You both got caught by the midnight sun ... the very best and lots of fun.
Torkel Tistrand also worked for the Swedish American Line
Torkel Tistrand was a Swedish officer, a captain in the Swedish Army Maintenance Corps. During World War II he served on the Gripsholm, one of the two Swedish ships used for prisoner of war exchanges and repatriation voyages. The gold and blue colors of the Swedish flag were painted on her side as well as, in huge letters, the word DIPLOMAT.
The Gripsholm was actually chartered to the United States and operated under the protection of the Red Cross. The ship carried diplomats, journalists, nurses, missionaries as well as prisoners of war being sent home from all parts of the world.
You can read all about these voyages on the salship.se website. There is also a page dedicated to Torkel Tistrand. Captain Tistrand passed away in 1999.
Telegram Torkel Tistrand sent to my parents when they married in Stockholm
Herman F. Allen (my Dad’s) connection to Captain Tistrand came about because in 1944 Tistrand was appointed to be commander of the American airmen internment camp at Rättvik, Sweden. My Dad had left Rättvik by then and was working in Stockholm in the Military Air Attaché’s office. Since one of his responsibilities was to take care of the American internees, he and Captain Tistrand worked together and became friends.
The American internees were very fond of their Swedish “boss,” and after the war wrote fondly of the man they called “Jimmy.”
When my parents married on January 18, 1945 in Stockholm, they received a telegram from T.E. Tistrand wishing them all the best. “You both got caught by the midnight sun … the very best and lots of fun.”
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