How much was there left to see of the WWII British-Norwegian spy base in the Swedish mountains? We decided to find out by renting a helicopter and searching for the base together with its last radio operator. After our successful search we took part in a remarkable ceremony in the same area of the Swedish-Norwegian border: the unveiling of a monument honouring the only soldier of the Swedish Army to be killed by an enemy bullet during WWII.
My friend and colleague Kjell Ågren and I thought of visiting the Allied intelligence base "Kari" some two years ago. In September 2002 we finally got the oppotunity to go there, thanks to several Swedish, Norwegian and US friends who shared the costs of the helicopter ride with us.
A helicopter from Norrlandsflyg AB has just put us by a small lake close to the WWII base "Kari". But in spite of good maps and aerial photographs it still took some three hours until we actually found it! Photo: Lars Gyllenhaal
The Norwegian intelligence service XU in cooperation with the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) established "Kari" in 1943 with great assistance from Fahle Isberg, the local head of the Swedish military intelligence service C-byrån. He came from a family with strong feelings for both Finland and Norway and on many occasions Fahle, helped by his brothers Birger and Gunnar, went well beyond neutrality to assist Norway.
The Isberg home in Kiruna often housed several Norwegian and British agents en route to or from the mountains. Allied radios and weapons stored in the Isberg home are now on display in the Narvik Red Cross War Museum. See a photograph of these in the "Narvik and Bardu Trip Report".
It was a great privilege to have Gunnar Isberg with us on our search for "Kari" as Gunnar was present already when the site for the base was chosen back in ī43.
The door of the base stands wide open. Leather boots, cans and a bottle that have experienced almost 60 years in the open lie on a former crate. Photo: Lars Gyllenhaal
We had all kinds of aids for finding "Kari" but it still took us some three hours until our Narvik friends finally found it. The site is remarkably well chosen for it is impossible to recognize it at a distance of some twenty metres, and even from above it is hardly recognizable.
Evidently very few people have visited the base since the previous visit in the nineties. The abandoned euipment and the cartridges found then are still in place. Most cartridges are for the Swedish Mauser rifle but historian Carl Gustav Finstrom from Virginia, USA, managed to find a couple of US-made carbine cartridges - most probably from carbines used by the neighbouring Perianth-groups (supplied by SFHQ via the OSS-office in Stockholm).
Former XU-signaller Sverre Solberg was also great to have along as he had served in "Kari" from August 1944 to the warīs end. The radio transmitter that Sverre used was called "Brunhild" and it relayed information from the greater Narvik area to London, initially 3-4 times a day. There were ten smaller wireless stations in the Narvik sector that transmitted messages to "Brunhild". Information about the general situation in Arctic Norway; the weather and the dreaded battleship "Tirpitz" was obtained via this network. "Kari" was also an intermediary from which agents and equipment were sent into and out of Norway, and the base was also standing-by in case of large hostilities in Norway.
The interior of "Kari". Photo: Lars Gyllenhaal
Just before Christmas 1944 Sverre Solberg was alone at the base, making pancakes for his comrades, who were hauling supplies. Suddenly a noise by the door startled Sverre and he grabbed the closest submachine gun and was just about to pull the trigger when he saw the typical pointed cap of a Soviet soldier, a Soviet prisoner of war (POW) on the run...
This was not the first time "Kari" took care of fleeing POWs but this chap was still exceptional as he had managed to find the secret base in the dark and in spite of being in very bad shape and not having any skis. The Soviet POW had no knowledge of the base but happened to glean some light from the door of the base. The door had only been opened for an instant when Sverre had gone to the toilet but this instant was enough for pointing out the position.
The fleeing manīs hunger was most evident from his expression and Sverre willingly gave away most of the food he had prepared for his friends. After having gobbled down this the man fell into a pile, soon sound asleep.
Sverre Solberg (left) was the radio operator of "Kari" (behind the lake) and is holding a Mauser cartridge. Gunnar Isberg (centre) helped his two elder brothers in choosing the site for "Kari". Carl Gustav Finstrom (right) is holding a cartridge of US origin. Photo: Lars Gyllenhaal
The Norwegians were surprised to find a good-looking man in his early twenties after they had washed and scrubbed him and removed his beard. From his "Esperanto" they could make out that he was from Dnepropetrovsk in the Ukraine and that he was a driver who had been captured on the Arctic front. During the German retreat from Finland in September he had been marched to Norway. He vividly explained how those who could not keep up were shot in the neck. However, one dark night he managed to slip away from the column and hide in a forest. Norwegians took care of him and gave him a primitive map and directions how to get to Sweden. Half-way to freedom he had to rest in a hut. The hut protected him from a storm that erased all his tracks, which was excellent...but soon a German patrol came inside to eat their rations...
The man from Dnepropetrovsk stayed calm and...went unnoticed!
The Norwegian agents fed and cared for the former prisoner during one week. Sverre then escorted him to the closest unit of the Swedish Army. As a final gesture the man kissed Sverre on both cheeks and then right on the mouth, in front of several amused Swedish soldiers. His final words to Sverre were a whispered: "norvege kammerat - prima prima".
"Kariīs" radio and lamps ran on electricity produced by a wind generator. The 6-8 agents working at "Kari" were at times assisted with transports and food by local Sami reinherding families, such as the Gaup family in Laimoviken. Thus the Swedish Sami Johan Gaup received the Norwegian War Service Medal in 1995.
These rusty cylinders are standing by "Kari" and Sverre Solberg reckons they were airdropped when the station was established in 1943. Photo: Lars Gyllenhaal
Sverre Solberg told us that he did not wear a full uniform while at "Kari", only sports clothes and, in 1945, a US Army reversible (white/mustard) anorak from the Sepal bases that they had some contact with. If Sverre would have been forced to defend the base he would have put on a Norwegian arm band, but the need never arose as the Germans never located the base. BTW, the position (UTM) of "Kari" according to my Norwegian friendsī is 34W 0451206/7584972 UTM. This equals latitude 68.37345298073536, longitude 19.81359601020813.
After having reminsced and eaten at "Kari" we headed back for the Abisko Tourist Centre and prepared ourselves for next dayīs ceremony and WWII History Conference with a sauna session.
Some days after the German invasion of Norway (the 9th of April 1940) a Swedish ranger battalion was moved to the border sector in front of Narvik. While general Eduard Dietlīs mountain rangers and stranded sailors fought bitterly against Norwegian, Polish, British and French forces their nextdoor neighbours, the Swedish rangers, had not yet experienced the face of war.
On the 20th of May 1940 there was a soccer match among the Swedish rangers by the railway station of Vassijaure, when suddenly a German Dornier Do 26 amphibian airplane appeared, flying at a low altitude towards the station. The station was guarded by an AA-gun and "Kiruna", a brand new Swedish armoured train with several machine guns that could be used against aircraft.
As the German plane was some six kilometres within Sweden, and flying towards the station and the armoured train, the AA-battery began firing at the German, who soon fired back. The onlooking soldiers and civilians in Abisko were fascinated by the exchange of fire but could not sense the great danger they were in from the hail of bullets. It seems as if no one took the firing for real.
Sven Sjöberg, holding a kettle, supported by two buddies. They are standing in front of the station where Sven was shot some days after this photograph was taken. The house corner closest to the camera is the site of Svenīs memorial. Photo: via Gunvor Sjöberg
Swedish ranger veteran Sten Brander still vividly remembers the moments that followed. He is of the opinion that it was a miracle that only one man was hit by the German bullets. That man was his friend Sven Sjöberg, an athletic 21-year old farm boy.
Sven Sjöberg was taken by train to Kirunaīs hospital but his life could not be saved, he died some three hours after having been hit. It is said that his mother started to shrink from the deep grief that came over her from hearing of her sonīs death.
Major-General Jan Frank and Brigadier-General Ulf Nordlander of the Northern Military District have just layed a wreath by the memorial to Sven Sjöberg on the Vassijaure railway station. Photo: Lars Gyllenhaal
Sjöberg was standing on the train station platform on that particular day because he was checking for mail. The day after his death the letter he had hoped for arrived - it contained an approval for leave. He had wished to be able to help out home at the farm for a couple of days.
After Svenīs death at least five German aircraft trespasssing over the border were shot down in the area by Swedish AA-gunners.
Members of the Lappland Ranger Group standing to attention for their dead comrade. The groupīs emblem is a wolf. During WWII this unit was the I 19 Skier (later Ranger) Battalion. Photo: Lars Gyllenhaal
Friday the 6th of September 2002 Sven Sjöberg was honoured on the site where he was shot. May Svenīs memorial remind visitors of the area about him and also of the deaths of the almost 800 Swedish soldiers who died in accidents, air battles and from mines 1939-1945. May it also provoke a feeling of gratitude towards all those who served in the area, often several years in a row without a single day of leave. Had it not been for these men other armies would undoubtably have rushed to our "defense".
The wall of the railway station has several holes that must be bullet holes. Photo: Nigel Hirst
On the wall of the railway station that faces east there are at least two holes that must have been caused by machine-gun fire. Legend has it that these are holes that were caused on the 20th of May 1940. This cannot be proven but there is also some clearly dated WWII soldiersī grafitti on the north-eastern corner of the same building.
The neat railway station of Vassijaure is virtually unchanged since the 40īs and there are plans to put up signs there, informing the public of the numerous WWII bunkers and other historic sights in the area. So, be sure to make a stop in Vassijaure the next time you drive between Narvik and Kiruna.
Last modified 02-11-2003
© Lars and Ann-Sofie Gyllenhaal