Gyllenhaal Lars - Swedes at war : willing warriors of a neutral nation, 1914-1945

Swedes at War

Willing Warriors of a Neutral Nation, 19141945

Lars Gyllenhaal
Lennart Westberg

Translation by
Carl Gustav Finstrom

The Aberjona Press
Bedford, Pennsylvania

2014

Contents

In 1916 the following words about Swedes in foreign uniforms were writtenvery much in the spirit of the timesby the Swedish Count, diplomat, and globetrotter Carl Birger Mrner af Morlanda:

[Swedish] newspapermen and politicians have been cordially treated by Entente and Germans alike. That so few Swedish military men have been able to get to the battlegrounds is no fault of theirs. Nevertheless there are right now Swedish men fighting on both sides. We have always been so inclined as to show solidarity towards people that have been hospitable towards us. The Swedish students and other Swedes in France who have eagerly volunteered for the trenches are just as honorable as the Swedes in Germany who have done likewise.

Foreword

A surprising number of Swedes participated in war during the decisive years from 1914 to 1945. Were these people adventurers or ruthless fanatics? Unsuspecting idealists? Self-sacrificing people with a profound sense of duty? Social misfits? Or just weary of life?

Here we meet Swedes who fought for Persia, the German Kaiser, France, the Spanish Republic, Ethiopia, the United States, the Soviet Union, the Third Reich, and many other states. The two largest groups were the volunteers for Finland, who have been the most studied, and the so-called War Sailors, Swedish seamen who worked for the Allies during WWII, who are almost unknown. Over the last twenty years the authors, Lars Gyllenhaal and Lennart Westberg, have investigated all these groups and have established the numbers in each; they have also found the names and sometimes the personal details of many of those involved. A good number of these are described in detail and some speak for themselves through quotations from letters, diaries, or reports.

Swedes at War is a book packed full of facts and human drama, stories that cause one to reflect. Ones curiosity is stimulatedthere is a full list of sources in the bibliography for those who wish to research further. Simultaneously, it is a serious book which presents the facts soberly and refrains from preaching.

The greatest interest is probably aroused by those Swedes who fought for Hitler and Stalin. Those Swedes are among the losers of the twentieth century. They can, in todays world, easily be judged as narrow-minded, fanatical, or morally defective. The many horrible crimes of Hitler and Stalin warrant such judgments. The involvement of these particular Swedes must, however, be seen in the context of the prevailing knowledge and spirit of the time. The convictions which moved them were widespread in leading circles across Europe. These ideas included the notion of might is right, the degeneration of democracy, the justification of revolution, and the need for living space as well as racial hygiene.

Youthful enthusiasts who believed that it was possible to turn around the structure of societies and let them be governed by people with new and more modern concepts were found in all countries. They believed that in due course new technology and large-scale production would result in universal bliss, provided that bourgeois prejudices were permanently removed, by drastic means, if necessary.

In this sort of perspective Lenin, Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin were seen in a different light from today. Many saw them as the leaders with the most successful labor movements. They were not shunned for taking the most drastic actions to impose a classless society, at first under the leadership of an elite, a vanguard: the Party of the State. They were ready to evict royalty, the aristocracy, the church, the bourgeoisie, and topple the bureaucracy. The industrial worker, the farmer, and other physical laborers, at last, would become the bedrock of society. In Russia, the ideal was Soviet Man, and in Germany, the Aryan.

Initially, a fair number of young Swedes were drawn by these new political appeals. That both Communists and Nazis were of the opinion that the small countries must be taken over by larger ones was seen by some as more of a promise than a threat. Some Swedes were even ready to resort to armed action to hasten the dawn of the new era, or to fight political opponents. As we shall see, however, substantially more Swedes acted to defend western democracy and the freedom of the small nations, while yet others were just accidentally swept away in the maelstrom of war in Europe.

*****

Traditionally the professional soldier, from private to officer, seldom questioned for which flag he fought. Many preferred to fight for those who were most successful and paid the best. The oath of loyalty was often made to the chief of the regiment, while the oath to the flag was made to the regimental banner. The dramatic developments in thought that were behind the North American Revolutionary War, the French Revolution, and the rise of nationalism caused this practical view of war and the role of the individual soldier to disappear. The head of state and the national flag became more important than the units military leaders or the units banner. The fatherland or an ideologysuch as freedom, equality, brotherhoodwere made supreme. One should also keep in mind that initially there was only a subtle difference between nationalism and subversive activities. The revolution against the Establishment went forward hand in hand with nationalism. This period established a series of new motives to go to war.

To become a fully trained officer was fairly simple when the wars were numerous and long. Many aspiring officers found war in their own country, and thus did not need to look for opportunities abroad. At times, however, it was necessary to travel across Europe and attempt to be accepted as volunteer officers in a foreign force embroiled in combat. To be sure, it was customary that one did not fight against ones own country, but aside from that, it was deemed almost irrelevant which army one fought with, and against whom. The main thing was learning the trade. Those who earned their spurs in foreign armies could then find secure appointments in their own army. Combat experience gained abroad provided credibility to serve Sweden well, both in times of war and peace.

Around 1800 the process of becoming an officer changed. There was a new requirement for formal professional training. A cadet was now trained at one of the new national cadet schools and gained further promotion through service in his unit. Further training was possible both at home and overseas, occasionally at foreign military schools, and occasionally through volunteer war service with a foreign army or navy. In this way valuable experience was transferred from ongoing wars to ones own military organization.

The pace of technological development increased at a tremendous rate from the middle of the 1800s with the advent of steam power; trains; the propeller; armor plate; repeating rifles; the telegraph; telephone and radio; the gasoline engine; long-range artillery; aircraft; and tracked vehicles. Those states not actually involved in war had to follow these developments closely, so Swedish officers were sent out to the wars as observers. The possibilities to coordinate firepower, maneuver, and protection were constantly changing. Conclusions reached at the drawing boards and on the exercise fields had to be verified on the battlefield and then adjusted.

Around 1900 the volunteers who streamed to the side of the Boers in South Africa were different. They came not to learn a profession or to report home to the General Staff, but they came primarily to fight for the underdog Boer side against the colonial power, Great Britain. The Finns, who fourteen years later went to war on the side of the Germans, did come to learn the profession of armsbut mainly to later be able to apply those skills to fight for Finlands independence from Russiaan endeavor in which they succeeded.