Swiss vs. Swedish Military History

A Swedish Saab Gripen in Switzerland during the 2011 Sion airshow.

Today it became known that 22 Swedish Saab Gripen multirole fighters will most likely join the Swiss Luftwaffe. The Swiss Army already operates Swedish combat vehicles. Thus the military of Sweden and Switzerland have come yet a bit closer and there is reason to look back at our somewhat similar military history.

Well, a short but fact-filled summary in English about Swiss military history in comparison to Sweden's is part of the last chapter of Swedes at War by yours truly and Lennart Westberg. As we write there, "There are several good reasons for casual observers to confuse Sweden with Switzerland."

In my opinion, not least because I spent four wonderful years of my youth in Switzerland, we Swedes really have a lot to learn from the Swiss Armed Forces. Thus I hope the new fighter deal will stimulate not only more trade between our countries but also an exchange of ideas about national defence and security policy.

I seem to recall that while I was living in the Swiss capital in 1978-82 there were thoughts about purchasing Saab Viggen. That did not come about then and I believe I even said some words about this on Swedish radio in 1981 or 1982, as a flight-interested Swedish kid living in Switzerland.

Well, congratulations I say, especially to all Swiss and Swedish readers of this blog.

Nordic Band of Brothers

A tribute both to the Band of Brother-series and the Swedish and Finnish soldiers in Afghanistan.

No, I did not create this amazingly well-made tribute, I just found it. If anyone who took part in the making of this film reads this: please tell us how much time it took to make.

WWII Japanese Flags in Sweden

I wonder if this sushi restaurant in Sweden raises an American or Chinese eyebrow?

I recently noticed the above pictured sushi restaurant in Piteå, up here in northernmost Sweden. As you can see it prominently displays the WWII flag of the Japanese Army and the almost identical flag of the Japanese Navy. I wonder if these could be used the same way in the US or China?

I only feel sure that the German equivalent, the Reichskriegsflagge, would not be possible to display in the same manner. In any country.

Please note that I know that the above Japanese Navy flag is not limited to WWII, it came back in use after the war and thus cannot be said to only symbolize Japan during WWII. However, the pictured Japanese Army flag, which is the top one, was used only until 1945.

Well, could a sushi restaurant in the US or China use these flags without attracting criticism?

Speaking about WWII Japan in Sweden I believe that until this year very little, if anything, has been written about the 1942 "Battle of Los Angeles", which was basically mass hysteria in action - only one enemy was real, a Japanese submarine. IMHO the first book in Swedish to describe this weird battle in detail is the anthology Kriget som aldrig kom ("The War That Never Came"), published this spring by the superb Naval Museum of Karlskrona. Some weeks ago another book appeared that mentions the "battle", simply entitled Swede. I recently blogged about it.

Speaking about the battle of LA I reckon most of you who are reading this post have seen the 1979 war movie "1941", which in spite of the wrong year is based on the hysterical 1942 events in LA. Well, even if you know that movie well I reckon you may not have seen this period teaser for the film:



Finally, just today, thanks to a friend in Slovenia (hat tip!) I found this stunning image (the bottom one) I had never seen before, of the Japanese officer who only surrendered in 1974, Hiroo Onoda. Evidently, he is still alive and is now 89 years old.

OSS NORSO in New Film

Trailer for "The Man Nobody Knew", a new film by Carl Colby, son of the featured William Colby.

A major documentary has been released about William Colby, the head of the CIA 1973-76, who during WWII commanded the OSS Norwegian Special Operations (NORSO) Group.

Colby and the NORSO Group are also in Swedes at War, as it had two Swedish and some Swedish American members and also operated on Swedish territory.

This weekend the new documentary has been highlighted by Norwegian TV2 as it contains several scenes about Colby's time as a OSS field commander on the Norwegian-Swedish border.

The production has a very informative website with e.g. more film excerpts.

The Legend of Larry Thorne

Jussi Syren & The Groundbreakers 2008 performing "The Legend of Larry Thorne" in a Helsinki place called Texas.

Just found this song about a certain green beret from Finland that I wrote about some time ago. I welcome more info about the band.

Osama's Nordic Hunters

Getting closer to Osama bin Laden's last hometown, Abbottabad. Photo taken a couple of weeks ago by para/marine Bo Sunnefeldt. This gentleman, Ashgar, was Bo's guide.

My friend Bo Sunnefeldt was in Abbottabad for the first time in 2004, on holiday. He then noted in his diary that the place seemed natural for bin Laden to hide in. Bo has just returned from another visit there, but that is not the only Swedish connection to the end of OBL.

Osama bin Laden did not yet reside in Abbottabad when my friend made his note. Well, at least a pretty good prediction then. Some weeks ago, after some serious mountaineering in Pakistan, Bo thought he might try to examine OBLs former compound. Here are some photos from his trip.

Inside Abbottabad and rather obviously getting closer to the compound.

Alas, a couple of hundred meters from the goal, armed guards stopped Bo and his guide and rather harshly informed them that OBL-tourism is not yet allowed.

My globetrotting friend close to the spot where he had to turn around.

Coincidentally, I recently picked up a book that I now realize takes place ten years ago, Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton. This gripping book is about the fall of Taliban-held Mazar-i-Sharif, made possible by the combined forces of Afghan rebels, laser pointing Special Forces and the USAF. Here is video about the book:



In less than a month's time it will be exactly ten years since Mazar-i-Sharif fell, which since has become home for the main Swedish military contingent in Afghanistan. Furthermore, it was during the drive of the "horse soldiers" towards Mazar that John Walker Lindh, Osama's American volunteer, was captured.

Lindh I knew about and Swedish reporters have confirmed that his father is a Swedish American. But what really came as a surprise to me was to read in Horse Soldiers the name of one of John Walker Lindh's two original captors, CIA paramilitary officer Dave Olson. In other words the name strongly suggests that Lindh was captured by another Swedish American. Olson might possibly mean roots from another Nordic country than Sweden, but usually Danish and Norwegian surnames end with -sen, not -son.

There was at least one more Olson, Eric Thor Olson, who was very much part of the hunt for OBL. In his case not only the surname indicates Swedish or at least Nordic roots. Does someone out there know more about his roots?

Raiders of the Lost Spear

Note the long spear/lance and "LOGINOS" in Greek characters above the soldier who is holding it. This is a crucifixion scene painted in the year 586 and part of the the Rabbula Gospels.

Regular readers of this blog will have noticed my interest in Star Wars (the old ones). Well, it should come as no surprise then, that I am also a fan of Indiana Jones (except the most recent one). I am currently reading a book that makes me think the first Indy film could have been entitled "Raiders of the Lost Spear".

If you haven't noticed, 2011 is the 30th anniversary of the first movie about OSS Colonel Henry Walton "Indiana/Indy" Jones, Jr., Ph.D.. BTW the name was initially Indiana Smith. As I wrote in the foreword for the Swedish edition of The Master Plan (2007) by Heather Pringle, the Indiana Jones movies have effectively communicated the fact that archeology had a high status in the Third Reich. Quite considerable resources were made available to pre-war archeological SS-expeditions to places like Sweden and Iraq.

But instead of searching for the Ark, it seems as if Indy could have been looking for the Spear of Destiny aka the Holy Spear, Lance of Longinus or Spear of Christ. Different names given to the spear/lance that pierced Jesus' side as he hung on the cross. How did I reach this conclusion? From reading The Complete Making of Indiana Jones (2008) by J.W. Rinzler and Laurent Bouzereau it is clear (p. 17) that initially George Lucas had an open mind about which supernatural artifact that was to be the MacGuffin (plot device) of the first Indy adventure. It was Philip Kaufman that brought the Ark into the movie, i.e. the Ark of the Covenant. From Kaufman's own words it seems he got the Ark from "...an old dentist I went to in Chicago who was obsessed with the lost Ark's legendary powers."

Now then, which artifact would Indy have been wanting to find had Kaufman and his dentist not been? Well, the only other artifact mentioned in the first draft for the film is the Spear of Destiny (p. 28 and 30). Thus, although there is no explicit admission that the Spear would have been the MacGuffin, it seems rather probable to me.

By reading The Complete Making of Indiana Jones one also learns more about how the film's sadistic Nazi intelligence agent Arnold Toht was first imagined. He was initially an SS-Obersturmbannführer (lieutenant colonel) with a mechanical arm that could transform into a flamethrower and/or machine gun.

The book also portrays the Flying Wing in both amazing drawings and several photographs, as well that fantasy Panzer of Indy III. Speaking of fantasy tanks, don't miss these highly skilled modellers and especially this thread.

Yesterday the LA Times had some Indy news, Steven Spielberg said earlier that he and George Lucas have discussed a possible fifth Indiana Jones movie. LA Times has Indy himself, i.e. Harrison Ford, talking about this with Spielberg.

Now, considering that Indy has already chased around in Tibet, Italy, South America and the Biblical lands it is high time for Indiana Jones to have a showdown with the SS in Swedish Tanumshede or Himmelstalund. Just two of the places with major rock carvings in Sweden that attracted SS-expeditions. But what about Indy's age? No problem, he does not even have to go back in time - he can fight the SS-division "Schwarze Sonne" due to be activated in 2018 ;-)