Military Monday - Swedes in WWI

Today is 100 years since the outbreak of World War 1 and there for my post will be about the Swedes who took part in the war.

Almost 20 000 Swedish born men were called in during World War 1. Not all of them were in the U.S. army. Some were in the Canadian army, where there were two Scandinavian bataljons, and some were in the German army. It all depended on where you happened to be at the time of the outbreak. It is believed that around 600 of the 20 000 died on the battlefields on the western front. Some were of course wounded and returned home with injuries others were not wounded but came home with terrible memories.

Many of the Swedish men in the American army had only been in the states a couple of years. Some had escaped Sweden in order to not have to undergo the obligatory military service. A few moved back to Sweden after the war but they did not like to talk about the war.

Three brothers from Falkenberg happened to be in Germany when the war broke out and ended up in the German army. On of the was captured and sent to prison camp in Siberia. He was released after three years and could then return home.

Taking part in war is not always about honour, duty or ideology. Sometimes you just happen to be in the wrong place. Sweden stayed out of the war and has not been involved in a war for over 200 years, but we have none the less been affected by it. 

Source:

Hallands Nyheter July 28, 2014

Picture:

Chesire Regiment trench Somme 1916

In the Public Domain

By John Warwick Brooke - This is photograph Q 3990 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection no. 1900-13)

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Battle of Vyborg Bay 1790

Today in 1790 king Gustaf III ordered and carried out a successful attempt to break through the Russian naval fleet in order to break free.

Gustav III had destroyed the Russian naval fleet that was stationed at Fredrikshamn on May 15 the same year and had moved on to Viborg with the intention to do the same there. Parts of the Swedish naval fleet had failed at Reval on the 13th and moved east as well to meet up with Gustaf III. By June 7 the Swedish naval force had reached the Vyborg Bay and the Russian fleet cut of the entrance the following day. The Swedish fleet had 34 ships, along wiht some samller ones, and had 16 000 men. The Swedish archipelago fleet had around 200 ships and 13 000 -14 000 men, both crew and land troops.

Both sides made plans and on the night between July 2nd and 3rd The prince of Nassau a small part of the Swedish archipelago fleet. At the same time 4 divisions sloop-of-war attacked 5 Russian ships.

During the night the wind changed and made an breakout possible. Gustaf III wanted to go east but Nordenskjöld, an officer who had taken part in the American Revolutionary War on first the British side and then the French, advised the king to go west instead. Which they did.

When the Swedish fleet reached the harbour at Sveaborg July 5 the naval force had lost 5 000 men and several ships. The archipelago fleet did not loose many ships and reached Svensksund on the 4th and 5th. There the king was joined by Cronstedt and retaliated on the 9th and 10th which ended the war in Swedish favour.


Source: http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viborgska_gatloppet

Picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/Russian_victory_vyborg.jpg/1280px-Russian_victory_vyborg.jpg

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Tuesday's Tip - More Military Uniforms

I found another page with useful information about the uniforms of the Swedish Army.
http://jacobjohansson.se/uniformer/

There are really good pictures of the uniform in color. You can also follow Drabant Design on Facebook so you see when new pictures are added. I have several times made references to http://www.algonet.se/~hogman/uniformer_armen_18.htm that also has pictures of the different models. If you have pictures of Swedish soldiers these sites can help you identify when the photo was taken. Which regiment is a bit harder since they are identified by colour.

Adding a picture from my own gallary of soldiers. It was, as far as I know, taken in Malmö and with the sites I can put it between1886-1910.

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Military Memories - Propaganda: A Swedish Tiger

In fall of 1941 Bertil Almqvist created a symbol for the awareness campaign that started in November the same year. The campaign wanted to encourage the Swedish people to keep quiet about anything that could harm neutral Sweden.

At this time Sweden's neighbouring countries were occupied wither by the Germans or the Soviet Union. The symbol was a tiger with yellow and blue stripes with the text En Svensk Tiger. The Swedish word tiger both means the animal and keeps quiet. Apart from wanting people to be quiet the symbol would encourage people to stay strong, just like the tiger.

The symbol has become the symbol of the Swedish Armed Forces but the "Museum of Readiness" owns the rights to the symbol.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/En_svensk_tiger

Picture:
Ensvensktigerskylt2 djuramossa
By: Anders Lagerås original by sv:Bertil Almqvist (1902-1972)
License: CC BY-SA 3.0


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Tuesday's Tip - Uniforms of the Swedish Army

Hans Högman has a site about his genealogy and much more. One thing I found really useful is his information about uniforms of the Swedish Army so I thought I would make it a Tuesday's Tip. I had several photos with men in military uniforms and thanks to Hans's information and pictures I am able to place the pictures in the right time frame.

http://www.algonet.se/~hogman/militaria.htm

Grey uniforms m/1910 and dark blue uniforms m/1886 with hats m/1865-1899

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Prince Carl Philip's 35th Birthday

Carl Philip Edmund was born 13 May 1979 at the royal castle in Stockholm. For a short while he was the first heir to the throne after his father but the laws were changed and his older sister Viktoria became crown princess instead. He is today the third in line after Viktoria and her daughter Estelle.

The prince spent to years at a private school in Kent, Connecticut and after that he studied natural science in Sweden. In the military he got an officers degree in the navey and became captain in 2007. After his military service was finnished he studied graphical design for two years before doing an internship with National Geographic Society in Washington D.C. and studing graphical design in the states.

Back home he studied business economics and finished his military training but he returned to the states in the spring of 2007 to study design at Rhode Island School of Design. In the fall of 2008 he was back in Sweden to study agriculture which he now has a master's degree in.

Apart from design, agriculture and his military service the prince is also known for his interest in sports and has participated in several motorsports races.

Sourece:
http://www.kungahuset.se/kungafamiljen/hkhprinscarlphilip/biografi.4.187e1841020141a4c88000238.html

Picture source:
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Philip_van_Zweden#mediaviewer/Bestand:Prins_Carl_Philip.jpg
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY_SA 3.0)
Frankie Fouganthin - Eigen werk


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