Swedes in the Great War 1914-1918

In my research I have mainly mentioned the Swedish soldiers who fought and fell in the war, but I seldom mention those who fought, got scarred, but survived.

Even if they didn’t pay the ultimate price, it doesn’t mean they made less than those who survived.

This is the story about the young Swede who immigrated to North America and served with the Canadian forces, Gustave Adolph Soderström.

Gustave was born as Gustav Adolf Söderström, October 12th, 1896, in the parish of Kloster, Eskilstuna, in the landscape of Södermanland, Sweden.

Gustav grew up with his mother Victoria Albertina Carlsson, who later became the wife to Ernst Theodor Söderström. It is from Ernst Söderström Gustav got his surname, as Gustav’s father is unknown. Victoria and Ernst got married in 1898, and later Gustav got two more siblings in Sweden, within his mother’s new marriage.

In passenger lists I can find that his mother Victoria emigrated to North America with her three children in April 1905. In the list it is mentioned that they were heading for Braddock, Pennsylvania.

Victoria’s husband, Ernst, emigrated in advance already in September 1904. The family was extended with two more siblings to Gustav, Elon Ragnar, born in Braddock and Helen Mabel, born in Brantford, Canada.

Sadly I can also read that Gustav got one more sibling in Braddock, Ragnhild Wiktoria, in August 1906, but she later died already in 1907.

It looks like the family went back to Sweden in 1920, but on that list I can’t find Gustav Adolf, as he stayed in Canada.

Gustav signed his Canadian attestation papers in Brantford, Canada, October 22nd, 1915, at the age of 19. As I can see his sister Helen Mabel was born in Brantford in 1916, I assume that the whole family had moved there. I can see in Canadian census papers that Gustav moved to Brantford in 1913.

Gustav initially belonged to 125th Canadian overseas battalion, but was transferred to the 4th Canadian Infantry battalion when he went overseas. He left Halifax, Canada, for Liverpool, England, on August 6th, 1916.

He seems to have been a good soldier as he received the Good Conduct Badge in the field on October 22nd, 1917.

Gustav went through a lot of action during his service in Belgium and France. On September 1st, 1918, his unit got order to capture Buissy and Baralle and the Bridge heads of Canal Du Nord in the immediate front.

On September 1st, Gustav was wounded by Gunshot in his left leg and in his left arm. Later that day it got much worse. He became badly wounded by shrapnel in his right thigh and leg. That lead to amputation above the knee on September 2nd, 1918.

Those days in the beginning of September 1918 the Battle of the Drocourt-Quéant Line went on and as I understand many soldiers and officers performed well, and that led to that Gustav received the Military Cross for his actions those days. Gustav left invalided for Canada on June 30th, 1919.

I haven’t been able to find any more citation connected to his medal, but will try to look for it in other sources.

Gustav lived on his life in Canada, and below we can see a photo of him and his family (on a funeral) where we can see that his right leg is amputated.

In late January 1946 Gustav went to St. Christie Hospital in Toronto, Canada, affected by a stroke. His wife Ann Pritchard Soderstrom was by his side when he passed away on February 6th, 1947.

He is buried Mount Hope Cemetery in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.

I will tell more stories about those Swedish born soldiers who fought the war but survived. I think it is important to tell their stories as well. May Gustav rest in peace.

I continue to look further into the notebook of Bertil Albert Lindh, and on two pages there are some notes that gives us some information where he where in the terrain, and I recognise the area well.

He wrote in his notebook:

“Came out to the front, 28 August 1915 to the 13th Batt.“

As you have seen in my former post, it is also noted in his documents in the Canadian archives, on the third row, in the date column.

On the next page he wrote:

“23 March. (1916) We left the Messine Front for a few days! Rest in Metteran (Probably Meteren in the area west of Bailleul in France) 28 March Left this place for Dickebush (Probably Dikkebus, Belgium, further up north east from Meteren)

Bertil wrote this in his diary just 21 days before his death, 19th of April, 1916.

The notes are confirmed in the unit diary of the 13th Canadian Battalion below.

There are other notes in the book, but the notes mentioned above are the last ones about his situation on the front. The other ones are about different addresses and names on people, which I will write about later.

In the end of the book there are some notes written as small poems. If I only knew who they were, who wrote this.

“All things.

All things bright and beautiful

All creatures great and small

All things wise and wonderful

The Lord God made them all.

I am continuing to examine the burgundy coloured notebook that belonged to Bertil, and I see that he had noted down some addresses, some names and other things in it. It is actually a kind of an address book, with labelled pages, marked from A to Z and he has used it liked that in some ways, but also used it like a notebook.

One thing that was folded within the notebook, in the beginning, was the text of the song “O Canada” I can imagine that they sang it now and then.

Connecting notes to diaries and location

Looking at the early pages in the notebook, I find Bertil’s notes about when he left Canada for England. Below you will find a photo of the page, and a small transcription.

“Joined the British Army in Bridgewater, Lunenburg County, N.S (Nova Scotia) Ninth of March 1915. June the 14th. Left Aldershot for Halifax June the 15th. Today we left Canada for England in the liner Caledonian. 8 o’clock in the morning June 24th. Arrived to Plymouth. Had a nice trip coming over.

The notes correlates well with the documents from the Canadian archives from which I include a snippet of below.

One other interesting page in the book describes a specific situation that Bertil was involved in, that happened on October 26th, 1915, on the fields of Flanders.

The page describes a situation when a German plane was shot down, and I have found the notes in the unit diary of the 13th canadian Infantry battalion. Below a photo of the page in the notebook, and a transcription of the page.

“26 October

Our artillery brought a german aeroplane down. She was followed of one of our own aeroplane. She came right down over our support trench. Came down on field. Had a little collision(?) with a trench, turned turtle(?) One was dead and the other captured. She had a machine gun that was taken from our batt(?): at Ypres, which belonged to 14th Bat. The men was only 17 and 18 years old”

Bertil’s notes are in line with the unit diary that day. A snippet from the diary below.

When I read the unit diary I can see that the location is noted as PLUS DOUCE which according to the book “Rats Alley”, that contains names of trenches and places, highly likely is the area of LA PLUS DOUVE. When looking at trench maps and further notes in the unit diary, bothe before and after of October 26th, I can see names like STINKING FARM, GABION FARM and that points me to the area west of Messines, south of Ypres.

Photos below shows the Stinking Farm of today, from when I visited the area in 2021, visiting other Swedish soldiers who fought and fell in the area. This was before I knew that bertil also had been in this area.

For me it is very interesting to connect those notes to other documents, and the feeling of connection to then area, in which I have been many times.

I will definitely take this into my agenda when planning my guided trips to the area in the future, to tell the full story of Bertil Lindh.

I am back again after a very hectic period at work. I have missed the work with my research very much, and I will try to continue where I left.

In the beginning of September I visited the descendants of the Swedish born soldier Bertil Albert Lindh, who fought and fell in the Great War when he fought for the 13th Canadian Infantry Battalion, on April 19th, 1916.

He fell in the Bluff area, near Ypres, Belgium, and he is now buried in Hooge crater Cemetery. The initial plan was to bury him at Chester Farm Cemetery, just west of the area where he fell, but it was later decided to bury him at Hooge Crater Cemetery, located North-East of the Bluff area.

I have been able to borrow all the notes and letters, and I will tell you some bits and parts of the stories that are told. It is an amazing piece of history, and it is a great feeling to hold the original objects in my hand, written for over 100 years ago.

I will start with a letter that I found in an envelope that was marked with the text “Your uncle Bertie’s letters from the military”. In this case it contained one letter from Bertil himself, written in Swedish, to his mother Hulda Lindh home in Stockholm, Sweden.

Below you will find my translation. The letter is written on the 2nd of September 1915. According to the documents in the Canadian archives he had just arrived in France and been taken on strength in the 13th battalion, the 13th Royal Canadian Highlanders, 3rd Brigade.

“Dear mother,

Thank you very much for the last newspapers, I just received them before I left England. Here it is very beautiful, with trees which I have never seen before. I regret that I haven’t learned the french language. Another announcement, I have received a new uniform, the same uniform as the Scotts, with a kilt (small skirt which only goes above the knees).

It is the most beautiful uniform in the whole army. We are walking around with bare knees. The skirt is green, blue and black and we are all proud to wear it!

In the beginning it was a bit cold in the mornings, because we are not having any pants, just walking naked under the skirt. I am feeling well and I hope you are well as well. My portrait was taken before I left, they will send it to me later and then I will send it home.

I am sending two pounds, I hope mother gets them. I want to write more, but I can’t do that. It is not allowed to tell where we are or have been, or where we will go.

I have a badge around my neck, with my number and name and my mother’s address. I will quit writing now, lots of greetings from your beloved son,

Bertie.

PS. Don’t write France in my address above, just England.

I will further on go through other letters from Bertie, and I will also go through some interesting notes written in a small address book. I hope you will find it interesting.

I am very grateful to have this opportunity, to make the story about Bertil more complete, and it a great feeling to be able to support the family of Bertil, to go through his documents and try to tell as much as I can about his military history.

Eva Sofia Kullgren probably knew who the father of her son was, but it is not mentioned in the Swedish church books. Her son, Gustaf Adolf, is noted as illegemite in the book of birth.

Gustaf Adolf was born in Irsta parish in Västmanland county, Sweden, on June 4th, 1879.

His mother, Eva Sofia Kullgren, was at the time married to Anders Gustaf Sundquist, and Gustaf was raised in the family together with 8 siblings.

Gustaf Adolf emigrated to North America in 1891, and the year is confirmed in the American documents of naturalization. In the Swedish church books he is mentioned as absent, and in the book from 1921 it is written a note with a pencil that Gustaf probably was in America and probably have died in the War on the American side.

Gustaf Adolf must have been around 11 years old when he emigrated and I assume he must have emigrated together with someone, but I haven’t been able to find any immigration documents in the Ellis Islands American Archives. Although it is mentioned in the documents of naturalization from 1904 that he arrived New York on January 1st, 1891.

Medal of Honor

Gustaf Adolf Sundquist enlisted in the U. S. Navy July 30th, 1897, at an age of 18, and served in the Navy during the American War with Spain as an Ordinary Seaman on board the USS Nashville. He was awarded the Congressional Medal Of Honor for his bravery during the operation of cutting the cable leading from Cienfuegos, Cuba, on May 11, 1898.

The Spanish-American War was a brief conflict between the United States and Spain that ended Spain’s colonial presence in America and established the U.S. as a major world power. 

His citation for the medal reads: “Facing the heavy fire of the enemy, Sundquist displayed extraordinary bravery and coolness throughout this action“. His Medal was awarded to him on November 1, 1899, at an age of 20.

Gustaf was discharged from the Navy 26 Sept. 1900. In 1905 he married Matilda E. Pearson in Brooklyn, N.Y. and the couple had five children. They came to Cleveland about 1915 where he was employed as a structural ironworker until 4th of May 1918 when he reenlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve to serve in. Assigned to Ft. Lafayette Naval Air Station at Crois D’Hins, France.

During the FWW ocean-bed telephone cables were severed and alternative means of long-range communication had to be explored. At the time, radiotelegraphy was developing rapidly and when the US joined Allied operations in 1917, they needed a reliable and permanent communications channel between Europe and the States.

General Pershing, head of the American Expeditionary Forces, requested the construction of a radiotelegraphy station and Croix d’Hins in France emerged as the preferred site. Assets included its location some distance from the frontlines, its proximity to the port of Bordeaux despite being outside urban areas, easy access to the railway network and, more generally, its optimal position near to the Atlantic coast, ideal for transatlantic messaging.

Work began in March 1918 on building the transmitter and antennae, technical units, a water tower, a refectory, lodgings and even a school. To facilitate the task, a railway siding departed from the main line and led up to the main building. No less than 750 US Marines were drafted to the site to install equipment and erect the pylons. They had been manufactured by the Pitt-Des Moines steel company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Source: https://invisiblebordeaux.blogspot.com/)

During August 25th, 1918, Gustaf took a Swim outside Cap Ferret west of Bordeaux, France, and he was lost in the waves. He accidently drowned, and his body has never been recovered.

Gustaf is today mentioned on the Wall of the Missing at Brookwood American Cemetery in Surrey, south-west of London. He also has a headstone at the American Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, as a memory marker.

His name on the wall of the missing has just recently been marked in gold together with a Medal of Honor Star. A link to the small movie here.

May Gustaf rest in peace, wherever he is.