Better Than Bond

Clip mentioning why there are so many cool skiing scenes in Bond movies.

The SOE, No. 30 Commando and various other British James Bond-type units of World War II, where did they all come from? How did they get highly experienced people? A new book by Linda Parker provides more than a few clues.

The origin of the multitude of British special forces and commando units of WWII has been explained by the defeats that Britain experienced in 1939-40. The defeats made the British so desperate that they were willing to try anything new. Well, that explains how the units were allowed to start operating, but not how the units so quickly could be filled with men highly experienced in truly extreme navigation and survival.

Linda Parker has now written the book that provides the answer, and also is a very entertaining read. The title is Ice, Steel and Fire and it lets you follow several amazing British explorers from the most exciting expeditions imagineable to their very active participation in WWII special operations. Personally, Peter Fleming is my favourite, but not just because it turns out he is at least as exciting as his brother Ian of James Bond fame. Of course, Peter Fleming´s first WWII mission was special reconnaissance in Norway...

Sweden too, of course, is part of the book - in the form of two of the main characters. George Binney, the author of With Seaplane and Sledge in the Arctic (1925), during WWII became a blockade buster to procure Swedish ball bearings for Britain. From having been a record-breaking Greenland explorer and an assistant military attaché in Sweden, Andrew Croft did daring naval special operations work for SOE in the Med, i.a. with captured Italian MAS boats.

If you like Indian Jones-style explorers, British special forces and want to know why Bond movies have so many cool skiing scenes, then Ice, Steel and Fire is for you.

Did Obama Sleep In Patton's Stockholm Room?

The Patton that people know best vs. the real Patton.

President Barack Obama this morning woke up in the Grand Hotel in Stockholm. Swedish media have missed a historic aspect of this. The last time the Swedish capital had such a grand American visit the guest stayed in the same hotel, perhaps even in the same suite?

That time was 1945 and the guest was General George S. Patton and his room door in the Grand Hotel was guarded by a black soldier. President Obama has on several occasions mentioned that his grandfather "marched with Patton". The guard by the door was not Obama's grandfather though, I have checked this. Still, a rather nice irony that Patton and Obama stayed in the same hotel, perhaps even the same VIP-suite?

I have interviewed one of the Swedish officers that Patton met in Stockholm, and collected a number of articles about the visit and all of the best stuff is in my book Germans And Allies In Sweden which also deals with the forgotten US military bases in Sweden 1944-45 and many other previously secret and still largely unknown aspects of Swedish WWII history.

BTW I am fully aware that one serving US president has visited Sweden inbetween Patton's 1945 visit and Obama's ongoing visit. This was George W. Bush. But Bush visited Gothenburg, not Stockholm.

Fallschirmjäger and Gebirgsjäger Trails 2013

Ju 52 wreckage in Swedish Lapland, very close to Norway. I am always amazed to find hand-painted letters and numbers from WWII, but these are mostly covered by snow which can explain condition.

Aboard this Ju 52 there were omly Fallschirmjägers, paratroopers, thus this entrenching tool must have belonged to one of them.

A twisted panel for some instruments, probably taken away by Swedish soldiers already in 1940, when this aircraft was shot down by a Swedish AA-gun.

Cloth straps still remain, but what is Mats holding?

Moving over the border into Norway this was one of the best finds. Yes, this is how these Madsen mags were found, all together in a position north of Bjornfjell, where they still are.

The straps of these German goggles have fully disintegrated, just the metal (aluminium?) is left. I have never found any goggles before, so this was a first.

One of many German mountain positions that we found, some with rounds and cans, some empty. There are only a few traces of the opposing side, the Norwegian soldiers.

The view from them in 1940 must have been pretty much the same.

Three of us who did this hike form the team behind the coming book "Ghost Patrol". From the left moi, Karl-Gunnar Norén and Mikael Norman.

More Time Travel in Finnish Lapland

Made in Dresden and only use it with petrol, but what is it?

Early this summer two friends and I decided to again visit a former German WWII base in Finnish Lapland, that I have blogged about before. We revisited some sites and found some new ones. Let me immediately say that we did not trespass into any forbidden areas. Still, one should be very careful and to be completely safe not step on or lift anything rusty. If you still do so, let me clearly state that it is on your own risk and what everyone, including experienced folks, should always avoid, is touching mortar or artillery rounds. Also, leave the stuff for others to see, and report large rounds to local authorities.


One of several places with lots of German gas mask containers. Most very rusty but some with remains of paint


Hundreds of rusting Wehrmacht snow shoes in a heap. BTW I have seen very few photos of them in actual use.


Yes, these are WWII cartridges on the ground in 2013, thousands of them, in one place.


Remains of a bayonet holder. Although it looks dug it is not, thousands of pieces of kit are on the ground. Many have been here before though, so do not expect to find anything in good condition.


Finnish 1960s book about the Finnish Armed Forces, picked up for small sum in local 2nd hand store. Inside many photos of soldiers with both German and Soviet weapons.

I am still not keen to divulge the exact locations (also takes away part of the sport if I do), but let me give you a recommendation, the best place to stay and perhaps get some search tips is this cozy hotel.

The Files That Were Burned Thrice

Thanks to a tip from author Johanna Parikka Altenstedt I just became aware of that Finnish media have announced that the remains of Finnish WWII intelligence legend Reino Hallamaa are to return to Finland in a few week´s time. This means that the Stella Polaris intelligence operation, of great significance also for Sweden, will again be in focus of Finnish society and perhaps we even will learn something more about this spectacular operation?

Hard Power, At Any Cost?

71 seconds from last week´s record snap drills in Russia.

Last week´s enormous snap drills in Russia and the news about greater US-Russian involvement in the war in Syria have yet to be reacted upon by the Swedish government, at least openly. While we are waiting for reactions we might consider what Sergei Witte, prime minister of the Russian Empire, said a hundred years ago about the importance of hard power:

In truth, what is it that has essentially upheld Russian statehood? Not only primarily, but exclusively the army. Who created the Russian Empire, transforming the semi-Asiatic Muscovite tsardom into the most influential, most dominant, grandest European power? Only the power of the army's bayonet. The world bowed not to our culture, not to our bureaucratized church, not to our wealth and prosperity. It bowed to our might.

In other words, soft power could never substitute for traditional hard power. The big question now is if anyone in today´s Russian political elite has any other opinion than Sergei Witte?

Second big question: are the costs for obtaining greater hard power in today´s world truly irrelevant? Kazimierz Waliszewski wrote on the essence of Russia: "the readiness and power to ignore the cost in obtaining a desired result". Does this apply just as much today?

Making of "The Victors" in Sweden

This is how "The Victors" starts.

I am proud to have contributed to the latest issue of my favourite British journal, After the Battle. More precisely to the Swedish part of the amazing making-of story "The Victors" by Trevor Popple.

The story is about Carl Foreman's directorial debut, the quite controversial WWII movie "The Victors". Foreman is much better known for his scripts for "High Noon" and "The Bridge on the River Kwai". "The Victors" was an attempt at portraying the US Army in WWII Europe in a highly realistic way. GIs are shown worn out by battle and sometimes even cruel. The movie is still very much worth seeing and in some ways, I believe, is more realistic than many recent WWII movies.

This fall it is exactly 50 years since the movie was first released. For Swedes it is of particular interest as the winter scenes were filmed in Sweden, in the province of Jämtland. That is of course where I provided some small services to Trevor Poppple, who has put amazing amounts of research into the article and describes not only the filming, including memories of the living Swedish extras, but also shows what the sites of the production are like today.

If you are not able to find the just released issue no. 160 of After the Battle where you live, then order it via the After the Battle website.