13 Aug Lucky Strike

Lucky Strike, WWII documentary by Jan-Olof Nilsson

(2015) Lucky Strike: When the Americans Came to Our Village is a new World War II documentary film by Jan-Olof Nilsson based on his 2013 book about the Allied crews who, after bombing missions deep into Germany, desperately flew to Sweden when their planes were too damaged by flak or fighters to make it back to England.

The Swedish language version of the film premiered in Falkenberg, Sweden,  in April of this year, then was broadcast on Swedish television the following month. All in Swedish, of course.

Previously in 2010, Nilsson published  Anrop Red Dog, also about the foreign planes that came to Sweden, in particular the giant American bombers. “They talked like movie stars, they gave us Chewing Gum and danced the jitterbug.” Red Dog goes into detail about what the bomber crews went through, beginning with their training, on to the horrors they experienced during their missions, then their experiences in neutral Sweden.

The book Lucky Strike: Swedish War Brides and Allied Airmen (as translated) takes a more personal view of what happened in the villages when the Americans came to town.  The author interviewed men and women who were there, both Swedes and Americans, on both sides of the Atlantic. Many of these young men had grown close to the local Swedish girls. Some fell in love and married, finally settling in the United States. Others did not marry. Sons and daughters were left behind.

Jan-Olof Nilsson, author and filmmaker “on the job”

Jan-Olof Nilsson’s documentary gives heartfelt stories of those who were personally involved. He filmed men and women who lived through the years when the American fly boys moved in. These memories are an important part of Swedish history.

There is a very active group on Facebook named American Internees in WWII Sweden. We are family members, historians, even an American internee who was there! Ever since Lucky Strike was published in 2013 there has been a “buzz” about the book. One group member was amazed to see that his father’s picture was the prominent airman on the book’s cover. Another shared that his uncle’s plane, Lucky Lady’s Avenger, is also featured. If any of my readers are interested in the American Internees, please join us. We’re from the U.S., Scandinavia, Britain, all asking questions, sharing photographs and memories.

I was thrilled to receive an advance press copy of the “hot off the press” English-subtitle version.  The film will be shown at the prestigious Chagrin Falls Documentary Film Festival in October of this year.  Hopefully by next year, both the Swedish and the American versions can be ordered online.

Anyone who has an interest in the history of Scandinavia, World War II, or the Air Corps will relish the stories of these young men who sought refuge in Sweden and left their imprint. There are excellent photographs as well as actual movies of the airmen as they deplane, obviously in some shock, and then as they explore their new surroundings. I stopped the action every few moments to see if any of the men could have been my father.

A couple times, I thought maybe so.

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