I thought this was interesting.
Found these photos in the Finnish Wartime Photograph Archive, SA-Kuvat archives.
https://i.imgur.com/txUbHsC.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/leLOduY.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/pJMec5S.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/gaXZYIQ.jpg
The caption (my translation) is the same for all photos and says:
"The First American prisoners on mainland Europe. Among others, depicted is a Finnish boy named Jansson. Lieutenant Vartio and the aforementioned fella are chatting in plain Finnish. The 22 prisoners are placed in the same camp with their Russkie brothers-in-arms.
Litsa 1942.07.27"
Original in Finnish:
Ensimmäiset amerikkalaiset vangit Euroopan tantereella. Kuvissa näkyy mm. joukossa ollut suomalainen Jansson niminen poika. Luutnantti Vartio ja po.kaveri jutustavat selvällä suomenkielellä. Vangit yht. 22 kpl ovat sijoitettuna aseveljiensä ryssien kanssa samaan leiriin. Litsa 1942.07.27
Can anyone tell if this is true? Who were these soldiers?
This is a really interesting post. I would be very surprised if the first American prisoners of war in Europe were captured in July 1942 on the Finnish Front. It's doubtful that they would be survivors of a sunk ship from an arctic convoy, as Finland only had a tiny stretch of northern coastline during the war, and that's the only explanation I can come up with. I would be very interested to see if anyone else has more info.
I did a little digging on the first Prisoner of War using the NARA archives. Here is the link that I search through: NARA Archives
Unfortunately, there is no way that I could see to search by date. So going off various history ques (ie the earliest operations in mainland Europe were conducted in Norway and the British isles) I began my search there.
I was able to find this guy: Sergeant Albert T. Jacobsen.
A quick search showed that he was a member of the U.S. Rangers source and apart of the Dieppe-Raid- a raid against mainland France that utterly failed, resulting in the death and capture of many service members, mostly British and Canadian. 50 Rangers took apart in the raid but I am not sure if any others were captured.
Again unfortunately, the NARA archive had no way to search for POWs captured in Finland but all indications are that Albert T. Jacobson and maybe some of his comrades were the first to be captured in Europe.
Among others, depicted is a Finnish boy named Jansson.
Does this mean that one of the prisoners was named Jansson, perhaps a Finnish migrant (or descendant of a migrant) to America?
In the American National Archives of POWs I found one Jansson. This guy seems to have only been held in Germany.
SERIAL NUMBER 38616381 38616381
NAME JANSSON JAMES L JANSSON JAMES L
GRADE, ALPHA PVT Private
GRADE CODE 8 Cadet, USMA or Chief Warrant Officer or Private or Apprentice, Seaman
SERVICE CODE 1 ARMY
ARM OR SERVICE INF Infantry
ARM OR SERVICE CODE 10 INF: INFANTRY
DATE REPORT: DAY (DD) 04 04
DATE REPORT: MONTH (MM) 10 10
DATE REPORT: YEAR (Y) 4 1944
RACIAL GROUP CODE 1 WHITE
STATE OF RESIDENCE 88 Louisiana
TYPE OF ORGANIZATION 740 Branch Immaterial/Infantry Division Band/Dental Corps/Medical Department
PARENT UNIT NUMBER 0175 0175
PARENT UNIT TYPE 06 Group/Regiment/Commands/System
AREA 72 European Theatre: Germany
LATEST REPORT DATE: DAY (DD) 29 29
LATEST REPORT DATE: MONTH (MM) 05 05
LATEST REPORT DATE: YEAR (Y) 5 1945
SOURCE OF REPORT 1 Individual has been reported through sources considered official.
STATUS 8 Returned to Military Control, Liberated or Repatriated
DETAINING POWER 1 GERMANY
CAMP 013 Stalag 7A Moosburg Bavaria 48-12 (Work Camps 3324-46 Krumbachstrasse 48011, Work Camp 3368 Munich 48-11)
REP
POW TRANSPORT SHIPS
