Does anyone here read Swedish?

[Adze]

As the thread title really, I discovered an old letter in some Swedish military surplus kit I bought, post marked 1943. Some help translating it would be very much appreciated, as being handwritten, it's not something that lends itself to Babelfish very well.

 

[KayakFisherFinland]

I would say that Janne is your guy, I can some, but might miss some.

 

[Adze]

Thanks - I think he's posted that he's in hospital at the moment, I'll wait until he's better before asking him.

 

[SGL70]

Can I be of any assistance?

Greger

 

[Janne]

Me or Greger can help you with anything!

 

[SGL70]

anything!

 

[Adze]

Thanks all, I've sent the pics I have of the letter to Janne, as I've no idea what the letter contains I'd rather not post them publicly as it could easily be a very personal letter, 1943 being a bit of a dark time in Europe.

 

[spandit]

How fascinating. I look forward to finding out what it contained

 

[Janne]

The translation will be a cooperation between me and SGL!

 

[Adze]

Thanks SGL!

 

[SGL70]

.........no probs!

 

[sunndog]

If you don't hear back from janne or SGL within a week you know its a treasure map

 

[SGL70]

The penmanship of the 40s is something else, I can tell you

 

[Adze]

Ok - thanks to Janne and SGL we've a translation!

Pics first!

The envelope:

Page 1:

Overleaf:

Detail of the writing at the side:

Janne & SGL's translation:

Front of envelope:

Stamp of Gustav V, Swedish king .
Stamped15 November 1943 Uttersjöbäcken, which is a village in nothern Sweden, about 30 km south of Skellefteå.

Soldier 65 Rönnlund

Field Post 65068
(This indicates he was at end of the basic training, stationed in the field somewhere in Sweden guarding the country. Not at the regiment where he received the basic training

Letter:
Sunday evening
1/2 10. ( 9.30 PM)
Hi!
Thank you for the letter.
You have been really nice to hear from you.
Here everything is splendid .
Gerda came on Friday evening and she looks very healthy which is good.
They have been here today so has Arne been home and celebrated dad and Allan has also been here and gave granddad a 1 kilo

Page two:
bag of sugar which was a very welcomed gift.
He said that he, Karl-Göran and Lill-Karin have sent a card to you, sure it was fun to receive.
Here it has been snowing and there is a lot of sleet today so it has not been nice.
Tomorrow morning Lars Holmberg will arrive and damn, it is unsuitable but it has to do.

We are going to boil coffee tonight and put in a thermos bottle because we can not be without coffee tomorrow morning

Greetings, I<name redacted>

Side of letter: Lots of greetings from all of us. Hope you can avoid doing the guard month. Welcome back.

Janne also mentioned that the grammar in the original Swedish was unusual, so they have translated it as closely to the original as possible instead of making it read well in English.

He also managed to find records of the sender, and will try to find the family so I can return the letter to them if they wish.

 

[Janne]

What I find fascinating is that he received the letter and read it. As it for some reason was fairly precious to him, ( he did not throw it away or used to paper to roll a fag in) he kept it in the pocket.
Then he finished his National Service, the kit got stored in a military warehouse , waiting to be used in the next war ( that never came).
Then some company bought the stuff, and a Bushcrafter bought it, still with the letter!

 

[bopdude]

WOW, what a story, it will be interesting to hear the follow up, to see if the family want the letter

Well done guys

 

[TeeDee]

The penmanship of the 40s is something else, I can tell you

That is very true.

That looks like incredible Pen work - I feel quite shameful of my own handwriting now which looks like an retarded spider with prosthetic legs stumbling home after his birthday celebrations.

If only our skill of the keyboard or phone text could translate to something of quality and artistic grace. ( 1st world Problem! )

 

[Toddy]

My Uncle died this last Winter. He was nearly 94. He too would have been of age with that young man, and he spoke of the delight and genuine happiness at getting a letter from home during the war. Just to hear the little things of normal home life was precious.
No wonder he kept it, and I know his family are going to be delighted to hear from you and to have the letter returned.
Lovely to hear of the puzzle resolved and the history of it all
Nicely done gentlemen


Writing; my own handwriting is fair enough, but I despair of my older brother's (Doctor) and my sons (computer something or others). I need to sit with a pad of paper and quietly work my way through translating their writing to make sense of it. It looks like a spider fell into an inwell and crawled it's way out. I have no idea what the hang they did all those years at school, but it wasn't learning to write

 

[mrcharly]

It is fascinating to read these old letters. I have a sheaf of correspondence between my grandfather and his friend, who was a policeman in Jordan during WWII (and hence involved in various other things, hinted at in the letters). There are photos too, of the friend, in the desert, in uniform and in 'disguise'; it seems he used to go on patrol disguised as a local, on camelback.

 

[TeeDee]

It is fascinating to read these old letters. I have a sheaf of correspondence between my grandfather and his friend, who was a policeman in Jordan during WWII (and hence involved in various other things, hinted at in the letters). There are photos too, of the friend, in the desert, in uniform and in 'disguise'; it seems he used to go on patrol disguised as a local, on camelback.

I'm thinking maybe we need a new thread dedicated to lovely old B & W photos from yesteryear. Every old photo seems to tell a story. Ever so slightly better than the recent trend for Selfies Ad nauseam

Would love to see those photos Mrcharly.

I think I'll start a thread.

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