FOOTNOTES:

[1] (a) New York Times, 24 Aug 1944: This article said that the "Gripsholm" left Jersey City at 3:50 pm on the 23rd for Goteborg, Sweden. An unannounced number of wounded German POWs were to be exchanged for wounded Allied POWs. And, an unknown number of German-American civilians were also being deported [the internment/deportation plight of several of these German-American families has been explored in recent internet articles]. A Pennsylvania RR train arrived at Exchange Place [Hudson Tubes NJ Station] with the wounded and ill German POWs and civilians. Others came in four convoys of six ambulances each. Also on board was the Swedish crew of the "Kungsholm", stranded since 1941, when that ship had been taken over by the U S government.

The "Gripsholm" also carried 1,200 sacks of mail for American POWs and the Red Cross Christmas packages for the American POWs held in German POW camps. Each Red Cross Christmas package held 11 pounds of a long list of mostly food items including portions of turkey, plum pudding, jam, sausage, butter, deviled ham, cheddar cheese, candy, and gum.

(b) New York Times, 26 Aug 1944: The "Gripsholm" had left New York just as Paris was about to be liberated. This article included photos of the cheering populace of Paris that was welcoming the liberating Allied Armies.

[2] New York Times, 8 Sept 1944: This item cited the Sept 7th arrival of the "Gripsholm" in Sweden carrying 682 POWs. It said that the Reich had provided each German POW with only $2 pocket money for the return voyage. That was just enough for one bottle of beer daily. The German POWs resorted to selling their uniform parts to the crew as souvenirs to get much needed cash. My father father obtained a souvenir Afrika Corps hat this way. It said that the Germans had sulked across the Atlantic and then cheered up only as they neared Europe. These comments agree with my father's.

[3] New York Times, 9 Sept 1944: This item described how a German ship carrying 300 soldiers from Norway to Denmark hit a mine [or was torpedoed] just outside Goteborg harbor at 10:30 am on the 8th and sank. Drown German bodies washed up on the shore as Swedish fishermen picked up the few survivors. This happen just 24 hours after the "Gripsholm" had arrived in Goteborg. This incident shows just how dangerous a place the heavily mined Skagerrack was during WW II.

[4] Lt. Earl E. Buckley, www.lowellpl.lib.in.us/buckleye.htm. He was from Crown Point, IN [south of Chicago]. He must have been wounded and captured during the Afrika Corps encirclement of about 2,000 Americans during the week of 13 - 20 Feb 1943 in western Tunisia [probably near Kasserine Pass]. A total of 16 Chicago area men were among the 233 wounded men on the "Gripsholm".

[5] Lt. Edgar L. Moore, http://www.iwitnesstohistory.org/residentpages/moore/newmoorepage17.htm. He was from Kansas and was a navigator with the 91 St Bomber Group when he was shot down on their 10th mission on 31 Dec 1943. His leg was seriously wounded and he landed while unconscious. Edgar did say the excellent food on the "Gripsholm" was like "...being in heaven." My father probably tended to him on the return voyage because there were only ~ 270 North American patients left after over 1,000 Commonwealth POWs had disembarked at Liverpool.

[6] T/Sgt Clyde D. Willis, http://clydedwillis.tripod.com/repatration.html. He was from Columbia, MS and was with the 452nd Bomber Squadron, 322nd Bomber Group. He was shot down on 17 May 1943 over Holland, had a head wound, and was in and out of numerous German hospitals.

Suddenly, on 6 Sept 1944, they left Vienna by train, crossed Germany, and took a ferry to Sweden. They boarded the "Gripsholm" and encountered an American female (trapped in Sweden) stowing away in their cabin. Not wanting to get into trouble, they turned her in while still in Goteborg. He also cited the excellent food and used the large below-deck swimming pool of the "Gripsholm" [This was the largest swimming pool (salt water) on any ship this size at the time it was built].

Clyde said that fellow "Gripsholm" POW Dr. Ruben Rabinowitz [alias SSgt. Harry Vozie] really was an OSS agent who had been dropped behind enemy lines [Vozie was flown directly back to the U S from England]. Clyde knew Ralph Lavoie and Luther Smith who had lost an arm and who had a list of the "Gripsholm" repatriates, all of whom received the Purple Heart. Clyde also knew Kenneth ["Joe" or "Kurt"] Kurtenbach of Stalag XVIIB who died 9 Apr 1999 in Tucson, AZ [see 7].

[7] Staff Sgt. Ralph Lavoie, http://www.384thbg.iwarp.com/rs_lavoie.htm. He was from MA and was with the 547th Squadron, 384th Bomber Group and shot down over Germany on 25 June 1943. He was shot and severely wounded after a failed escape attempt. He was repatriated from Luft Stalag XVIIB near Vienna to the "Gripsholm" and arrived in the U S on 26 Sept 1944.

He said the ship traveled south and then north along the east coast while the crew took time to "fatten them up" and improve their physical condition before arriving in New York harbor. This was not quite the case, see [25] below. Ralph and wife were living in Rindge, N H. He said Ken "Kurt" Kurtenbach, also from Stalag XVIIB, had survived the war to have 10 children [see 6].

[8] Jack M. Hughins, www.combatvets.net/asp/biopage.asp?ID=12. He was a gunner with the 514th Bomber Squadron, 376th Bomber Group, 9th Air Force when he was severely wounded and shot down over Italy on 16 July 1943. He was repatriated on 7 Sept 1944 to the "Gripsholm". He and his wife lived in California until 1980. He died in Odessa, Texas on 5 Mar 1998 at age 80. No account of his return voyage was given.

[9] Sgt. Pilot Howard J. Copeman,
http://www.torontoaircrew.com/Bomber_Pilots/Copem_1/copem_1.html He was from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was wounded and shot down [only survivor of his crew] while on a mine laying mission in the western Baltic 15 May 1942. He was repatriated on the
16 Sept 1944 when the "Gripsholm" dropped him off at Liverpool, England. He vividly remembered the cheering crowds and ship's sirens blaring as they traveled up the Mersey River. Howard returned to Halifax, Nova Scotia on the hospital ship "Lady Nelson" in mid-October 1944.

[10] St. Andrews Church Home Page, www.goteborg.bostream.se/st.andrews.church/subdocs/guild.html. Mary C. Boorman of the Goteborg Church Ladies Guild talked about this repatriation visit of the "Gripsholm". The Guild had assumed the duties of the British Red Cross and met the Allied POWs in a school in Majorna for tea and cookies before they boarded the three ships. Prior to the departure the next day, the ladies went below decks visit with men who were too sick to come up.

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