Swedish Volunteer Corps and Osasto Roininen (Detachment Roininen) in SallaThe Commander of Swedish volunteers General Ernst Linder (right) and his Chief of Staff Carl August Ehrensvärd in Tornio
The Swedish Volunteer Corps (Swedish: Svenska frivilligkåren) during the Winter War numbered 9,640 officers and men. Sweden was officially non-belligerent during the war, so the Corps was used by Finland. The Swedish volunteers were in the front lines in the northern Salla area starting from February 28, 1940. Their losses included 33 dead, 10 missing, 50 wounded, and 130 disabled by frostbite.[1] There were also 25 aircraft that served in the Swedish Voluntary Air Force, F19. Swedish volunteers also defended Turku in an anti-aircraft battery.
By the end of the war, the Volunteer Corps was composed of 8,260 Swedes, plus 725 Norwegians, and 600 Danes.[1] They demonstrated a strong Nordic unity that was symbolized in their "four brother hands" insignia which represented Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.
^The 33-year-old Anders Zachau, a forest officer from Uddevalla, followed his aircraft to the ground and was killed. He thus became the first person of the Swedish Air Force who died in battle. His remains were found in 1942 and was then transferred to Sweden for burial in Uddevalla. His name is remembered in the Swedish Air Force Memorial Hall.[3]
^Per-Gustaf Karlsson from Morjärv was badly wounded on 2 March 1940, behind the Soviet front line at Märkäjärvi, but could not be brought back to his own line. After the end of the Continuation War, a body was found buried at a former Soviet medical site. The remains could not be identified and were placed in a German mass grave at Kellosälkä (Salla area). When the German casualties there were taken to Germany, it was noted that it was Per-Gustaf Carlsson's remains. The funeral service could then take place at Morjärv Church on 17 January 1960 with interment at its cemetery.[4]
References
^ abDahlberg, Hans (1983). I Sverige under 2:a världskriget [In Sweden during World War II] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Bonnier fakta. p. 269. ISBN91-34-50308-0.
