Swedes on The Western Front

At the moment I have limited my research database to contain those Swedish born soldiers who fought and fell in the Great War and are buried or commemorated on memorials along the Western Front in Belgium and France.

I will now extend the research to also connect those Swedish born soldiers who fought and fell in the war and are buried in other countries.

In this small article I will mention those soldiers who were involved in the sinking of SS Tuscania on February 5th, 1918.

On 24 January 1918, Tuscania departed Hoboken, New Jersey, with 384 crew members and 2,013 United States Army personnel aboard. On the morning of 5 February 1918, she turned south for the North Channel en route Liverpool. The German submarine UB-77 sighted Tuscania′s convoy during the day, and stalked it until early evening. Under the cover of darkness around 6:40 pm, the submarine’s commanding officer, Korvettenkapitän Wilhelm Meyer, ordered two torpedoes fired at Tuscania. The second of these struck home, sending her to the bottom of the Irish Sea within about four hours. Tuscania sank nearly three years to the day after her maiden voyage as a passenger liner. About 210 of the troops and crew were lost, while many others were rescued by the Royal Navy destroyers Mosquito and Pigeon.Some of the U.S. Troops were rescued by an Irish fishing boat as well. (from Wikipedia)

Onboard the ship, on his way to France, to join the war with the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF), were George Nelson Bjork (George Björk). He was born in Bäcke parish in Västra Götaland county in Sweden, June 13th, 1892.

The family left Sweden for Norway in March 5th, 1897, and stayed there at least until his father, the soldier and later on the corporal, August Björk, died in Norway in 1908. His father is also mentioned once as August Nilsson Björk, and that may be the reason that George is called George Nelson Bjork.

George was drafted for the American Army on June 5th, 1917, and left New York on January 24th, 1918, together with his unit, the 6th Battalion in the 20th Engineers, AEF. In the passenger list his nine years older brother, Victor Nelson, but also a note that Victor doesn’t have Nelson as his real surname. It should probably have been Bjork as well.

Around 11 days later the ship SS Tuscania is hit by torpedoes from a German submarine.

The wreck of Tuscania lies today between Scotland’s Islay and Northern Ireland′s Rathlin Island, about 7 nautical miles (13 km) north of Rathlin lighthouse, at roughly 55°22′N 6°13′W at a depth of 100 m (330 ft). (Wikipedia)

George died during the attack, but his body was found and initially buried at Kilnaughton Cemetery, Port Ellen Islay Argyll, Scotland. It was later moved to the Arlington American cemetery in Virginia, USA. His mother, Sofie Bjork (Sofia Pettersdotter Björk) was informed, as mention Next of Kin on his casualty card.

Sofia lived with her son Anton in Montana at the time of George’s death, and she applied for Naturalisation in 1912, after have emigrated from Norway via England and Canada, before ending up in the USA.

Another Swede survived

Onboard the ship was also the Swedish born soldier Carl M Anderson (Karl Martin Andersson). He survived the sinking of the ship and was later on engaged in the war in France, but later died from disease (Tuberculosis Pulmonary) in a field hospital in Le Mans, France, on April 15th, 1919.

He was later moved to the American Arlington Cemetery in Virginia.

Carl was born on January 15th, 1894, in Asker parish, Örebro, Sweden. He was raised by his parents, his mother Hilma Carolina Nilsson and his father Per Adolf Andersson. His mother died already in 1897, and his father was the remarried to Alma Maria Nilsson.

It has been hard to find the correct information about Carl M Anderson, but I know that he lived in Barren, Wisconsin, when he was drafted to the American Army on June 5th, 1917.

His Aunt, Mrs Ernest Nelson (her husband) is mentioned on his casualty card, and he was working with his uncle, Ernest Nelson. His family may have stayed in Sweden.

I will put in Carl into my research as he participated on the battlefield in France together with the American units, but I will put George into a side project as he never reached the battlefield in France. As for now I will keep those separated.

Although my main purpose with my research is to commemorate all the Swedish born soldiers who joined the different armies in different countries after they have emigrated from Sweden, to fight in WW1, so I might change the focus to include all of them, even if they never reached the battlefields.

That will also include those who became ill and died of disease in England, before they went over to France, and are buried in England.

They did their service, and for that they will be remembered.

Links:

Wikipedia

Western Front Association

As we know from earlier, some of the Swedish born soldiers who fought and fell in the Great War was brought home an reburied in Sweden. This was the case of the soldier Herman I Hermanson, or Irving as his name was in the family.

The special situation with Irving is that he was born in the USA, went back to Sweden with his mother, and later on sent back to US by his family as they were afraid of that Sweden would be dragged in to the War at that time. The situation for Irving and his family became totally different than expected.

With great support from the the Swedish descendant to Irving, Olof Svanberg, we can now read the full, very interesting, story about Irving in our article at doughboy.org. Read more here

(Photos above from Olof Svanberg.)

I have managed to find 17 of the soldiers within those criterias, that fell in the war, were buried in France but later brought home to Sweden by US authorities , after their descendants have had their wishes granted.

Those 17 has also been mentioned in American magazines from where you can see a snippet below.

You can read more about the other 16 soldiers here through my earlier post on this page.

Read more here

In preparation for my upcoming Swedes at the Western Front tour, which will take place in April 2025, I keep looking into those Swedes, both Swedish born and 1st generation US Swedes, who took part in the Meuse Argonne Offensive 1918.

One specific tour station will be about those who fought within the units who became surrounded by German units during the campaign, known as the “Lost Battalion”. The units were surrounded from 2nd to 7th of October 1918.

Dozens of sources were consulted for the creation of the full list which contains the names of those who fought in the units involved in the actions during those days and it represents what may be considered to be the most accurate accounting possible. Among those names I have up to this date found names with Swedish connections.

I have in earlier posts presented a list of those Swedes who were in those units.

I will now present an updated list with some new names added. (marked in yellow)

Erik Larson

Erik was born in Lysvik parish in Värmland, Sweden, October 20, 1894. He also had a twin sister. They were raised by their mother Maria Eriksdotter and father Lars Olsson. He took his surname from his father’s name Lars. Erik and his twin sister left Sweden for North America in February 1914.

Erik survived the actions during the days in October 1918, and later on died in September 18, 1978, in Seattle, Washington State, USA.

David Magnusson

David was born as David Natanael Magnusson in Sunne parish, Värmland, Sweden, January 24th, 1895. He was raised by his mother Brita Kajsa Lindberg and his father Magnus Gustafsson. He took his surname from his father’s name Magnus.

Magnus left Sweden for North America in October 1914. Magnus injured his left foot during the actions in October 1918, but survived the war and wet back to the USA, and later died in March 25, 1946, and is buried in Hartford, Connecticut.

Gustave A Munson

Gustave was born as Gustave Adolph Munson in Etter, Minnesota, USA, in May 13th, 1894. He was raised by his parents Anna Lovisa Gustafsdotter, born in Säby parish, Jönköping County, and his father Johan August Magnusson, also from the parish of Säby in Sweden. August left Sweden already in 1868 and Gustave’s mother Anna Lovisa left in 1879.

Gustave surname Munson comes from his father’s surname Magnusson, which sometimes becomes a shorter version, Månsson, and then it is easy to see how Månsson became Munson. This is the way of how I have to think when looking for history of those Swedish emigrants who went to North America and Canada, as they often changed their names, to make them easier to handle over there.

Gustave was injured in his right hand during the actions in the Argonne Woods, but survived the War and went home to the USA again. Gustave is today buried in Wayne, Michigan, USA. He became 90 years old.

Oscar A Swenson

Oscar was born in Pierre, South Dakota, October 30th, 1895. He was raised by his mother Julia Swenson and his father Ola Swenson. Both parents born in Sweden. At this moment I have no information about from where in Sweden his parents left, but Ola emigrated to North America in 1887, and Julia emigrated in 1891, according to census documents.

Oscar was killed in action October 8th, 1918, during the aftermath of fightings that took place during those days mentioned above. He is now buried in Meuse Argonne American Cemetery in France.

May them all rest in Peace.

One of the heavy and time consuming things in my research is to collect facts. I find it interesting to look through the facts I collect and in the future they will be a part in some compilations or studies, to create other perspectives in the subject about Swedish connections to American Expeditionary Forces in the Great War.

I have spent some time reading through files and lists containing the names of those who died during their service in the War. In this case I manually went through lists showing names of soldiers sorted in order of the states in the USA.

I have relied on my ever increasing experience to sort out names that I assume have connections to Sweden. I can not guarantee that I have found all of them, in this case, connected to the criteria below.

Below an example of how the lists look like.

The criteria in this compilation of names are as follows:

• Officer who fought in the war
• Born in Sweden and raised by Swedish born parents (both parents born in Sweden)
• Born in the USA and raised by Swedish born parents (both parents born in Sweden)

The individuals are presented below with some basic facts.

Entered service from:

Colorado

1/LT Victor Bryan Wallin – Born April 15, 1896, Washburn, North Dakota – Died November 11, 1918, Pouilly, France. Buried in Riverview Cemetery, Washburn, North Dakota.

Illinois

2/LT William Chandler Peterson – Born December 24, 1894, Crystal Lake, Illinois – Died June 6, 1918, Chateau-Thierry, France. Buried in Union Cemetery, Crystal Lake, Illinois.

Lt Col Emil P Laursen – Born February 4, 1880, Oneida, Illinois – Died August 13, 1918, Gironde, France. Buried in Suresnes American Cemetery, Paris, France.

1/LT Eric Frederick Pihlgard – Born April 9, 1893, Chicago, Illinois – Died February 28, 1919, in Wilferdingen, Luxembourg. Buried Oak Woods Cemetery Chicago, Illinois.

Indiana

1/LT Arthur Theodore Johnson – Born March 31, 1896, Porter, Indiana – Died September 12, 1918, Flirey, Lorraine, France. Buried Augsburg Lutheran Church Cemetery, Porter, Indiana.

Iowa

Capt Edward O Fleur (Adolf Sigurd Flör) – Born June 22, 1872, Höreda, Eksjö, Sweden – Died May 27, 1918, Baccarat, Lorraine, France. Buried Woodland Cemetery, Des Moines, Iowa.

1/LT Oscar Bernhard Nelson – Born April 15, 1880, Knäred, Halland, Sweden – Died October 16, 1918, Meuse, France. Buried Ottumwa Cemetery, Ottumwa, Iowa.

Kansas

2/LT Fred G (Gustaf Ferdinand) Austrom – Born February 13, 1891, Sundsvall, Västernorrland, Sweden – Died November 5, 1918, Issoudun, Centre, France. Buried in St Mihiel American Cemetery, France.

Massachusetts

2/LT Fred G (August Gottfrid) Wahlstrom – Born May 5, 1875, Horn, Mariestad, Skaraborg, Sweden – Died August 21, 1917, Bazeilles, Vosges, France. Buried Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, France

Michigan

1/LT Carl Adolph Johnson – Born July 22, 1891, Hennepin, Minnesota – Died June 23, 1918, Alsace, France. Buried in Hillside Cemetery, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Capt Oscar Thomas (Germun) Falk – Born August 12, 1863, Stockholm, Sweden – Died August 1, 1918, Brasles, Aisne, France. Buried Riverside Cemetery, Menominee, Michigan.

Minnesota

Capt Oscar Emanuel Youngdahl – Born March 2, 1888, Red Wing, Minnesota – Died October 8, 1918, La Cheppe, Marne, France. Buried Oakwood Cemetery, Minnesota.

Missouri

1/LT Otto C Carlson (Otto Walfrid Häll Karlsson) – Born April 23, 1877, Ekebyborna, Motala Kommun, Östergötland, Sweden – Died August 17, 1918 in Suresnes, France. Buried Grandview Cemetery, Missouri.

New Jersey

2/LT Oscar Emil Hellquist – Born July 11, 1895, Brooklyn, New York – Died October 17, 1918, Busigny, France. Buried Somme American Cemetery, France.

New York

1/LT Rudolph Emmanuel Peterson – Born June 30, 1888, Jamestown, New York – Died November 4, 1918, Etraye, Lorraine, France. Buried Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, France.

2/LT Nils Johan Holm – Born September 22, 1890, Östhammar, Uppsala, Sweden – Died October 31, 1918, Clery-Le-Grande, Lorraine, France. Tablets of the missing in Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, France.

1/LT Arthur Edward Granberg – Born June 25, 1888, Brooklyn, New York – Died November 1, 1918, Lambezellec, Bretagne, France. Buried Oise-Aisne American Cemetery, Picardie, France.

1/LT Charles G (Carl Gustaf Herman) Ostberg – Born July 4th, 1881, Stockholm, Sweden – Died September 30, 1918, Rouen, France. Buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York.

Ohio

1/LT Herbert Edward Anderson – Born January 28, 1894, Defiance, Ohio – Died September 28, 1918, Gesnes, Lorraine, France. Buried in Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, France.

1/LT John Norman – Born March 25, 1870, Säffle, Värmland, Sweden (Not confirmed) – Died March 7, 1918, Rouge Bouquet, Luneville, France. Buried Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, France.

Wisconsin

1/LT Henry Stephanns Blomberg – Born August 3, 1892, Superior, Wisconsin – Died October 5, 1918, Cierges-Sous-Montfaucon, Lorraine, France. Buried Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, France.

Texas

2/LT Oscar William (Wilhelm) Nordquist – Born August 8, 1892, Sollefteå, Västernorrland, Sweden – Died September 26, 1918, Prény, France. Buried St Mihiel American Cemetery, France.

One day I may come back to this compilation of facts, and they may have some meaning i future products. In my mind they will always have that.

May all of them rest in peace.

Snippets in this post are from Ancestry, US National Archives and my own files.