31 Oct American Internees in WWII Sweden
American Internee Inspection at Näs Pensionat near Falun 1944
Recently I created a Group on Facebook named “American Internees in WWII Sweden.”
The description as it reads on Facebook: “During World War II over 1400 American airmen landed in neutral Sweden after their planes were so badly damaged that they could not make it home. The airmen were interned in Sweden for various amounts of time, from a few weeks until the duration of the war. While in Sweden, they were housed in internment camps and were very well treated.
Exciting update January 19, 2014: a member of the American Internees in WWII Sweden Facebook Group found this photo and identified it as the crew of the B-24 Liberator “Mistah Chick.” His Dad was the bombardier. See the entire comment below …
This Facebook Group is for their families to share stories and perhaps find answers to their questions about the adventures of these young men some 65+ years ago.”
I hope this will attract family members and friends of the internees, and perhaps even the airmen themselves! It would be great if we could all post our stories and photographs.
If you have any interest in sharing this segment of World War II history, please join in!
American Internees in Sweden
bill torrey
Posted at 11:23h, 21 Novemberlooking for info on my dad, cecil who landed in sweden on april 9 1944 and spent time in rattvik. he was a gunner on a b-24. when they landed they painted lucky 13 on the nose.
Pat
Posted at 14:57h, 21 NovemberBill, I have the summary and photo found in Making for Sweden, Part 2. There isn’t a lot of information but I will email you a scan of what is says about his crew. April 9th was a busy day. Ten bombers landed in Sweden on April 9th. Two additional crashed in Denmark, and seven of their crew members escaped to Sweden.
Alan Iavecchia
Posted at 11:22h, 19 JanuaryRe the photo above of a civilian-dressed crew standing-at-attention in Falun Sweden, the short gent in the front row/far right is very likely my father, bombardier Veto A. Iavecchia…….in which case the crew is that of the B-24 Liberator bomber “Mistah Chick”, which crash-landed in Halmstad Sweden 20 JUNE 1944. The two ‘civilians’ with their backs to the camera appear to be (L>R) Mistah Chick’s pilot (Ralph Leslie) and co-pilot (Ralph Williams). By late NOV 1944, Veto was released and returned to the USA to carry out his final year of service.
Edward B. Bower, MD
Posted at 16:22h, 01 MarchI am working on the memoirs of my Father-in-law, Curtis Winfree Thomas who was the copilot of Case 107 listed in the book Making for Sweden Part 2. He was a member of USAAF 305BG, 365BS. They were able to get their plane to Bulltofta May 13, 1944 and were interned at Loka Brun until October 15, 1944. I have digitized 176 photographs that he took while at the camp. I am looking for more information about this camp or members of his crew.
Alan Iavecchia
Posted at 20:22h, 10 NovemberGreetings, Pat DiGeorge.
Today (on the eve of Veterans Day), my brother posted on his Facebook page a photo from my father’s WW2 photo album (a photo I had not known was in our possession)……the same photo as the one shown at the top of this blog page…..on which I had previously commented, 19 JAN 2014. Though your photo caption lists “Falun” as the locale, my father captioned HIS photo “Officers at Nas” (a town 31 miles from Falun). Thought you might welcome this detail.
Moises Ramirez
Posted at 07:53h, 09 JuneBill Torrey
I will be in Rattvik from June 23-June 25. Is there any place in particular you need info or photos from? Camp locations, pubs, restaurants, hotels that your father mite have frequented? I have friends that live there too if you get this message after I leave there… Let me know. Same goes for anyone else needing info on the Darlarna region of Sweden (Falun).
Luther E. Johnson
Posted at 01:53h, 27 SeptemberA fishing friend from the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area often spoke to me regarding his interment in a Swedish camp after his airplane was “shot up” and forced to land in Sweden. Roy Weber talked about being in a camp where he and several other airmen were treated well. Then, in 1944, with the Allies gaining the upper hand, Roy and other airmen were able to check out of the camp on “passes”, go into a nearby town where he and other Americans met Swedish young women. The men ate in local restaurants, shopped at stores and met many Swedish people. 40 years and more had passed but Roy still spoke fondly of his Swedish sweetheart and the positive treatment given by the town residents. It was an education for me to learn of American airmen in Sweden during World War 2.
Alan M Iavecchia
Posted at 13:29h, 05 FebruaryGreetings, Pat DiGeorge . . . . .
This is a follow-up to my two previous comments ( 19 JAN 2014 and 10 NOV 2015 ) regarding the photograph at the top of this blog-page, captioned “American Internee Inspection at Falun 1944.”
I commented that my father had captioned the depicted locale as Nas (rather than Falun, as captioned above). Since you never altered the Falun caption here, I’m curious if your research convinced you that Falun was indeed the correct locale . . . . in which case I would want to correct the ‘Nas’ caption on my father’s copy of the photo. Please update me at your earliest convenience.
Thanks for your time and consideration.
Pat DiGeorge
Posted at 07:38h, 03 MarchAlan, I’m working on this little mystery this morning, trying to put the clues together. The photo in the blog (that your brother also posted from your Dad’s album) was not identified by my father in his scrapbook. I “assumed” it was Falun because of the attached photo. They looked like they were standing in front of the same building with all the foliage hanging off the roof.
I found the post in our Facebook group posted on November 27th. The Näs Pensionat, an internee’s scrapbook says, was in Korsnäs, just about 8 or 9 kilometers from Falun. I am thinking that the Näs Pensionat was considered to be in the main internment camp of Falun. I have changed my caption on that photo to Näs Pensionat near Falun.
sh strålin
Posted at 11:05h, 22 NovemberI live in Korsnäs Falun. When I was 8 I met an american -Bill Anderson from New York. He was a skipper of a flying fortress.
Can anyone help me to find possible relatives to this man??
How do I proceed?
Pat DiGeorge
Posted at 13:35h, 22 NovemberI am going to question those in the Facebook group “American Internees in WWII Sweden.”