Getting information about dead relatives' war efforts?

[dennish]

Hi,

I made a similar thread on the Skalman.nu forums earlier, but was told to create it here instead, because of the bigger chance to get good answers to my questions.

My grandfather, who now is dead, served in the Finnish army during the winter war and the second world war. I would like to get more information about when and where he fought, which regiment he was in, and so on. He never told his children much of his experiences, and the stories I've still heard from my father is fairly blurry. Another reason for that may be that he died when my father was eleven years old, and never got to tell him much.

I haven't got much information from my grandmother either (who died last spring), but of what I've heard, she served in the army too, though not fighting. According to my father, she has at least "seen blood". Maybe she was a nurse or something, I don't know.

What I guess is that my grandmother served in some way without fighting, and I know that my grandfather fought at the front against the red army. In addition to that, I am also aware of that he has been punished for false coining, and I would like to find out more about that too. After the war, they moved to Sweden and both are buried at Tuna church's graveyard in the northern part of Sweden, which also is the place where I live.

So, are there any Finnish guys here who knows which Finnish authorities I should contact to find out more about my grandparents?

Thanks in advance
Dennis H

[Mek]

Hi,

You can contact Finnish war Archives. I think that
would be a place to get some information on your relatives
during war years.

You should check the Finnish War archives homepage.
Swedish version of their homepage is at: http://www.sota-arkisto.fi/inet/ruotsi/index.html

From there you can find more informations on how to get information
and how much it costs. I myself requested some papers of my relatives,
and got photocopies of their service record (Kantakortti in Finnish). Very
useful information, it had information on what unit the person served, and
when, and what battles they had taken apart, and some other
informations.

For more useful information on the subject, check this thread:

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... highlight=

EDIT: I just realised that information on Swedish volunteers can be
probably found in archives in Sweden from http://www.ra.se/kra/
but I understand that if they lived in Finland and were Finnish
maybe the information is available in Finnish archives.

I hope that helps at least a bit

Regards,
-Pete

[dennish]

I forgot to mention, he wasn't a volounteer from Sweden. He was born in Finland in the beginning of the last century. Finland is also where he was convicted for false coining.

THANK YOU mek, I'm sure your information will help me. But don't you know where I should seek information about his criminal background too?

[Mek]

Hi,

I unfortunately don't know where to find information on criminal records
or if those records are available for public (or to family research). But
maybe somebody else on the forum might know?

In the "Kantakortti" service card, that one can request of relatives from
War Archives, there might be some small information on behavior and
punishments if the person has been convicted/sentenced in a military
tribunal or army field court.

Regards,
-Pete