An American-Swedish soldier who fell in the Great War
Published: 15 October 2024
By Olof Svanberg
With coauthor Joacim Hallberg
Special to the Doughboy Foundation website

Portrait and centennial display
Irving Hermanson in 1913 (right), and the display in the garden in Sweden before the commemoration 1918-2018 with "The Star-Spangled Banner" that covered his coffin in 1921.
My grandmother Elsie, her two younger sisters, Tette and Daddie, and their little brother Irving were all born in New York. Despite this, they are all in St. Jörgen’s cemetery in Varberg, Sweden. I will tell you about their background and Irving’s short life, before he was killed in 1918 as a private soldier No. 1750384 Co M 310th Infantry American Expeditionary Forces in France.
Their mother, the farmer’s daughter, Julia Tobiasdotter Hanson (1852-1947), from Alfshög in Halland, was orphaned together with her four siblings in 1864-65. The children were split up and she eventually came to Gothenburg. When she was 16 years old, she was given a place in London in 1868 via a sea captain Nilsson, a city she would stay in for 13 years. The last place she had was as a companion to a widow named Mrs. Wade. On Sundays she was allowed to ride in the carriage along Rotten Row in Hyde Park and once she was allowed to go with her to Scotland. When she finished, Mrs. Wade gave her a rectangular beaded embroidery with burgundy velvet trim that I inherited. England always remained Julia’s favourite place on earth and even today we in the family eat turkey and plum pudding for Christmas.
Her future husband Nils Hermanson (1858-1918) was born in Tygelsjö outside Malmö where his father was a carpenter. In his family there is his grandfather, the hussar Nils Tarrock and many other horsemen/hussars, but also the horseman Herman Refvelman (1667-1728), who moved from Holland. He was at the artillery in Malmö, then a fortified garrison city. After him, Hermansson eventually became a family name. Around 1880, Nils Hermanson, together with his six years older brother Ola, set out on a Journeyman’s Trek. The two brothers trained as instrument makers of surgical instruments. They first came to Berlin but after a while continued to London. Nils and Julia met in London, they got engaged and agreed to move to the United States. (Ola stayed in London until his death, Tette sought him out in 1913 and found out that he had died several years earlier).
Nils went over first, a few months later Julia came after and they got married in Manhattan on 3/10 1885. They settled at 1882 Park Avenue in Harlem. Nils opened a store and sold cutlery at 229 E 34th street. The family grew steadily, first came my grandmother Elsie (1888-1943), followed by Tette (1891-1978), then Daddie (1892-1991) and finally little Irving or Petter as he was called in the family. The American casualty card says Herman I Hermanson, but his first name was Irving. (1895-1918).

The Hermanson family back in old Sweden in 1900. From left: my grandmother Elsie, Nils, Irving, Tette, Julia, and Daddie.
Probably business was not going well, and Julia had become very weak after giving birth to Irving. Julia’s younger sister Linda Hanson therefore offered them to come to her in Varberg in Sweden. There she ran a settlement warehouse under her own name. In the summer of 1899, Julia arrived with the children in Halland. Linda is very enterprising and has opened a branch in Falkenberg that Julia will manage. She and her two youngest daughters move there while Elsie and Irving live with Aunt Linda and go to school in Varberg. So does their cousin Helena, another proof of the generosity Linda shows the rest of the family. Elsie, when she is older, goes to the girls’ school and Irving to the secondary school, where he graduated in 1912.

To the left is Julia as the manager of Linda’s branch in Falkenberg around 1905. At right: Irving on his 15th birthday 8/9/1910 on the bicycle he received as a gift.

At left: Irving third from the left in the top row. In the middle, the priest and the headmaster Adolf Lindegren who later officiated during Irving’s funeral in 1921. To the right Aunt Linda Hanson, the Head mother of the family, ca 1890.
Irving spent the summers with his mother’s cousin Fina on the farm Länsmansbostället in Hakestad, Köinge. He was interested in agriculture, and he studied at Rösiöskolan Hagaberg outside Jönköping for a year in 1912-13. One summer he sailed on the ship “Trio”, we have a couple of blurry photos from when they docked in Halmstad. (In addition, there is a teaspoon in nickel silver with a crowned anchor on both sides surrounded by Swedish flags on it. It is probably the badge of the ship’s boys’ corps. He must have “forgotten” to return it…) In the meantime, his father Nils has come to Sweden on two occasions, in 1900 and 1910, to try to make a living here.
Unfortunately, he fails to do so and is both times forced to return to the store in Manhattan after a year. Irving begins his career as an agricultural worker on a farm in Bohuslän and then travels with some friends to Denmark. There they take a job at a large estate and work hard from morning to night, barely getting anything to eat. The clouds of unrest thicken over Europe and in July 1914 it breaks loose, the 1st World War begins. In the Hermanson family, there were two things that worried them, that Sweden is being dragged into the war, and that Nils in New York has become ill. Julia and Aunt Linda make the decision that Irving should go back to the States to escape the war and to be able to take care of his father. In November 1914, he travelled aboard the RMS Lusitania, the Atlantic steamer that was sunk half a year later by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland.
Once back in the states, he must of course support himself, exactly what he does we do not know, but on June 15th, 1915, a census was conducted in New Jersey. At that time, he was listed as a farm worker in Chester Township, Morris County, New Jersey. In August 1915, he started in a new place. He writes this in a reply letter he sends to his three sisters. They have written and congratulated him on his 20th birthday on September 9th, 1915, while at the same time “peppering” him with questions about how he is doing. The new location is also in Chester, with a rich “American” who is a lawyer. He has a farm as a summer residence “just for pleasure” and it is this that Irving is supposed to take care of. He has his own room but from October 1st, 1915, he can have the whole house of five rooms and kitchen to himself:
In the winter, I’m here all alone and then get to be my own cook, dishwasher, cleaner, etc. The farm is about 125 acres in size, and I have 30 cows (no milking), 5 horses, 2 pigs, 1 dog, 5 cats, 2 ducks and between 2 and 300 chickens to take care of during the winter (alone) so you must not wait too many letters and forgive me for writing in pencil. By name I have a place as superintendent, but the salary is that of an ordinary labourer. From $20 a month in the winter and $30 in the summer (plus everything is free). My new boss is married and has only one child (a son who is 10 years old). Young people are scarce, my girlfriends as well (of course!). My English is going well… Now the clock is at 10 am and the eyes are about to close. I’m going to get up at 5 tomorrow and therefore must think about the latter part. Hope I have now satisfied your curiosity a little so close. I’ll try to write a little more often this winter.
Greetings in legion to the old country from the new.
Petter
We do not know how long he stayed with the lawyer, but in early 1918 he and a friend Frank (reportedly an American) were the owners of a piece of land in Chester, Vermont. In Vermont they started to create an agricultural farm as settlers. However, when Irving is drafted into the army, the documents state that he is a “farmer” employed by a Dr. Brooks in Jacksonville, New Jersey. When he was previously employed, he was a “farm labourer”. How this comes about, I don’t know. It’s a total mystery. It is probably because of that information that he belongs to Morris County. In the family’s possession we have several letters that Irving sent to the family from March to September 1918. From these it appears that Father Nils is in worse health and has therefore become financially insolvent, and Irving hopes not to be called up – they have just bought several horses and the winter, which has been severe with deep snow, does not want to let go of its grip:
We have bought a team of horses a couple of weeks ago and the snow is so deep yet that we have all we can to keep ourselves and the horses alive.
They struggle to make the farm carry itself when he is called to enlist in New Jersey. It is quite a long and expensive journey there and he is forced to do it twice. To afford the trips, Irving secretly needs to borrow from his father Nils’ younger brother Uncle Per, who had come to New York in 1888. Per is a cabinetmaker and lives with his family on City Island, Bronx in New York. Irving is called up and shows up on April 2 at the training camp, Camp Dix, New Jersey. After two weeks, he writes on 16/4 to Uncle Per:
I have been here just two weeks now, but we haven’t got our uniforms yet. We expect them this week. We have been examined almost every day since we came but still, I don´t know if I am fit for overseas service or not. If I pass, I expect to be sent to France sometime before the first of Aug. as the whole camp is to be cleaned out by that time. It is quite a large place with room for 40.000 men here from all parts of the country and I suppose many Swedes, but I haven’t met any yet. We are drilling 8 hours every day. I am not specially in love with it, but it goes just the same. I have asked to be transferred to the cavalry and hope I will be as I know I would like it better.
In the enlistment documents it is stated that he is of normal build and of normal height with brown eyes. He is later approved as a soldier but is not allowed to switch to the cavalry. In the letters, he hopes that it will be a while until they are sent to France, but on May 17 he shows a tough will to fight:
We wouldn’t stay very long over there as our patience with ”the Huns” is gone and we intend to put an end to it mighty quick.
Three days later, on May 20, Irving is shipped over to France aboard the ship S/S Northland. His letter shows that it takes over two months before he receives any response, and he feels abandoned before he finally receives a letter from home. It is also difficult to post letters in the field, he carries a letter around for a whole month before he is given the opportunity to get it off. To his partner Frank he writes in September from “Somewhere in France”:
It takes a man and all there is in him to face it but the ones that pull through it will learn something good out of it anyhow and that is to appreciate a peaceful life.
To his father Nils, he writes in his last letter that he unfortunately is not allowed to reveal anything about what they endure, but will have plenty to tell when they meet again:
It is pretty hard for us to write because after we have skipped what we are not allowed to write there is absolutely nothing to write about. We are working hard and the time flies, but it can´t go any too fast for me. Every day is a day nearer peace, and it certainly will be the greatest day in my life when we will see each other again. Well Old Dad, if I could write what I wanted, I could fill a book.
There was never another meeting between father and son, nor was there a book. Irving participated in battles in the Argonne Forest on 22/9 where he was shot in one knee. He was taken to a field hospital where he contracted pneumonia and died on October 21st. According to the death telegram, he died on September 22nd and according to Morris County’s official history, it was not until October 28th that he died. The correct date is October 21st. Three weeks before the peace on November 11th.
A contributing factor to his death was probably that he had been subjected to a gas attack that weakened his lungs. The seriously ill father Nils had moved in with Uncle Per, but after the news of Irving’s death he got worse and worse and died of kidney inflammation on December 22nd, 1918. He was buried on Christmas Eve in Pelham Cemetery, City Island, Bronx. In the same grave now lie Uncle Per, his wife, and two of their three daughters. Within a couple of months, father and son had now been taken away.
One can imagine the anguish of mother Julia and Aunt Linda. They had made the decision to send Irving back to the States, a decision that ultimately led to his death in France.
At the end of January 1919, the local press contains the following to read:
The other day a letter arrived from America to a mother in Varberg. The letter was written by a distraught and dying man and bore the message that his only son had fallen in an unknown place on the European Western Front. When the letter reached its destination, the sender was no longer among the number of the living for a month. Although Irving Hermanson’s career was violently interrupted before it was even remotely completed, he still managed to do a more thorough day’s work during his short life than many a man can look back on the evening of life. Praise for his dust – wherever it rests!
After a while, another letter arrived at Mother Julia, this time from Irving’s closest commanding officer. It was Captain Irving Goldsmidt who told of Irving’s fate, that he had been hit by a bullet in the knee during fighting in the northern part of the Argonne Forest and then taken to a field hospital. He also suffered gas poisoning during the fighting, which led to his death from pneumonia on 21/10. Captain Goldsmidt describes Irving as follows:
He had an unusually fine character, never spared himself but was first in the ranks. In short, he was a good American soldier, and no higher grade can be given to any man.
Irving, like so many others, was buried in a military cemetery under a white cross. The location was Grave No. 241. American Cemetery, Mesves, Nievre in France. Mother Julia is determined to stay in Varberg and requests that her son’s remains be brought to Sweden. Strangely enough, her wish is heeded by the American military, and the dust left by Irving and another five fallen Swedes are shipped to Sweden. In September 1921, Irving’s and the five others’ dust was brought to Gothenburg on board the S/S Normandia from Antwerp. From there, Irving’s coffin was taken by train to Varberg. An American Red Cross delegate, Ralph E. Rogers, and a Mr. Wilford presented the coffin, which was draped in “The Star-Spangled Banner,” to his mother, Julia. (The flag, which I have in my possession, used to be hoisted by the family for many years on July 4th.) The local press reports:
At 4 o’clock in the afternoon, the dust was taken in the flower-adorned hearse to the New Cemetery, where burial was officiated by Rector Ad. Lindegren, the fallen confirmation teacher. Before that, he gave a moving speech on death and resurrection and spoke words of comfort to the relatives. On the occasion, some boys from the grammar school, as representatives of the grammar school, laid flowers in the grave. Among the number of wreaths for the funeral were two larger wreaths from former comrades in Varberg to the deceased. Today, the flag has flown at half-mast at the grammar school, as a final tribute to the beloved student who in a foreign country has been allowed to shed his young blood.
He was finally laid to rest on 23/9 1921 at St. Jörgen’s cemetery in Varberg. As was customary in the past, Julia and Nils had acquired a burial place when they were still alive and had “Nils Hermanson’s family grave” carved on the stone. Now they added “The Son Irving 1895-1918 Fallen in the World War”. When his mother Julia passed away in 1947, the gravestone was turned over because Nils had long been buried on City Island. So, in his grave, Irving is accompanied by his mother and his two unmarried sisters. Mother Julia had her livelihood secured through the life insurance that fell after Irving.
My grandmother died in 1943, long before I was born, but I had a lot of contact with her sisters Tette and Daddie.
Many Christmases and birthdays were celebrated together and often we were invited for Sunday coffee. In their home there were several photos of Irving and on the hat shelf lay his leather hat as if he were going to come home at any moment. They didn’t talk much about him, but he was with them all the time as a kind of background to their continued lives. Now his portrait hangs on our wall and in a drawer the flag is stored. At the weekend breakfasts, I take the spoon with the anchor, put my marmalade on the toast and give “Petter” a thought of gratitude; His sacrifice is part of our freedom. In the same way that so many in Ukraine today sacrifice themselves for all of us.
Olof Svanberg
Great-nephew to Irving Hermansson
Postscript
Irving’s three sisters met different fates. Grandmother Elsie married Axel Svanberg, the postal office manager, in 1915. They moved to Trollhättan and had the children Kerstin, Eva, Ingrid, Ulla and my father Nils. Elsie fell ill with cancer and died in 1943 after the family had moved back to Varberg. Tette graduated from Rudebecks high school in Gothenburg in 1911. She then studied at Uppsala University in 1911-14 and obtained a master’s degree in German and English. During her time in Uppsala, her mother Julia and Daddie also lived there. She worked for many years as a teacher at Stocksund’s secondary school and was awarded the Order of Vasa in 1952. After retirement, she lived with her sister Daddie in Varberg. Daddie took over Linda Hanson’s settlement warehouse and lived until 1991 (she was 99 years old). My father Nils took over the company and was involved in starting the Duka Group in 1962. Irving’s cousin Helena eventually took over the Falkenberg branch, which became its own company, Adde Lundbergs. In 1996, Linda Hanson AB ceased to exist after 132 years, and in 2017 Adde Lundbergs was sold from the family’s ownership.
The transcript of the letters and the telegram was made by my aunt Ingrid. Captain Goldsmidt’s letter is unfortunately lost, the quotations from it are from a newspaper article.
Joacim Hallberg is an Army Major in the Swedish Armed Forces. He has served in several missions abroad in Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Mali. He developed a huge passion for The Great War, and has visited many battlefields, especially in Belgium and in France. In West Flanders, he discovered Swedish names on the Menin Gate Memorial, and that was the starting point of his research for the Swedes in the Great War website that he now curates on his own time. As of August, 2024, he is researching 483 Swedish-born soldiers who served in the armed forces of other nations in WWI.
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