WITH THE RED CROSS IN KOREA, 1954–1956

One of the many veterans’ archives we at Fredsarkivet (the Peace Archive) have received belonged to Gunborg Bohman, who worked as a nurse at the Swedish Red Cross Hospital in Korea. Ulf, the great-grandson of Gunborg’s nephew, is today the last living person to have met her. Below, you can read his tribute to her.

Gunborg Linnéa Bohman

Gunborg was born on 24 July 1907 in Horn Parish, Västergötland, Sweden. She was the youngest of nine children.

The family lived in Ulvåker, a short distance outside Skövde. Her father, Gustav, was a butcher who sold meat at the market in Skövde. Her mother, Amalia, was a housewife who looked after their large family.

The children were predominantly girls: seven daughters and two sons. Gunborg remained unmarried throughout her life, a fate she shared with her sister Anna and her twin sisters Märta and Sara. I believe the sisters had high expectations of any prospective suitors and were probably rather possessive of one another.

Gunborg trained as a nurse during the 1930s and worked in many different places throughout Sweden during the latter part of the 1930s and the 1940s. It is uncertain whether this was something she did out of necessity or whether it reflected her desire to travel and see more of the world.

From 1954 to 1956, she served with the Swedish Red Cross at the Swedish Hospital in Korea. No one in the Bohman family had previously travelled beyond Sweden's borders. The years she spent in Korea would have a profound influence on the rest of her life. It was an experience she often spoke about and became "the great adventure" of her life. She learned English and undoubtedly gained both the confidence and the enthusiasm to socialise with people from other countries.

After returning from Korea, Gunborg worked as a nurse at F8 Barkarby Air Force Wing until her retirement. During the 1950s and 1960s, the airbase received numerous visits from both the Royal Air Force and the United States Air Force. I have found correspondence with families and pilots from both Britain and the United States who visited F8. I imagine Gunborg enjoyed the opportunity to use her language skills and to be reminded of the international environment she had once experienced in Korea.

After retiring, Gunborg settled in Bromma, Stockholm. In her later years, she developed dementia, and the last time I saw her, she no longer recognised me. I was the first grandchild of her nephew, and Gunborg would sometimes "borrow" me from my parents. On these occasions, we would go on outings into central Stockholm. We visited shops and cafés, and our trips always ended in the toy department of NK, the famous Stockholm department store, where I was allowed to choose any toy I wanted.

As Gunborg left no family of her own, it means a great deal to me to be able to donate her photograph albums, containing all her memories of Korea, to you at Fredsarkivet (The Swedish Peace Archives). It means that she will not disappear without leaving a trace of her life and the work she accomplished. Gunborg passed away on 6 May 1989 in Bromma.

Ulf Lindstrand

Stockholm, 14 May 2019

Bildspel med ett urval från Gunborgs fotoalbum från tiden i Korea 1954-1956