Internee Camps
On July 24, 1943, “Georgia Rebel” was the first American bomber to crash land in Sweden. Prior to that, most of the aircrews to divert to Sweden were from Germany or Britain. Sweden had declared its neutrality and through neutrality regulations was responsible for the “internment” of the aircraft and the aircrews.
After the Georgia Rebel arrived, and particularly beginning in the spring of 1944 when the USAAF began bombing targets deep into Germany, more and more crews in distress were forced to seek refuge in this neutral country.
The crew of the Georgia Rebel was interned in Falun at a guest house. As more and more American airmen arrived, Sweden began to convert boarding houses and health spas into internment camps. The first to officially open was on October 1, 1943, at Falun.
Sweden was not prepared for this “invasion” of Americans. No proper internment facilities were ready. (Pär Henningsson, Uppsala, Sweden)
Over the next year several other internee camps opened, as shown on the map. In addition there were auxiliary internee camps at various Swedish airfields where qualified US airmen would repair and maintain the damaged B-17′s and other interned aircraft.
The Swedes were host to the surviving airmen of 327 aircraft from different countries. 140 were American. 68 of the planes were B-17′s, 61 were B-24′s. In their book, Making for Sweden, the authors have chronicled each and every aircraft and the fates of their crews.
Internee Camps
In the map you can see the locations of the internee camps. Stockholm is also labeled as a reference point. Of note is how close occupied Denmark is on the lower left.
The main internment camps were at Falun, Rättvik, Loka Brunn, Gränna, and Mullsjö.
Auxiliary internee camps were at airfields located at Västerås (Hasslo Airfield), Malmo (Bulltofa Airfield), Såtenäs, and Mullsjö.
Another airfield of interest was Bromma, located in Stockholm. From this airport, allied planes would fly to and from England. These would not be easy trips because they involved flying over Nazi fortified Denmark.
In my collection of over 1,200 signed WW2 aviation books, I have the Visitors’ Book that was in the mess room at RAF Leuchars. This book contains about 3,500 signatures and I’ve just found those of most of the repatriated crew of Georgia Rebel: Osce Jones, George McIntosh, Arthur Guertin, James Hayne, Joseph Nicatra, Charles Newcomb, Alfred Haugen, Shannon Early and Maurice Kelleher. George McIntosh signed the book on 28 December 1943. Osca Jones signed the book on 31 December 1943. The others signed on 16 March 1944. I can’t find Charles Nevius. Amongst the signatures on 28 December 1943, there is G D Bell who added “American Legation, Stockholm” as his address. Those that signed in March gave “63 Brook Street, London” as their address. This was the place where evadees and escapees stayed and wrote about their experiences. If anyone is interested, I will upload photos of the pages of the Visitors’ Book that contains these signatures.
Lieutenant Glyndon G. Bell was the pilot of the last B-17 captured by Germans in 1943: B-17F-100-BO “Miss Nonalee II” (42-30336) from 548BS 385BG. This plane was damaged on 9th of October 1943 during a bombing run on the Arado plant in Anklam (Eastern Prussia). The crew decided to go to Sweden but they made a mistake and flew to Denmark. All crew members excluding the pilot jumped and were caught by Danish police collaborating with Germans. Lieutenant Bell made a forced landing near Varde, Denmark and, after a failed attempt to set fire to the bomber, he evaded Danish policeman and was transported by Danish Resistance to Sweden.
Trevor, thank you so much for your comments! Yes I would love to see the pages in your Visitors’ Book. What a find!