and downs …

He is buried at the Canadian military cemetery in Bretteville.

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I decided to take another look in the CWGC database to see if there were other Swedish born soldiers who was noted in the database to be born in Sweden. I know there were a lot of Swedish soldiers who participated, but it is not always a note that they were born in Sweden, as I have experienced in my research for those who particpated in the Great War. I will definitely take a closer look at the Swedish related names.

Although I found another Swedish born soldier who was buried at the same cemetery as Ture Adolf, and here is the story about him.

Knute Emanuel Ahlstrom

Knute Emanuel Ahlstrom probably Knut E, as in Emanuel, which later became Knute in the documents, was born April 22, 1907, in Väne-Åsaka parish near Högsäter in the landscape of Dalsland, Sweden, and raised by his parents Kristina Granat and Victor Ahlström.

He worked as a farm boy and moved to Högsäter before he left Sweden for North America in August 1928. Also in this case I dont know the reason why he left, but will look further into that. He also did his conscript basic training in Sweden before he left, at the Swedish Infantry regiment I 22, from October 1927 to February 1928. He applied for emigration in May 1928, and it was granted by the Swedish Police authorities later in May, and he left Sweden in August 25, 1928.

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Knut was registered for the Canadian Army in 1943, in the Canadian Scottish regiment. He disembarked and was taken on strength in the UK in December 1943.

Knut participated in the landings at the beaches in Normandie, Juno Beach, June 6th, 1944, and became Missing in Action around June 8th, and later on declared Killed in Action June 9th, 1944.

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Knut was first buried in a field grave in Putot-En-Bessin area, northwest of Caen, before he was moved to the Canadian military cemetery in Bretteville.

This post just cover some basic information about two individuals who left Sweden for some reason, and joined the Canadian forces in World War 2, and for me it is important to enlighten those Swedes who participated in both the large Wars, and try to make them more than a name on a Headstone.

I will keep my main focus on those who fought in the Great War, but it is in a longer term quite natural to also commemorate those who fought in the second World War, but I will right now limit it to the area to the Western Front and the European Theatre. I have already found a third Swedish born individual who fought for the Canadians in WW2, but that will be another story.

May Ture Adolf and Knut Emanuel rest in peace.

It is amazing sometimes, how a small lead, a bit of fantasy and geographical knowledge, and maybe most of all, experience, in searching digital archives, can lead you to the goal.

In my work in trying to find Swedish born soldiers who fought and fell at the Western Front in The Great War, I yesterday came across a casualty card that I have tried to work with before. It was the card from Arthur Peterson, who was killed in action August 30th, 1918, when he served for the American Expeditionary Forces.

The only thing that gave me a clue that he maybe was born in Sweden was the words on the card ” A lund, Per Nelson, father, Sweden, Insufficient address”.

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I decided to give it a go.

I have access to Ancestry and I use the facts that I know and start with to search with the data that I have, the name, Date of Death, and the data mentioned on the card about the father.

I get some results about an Arthur Peterson who died at the correct date, but he is named Arthur H Peterson according to the US archives. I search further on in the results, and here I see a note about Arriving passenger and crew, alien passengers, arriving to US, and here there is a person who is called John Artur H Peterson, and if I look very close I can read out that the name of the father is named, Per U Nilsson.

I can also read out the name of the village, that I assume is N Möckleby, North Möckleby, “Norra Möckleby”. I can also read out another village name, that looks like Dörby. I decide to search for it in a map, and I find N Möckleby, and just south of it, also the name Dörby.

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The village Norra Möckleby is situated at the Island in the Baltic Sea, connected to the mainland with a 6km long brigde, the Island of Öland.

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“Ah, maybe the text at the card A lund can be Öland?” It probably is, and here I can connect a person who is named John Artur H Peterson who lived at Öland, with a father named Per U Nilsson.

I decide to use my other archive that I have access to, Arkiv Digital, to search for the only hard fact that I have, Per U Nilsson at Norra Möckleby, and I get a result …

I find Per Uno Nilsson, Norra Möckleby, Dörby, Öland. He must be Per U Nilsson mentioned on the passenger list. And here I also find another name that correlates with John Artur H Peterson, John Artur Helge, his son.

It is stated in the church book that John left for North America September 9, 1909. Can this John Artur be the Arthur Peterson I am looking for? I now have Johns date of birth, November 1st, 1890, and decide to use that on ancestry.

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I want to connect the person John Artur Helge Peterson to the individual Arthur Peterson on the casualty card. Now I only have facts about a person who went to US, with a father from Möckleby, but I want to find a military connection with all the data that I have.

I use the data I have from the card, and combine it with Arthurs date of birth. I also use “Montana”, and I use “A land” again, because it is on the casualty card, you never know …

And here I find it. I find the Military records from Montana that connects the Arthur Peterson to John Artur Helge Peterson, and that concludes my search. On this card you find all the earlier clues, “Alund” that is Öland. “Nora Mok Laby” that is Norra Möckleby, and also the father “Per Nelson”.

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John Artur Helge Petersson is buried at the American Cemetery in Oise-Aisne region in France. he was killed at an age of 27.

My access to the different archives made me find these facts that could connect the casualty card to the correct information. I pay for it and it is also quite expensive, but it is worth it. I can now put John Artur Helge Peterson, who called himself Arthur Peterson into my database of Swedes who fought and fell in The Great War at the Western Front.

John is the #372 in my database, I will see if I can find 400.

I am still searching through some digital sources when searching for those Swedish born soldiers who fought and fell at the Western Front in World War 1.

Right now I am looking through casualty cards from the American Expeditionary Force. I have done this a couple of times, but I am still finding individuals to put in my database, that fulfills my criterias in my research.

During the last two days I have found the two individuals below, with some interesting notes. They are noted as number 356 and 357 in my database.

Albin Fingal

Albin Fingal was born as Albin Erik Fingal in Klara parish, Stockholm, Sweden, in June 21, 1892, and raised by his parents Sofia Wilhelmina Ersdotter and Per Erik Fingal at the farm in Stora Sjögetorp south of Vingåker.

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He went to North Amerika in 1913, and landed in Canada before passing the border to US. He is settled down in Chicago, in the city region Evanston, at Church street, at the same address where his next to kin, Anna Fingal, lives. Anna is mentioned to be his mother, but I assume that Anna may be his wife. it is mentioned in the Swedish church books that Albin worked as a bookbinder, and is noted as abcent from year 1913 to 1916.

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In the Registration card for the American forces, he is mentioned as an alien, and I am not sure if he joins the army as a US citizen or as a individual who still is a Swedish citizen. He joins the 131st Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Brigade, 33rd US Division which is put up from the National Guard in Illinois, and he went to France with his activated unit in May 18.

Albin probably fell in the area of Bois de Chaume in Argonne region in France, after the unit has withdrawn after some successful counterattacks from the enemy. Albin is now buried at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in France.

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Maurice Friedstrom

The other Swede that I found is the soldier called Maurice Friedstrom in the casualty card, and he was born in Fristad parish just north of Borås in Sweden as Mauritz Fondelius Johansson Fridström in October 13th, 1890. In the church book and at some other places in some archives it is also mentioned October 30th as his date of birth. He was raised by his parents Anna Karolina Johansdotter and Johan Petter Andersson at the farm Fristads Klockarebol.

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His brother Carl Friedstrom is mentioned as Next of Kin at the casualty card, and the address of the brother is South 17th Street, Fort Dodge. You can see the map in the gallery above. I dont know if Mauritz lived there as well, but it is probable that they tried to stay together.

In the Swedish page at Ancestry it is mentioned by the relatives that he fell in battle, but he became sick and died of that and was initially buried at the American Cemetery in Libourne, Gironde, France, just two days after the Armistice, November 13th, 1918.

Mauritz is today buried at the American Cemetery in Suresnes, France.

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I will now continue to check the material and it is always interesting to find individuals and try to find facts and make a little story about them, they come alive to me in a way, and I think it is important to remember and highlight what our Swedish ancestors did.

Imagine to be 19 years old, moving around with your unit in the Argonne Woods, far away from your home, and not be able to experience your 20th birthday. This is the story of the young boy from Säby, Tranås, Sweden, who went tu North America in his early years with his family, joined the American Expeditionary Forces and ended his days in The Meuse Argonne Offensive.

Sometimes I find information about the Swedish born soldiers that makes it possible to document their trip from Sweden, over to their new country, and further into the battlefield at the Western Front in the Great War.

I find it very interesting to connect the terrain to the individuals, and in this case I will try to give you the small story about Elmer.

It was not easy to find him in the archives, as Elmer did change his names a lot when he came over to his new country, North America. Elmer was born in Säby Parish, Tranås, Jönköping County, in the southern part of Sweden.

He was born and raised as Hjalmar Torsten Vallentin Nord by his mother Hulda Karolina Adolfsdotter and his father Konstantin Nord in Källås Norrgård, just south of Tranås. I can imagine it is good to change his Swedish name Hjalmar to Elmer, as it is easier to pronounce, and that gives me also some clues for the future when I research for other individuals called Elmer in their new country.

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Elmer left Säby according to the documents in August 1904, and arrived in Boston, US, when he was 5 years old. His father Konstantin left already in 1901, as you can see in the note, in the church book above.

According to the casualty card his mothers adress is in Red Oak, east of the town Omaha in the state of Iowa. I assume this was the address of the family living in the US, when he left for the Army, and in the pictures below you can also see the street, how it looks today.

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So now we know at least, that his mother lived at the address above. According to some documents there is also a note that Elmer lives in Red Oak 1915, probably at the same address. I havent found the registration card for Elmer, but I know that he is leaving for France in July in 1918 wih his unit, 168th Infantry Regiment, 42nd Division.

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Elmers Unit was fighting in the Meuse-Argonne offensive from October 1918, when they relieved the 1st Division in october 13, 1918. The unit was involved in the attack on the large German Defence line, the “Kriemhilde Stellung”, a defence construction east of the Argonne Woods. Elmer was probably fighting with his unit near the village Landres et St. George, between Bantheville and Saint-Juvin, in Argonne Region.

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Ofcourse is it hard to say where exactly Elmer was fighting, but I assume that he was within his unit.

Elmer was not even 20 years old when he fell in the offensive. He was injured during october 18th, and died october 19th, 1918, only at an age of 19. He is now buried at the Meuse Argonne American Cemetery.

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I have now followed Elmer from his home in Sweden, to his home in the US, and also now mapped his last position, within his unit, the 42nd Infantry Division. Imagine to do this quite long trip in early years of your life. Imagine the experience he gained during his few months in France.

Elmer was born not far from where I live, and I will try to visit his old farm, just to see if I can find some more information about the family.

My daughter in 20 years old today, this date, July 27th 2021, and 20 today is not like beeing 20 back in that time, during the Great War. Each era has its own experiences.

May you, Hjalmar Torsten Vallentin Nord, rest in peace, you are not forgotten.