FINDING AID
Sune Lundberg papers, 1944-1990
COLLECTION SUMMARY
Collection Title:
Sune Lundberg papers
Collection Number:
MSS P:309
Dates:
1944-1990 and undated (bulk 1945, 1987-1990)
Size:
3 boxes (1.25 linear feet)
Language:
English (bulk), Swedish
Creator/Collector:
Lundberg, Sune (1927-1991)
Subject Headings:
World War, 1939-1945.
World War, 1939-1945--Aerial operations.
Air pilots, Military
Mustang (Fighter plane)
Repository:
Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
Abstract:
Collection contains research materials related to American internees in Sweden during WWII collected by Swedish-American Sune Lundberg in the 1980s and 1990s. Lundberg's extensive research includes personal accounts and correspondence with American pilots landing (and crashing) in Sweden, newspaper clippings, and official documents from both Krigsarkivet in Stockholm and from Washington. D.C. The collection also contains information on the delivery of American P-51 Mustangs in Stockholm in 1945 documenting what was named the "Speedy Project." In 1990, Lundberg arranged and planned a reunion for the pilots who delivered the planes in 1945.
RIGHTS AND ACCESS
Conditions Governing Access:
Collection is open for research.
Reproduction and Use:
Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the Swenson Center and the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation:
[item identification], in MSS P:309 Sune Lundberg papers, Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
ACQUISITION AND RELATED MATERIALS
Source of Acquisition:
Gift of Ruby A. Hendrickson, on behalf of Ursula Lundberg, in 2002.
Location of Originals:
Collection includes print copies of microfilmed documents. Original location unknown.
Related Materials:
The book “Hans Liska” was removed and cataloged into the library collection.
Notes:
Donor notes that Sune Lundberg was using these research materials in preparation of a book on the subject, before he suddenly passed away.
Processed By:
Processed and finding aid written by Christina Johansson and Bethany Bitner in January 2004. Revised by Lisa Huntsha in 2019 to follow DACS description convention.
CONTENT AND STRUCTURE
Administrative/Biographical History:
Sune Ingvar Lundberg was born November 4, 1927 in Stockholm Sweden to Ivar Lundberg and Thora Holm Lundberg. He came to the United States in 1947 after having worked for the US Army Air Transport Command in Sweden. He finished high school in New York and later attended Logan College in Utah. He was drafted into the Korean War and served as an interpreter in Germany for two years. In 1953, he and his wife Ursula Fisher and son Ralph moved to Sweden. He worked for Gulf Oil in Stockholm and attended Handelshögskolan from which he graduated in 1956. While in Sweden, Lundberg started several baseball clubs in the Stockholm area and played regularly himself with personnel from the American Embassy and with American military visiting Sweden. The couple had two daughters born in Sweden, Jane in 1954 and Nancy in 1956. In February of 1957, the Lundberg family moved to San Francisco, where Sune went to work for Dux Inc. The family stayed in San Francisco until the mid-1960s when Sune was offered a position as plant manager for a new Dux factory in Newport, Virginia. While in Newport, the Lundbergs had a fourth child, Karin, in 1965.
In 1967, Lundberg assumed a position with Aristocrat Trailer Co. in Morgan Hills, California. During the 1970s, he had his own furniture business and worked for several furniture and design companies in California. Lundberg’s last professional position was with Wester Design Forum in San Jose as Executive Director. He retired from Wester Design Forum in 1989.
Shortly after his retirement, Lundberg and Barbro Sachs-Osher purchased the Swedish-American newspaper, Vestkusten. Lundberg's hobbies and special interests included WWII airplanes, especially the P-151 Mustangs, in Sweden referred to as "GulKalle." He was also involved with vintage cars and regularly supplied car clubs in Sweden with both parts and cars. Sune Lundberg died from a heart attack in 1991.
Scope and Content:
This collection documents American internees in Sweden during WWII. Over 100 planes crashed or were forced to land in Sweden during the war. Lundberg's extensive research includes personal accounts and correspondence with American pilots landing (and crashing) in Sweden, newspaper clippings, and official documents from both Krigsarkivet in Stockholm and Washington. D.C.
The collection also contains extensive information on the delivery of American P-51 Mustangs in Stockholm in 1945 along with personal accounts of pilots flying the planes, newspaper clippings of the event, and other official documents documenting what was named the "Speedy Project." In 1990, Lundberg arranged and planned a reunion for the pilots who delivered the planes in 1945. Correspondence and other material from that event is also included in this collection.
System of Arrangement:
Arranged in manner received. Items were removed from binders and placed in archival folders.
Collection Inventory:
|
Item |
|
Location |
|
1415th AAF Base Unit, European Division, Air Transport Command; Historical Record Reports (print copy from microfilm) |
18-31 March 1845 |
Box 1, folder 1 |
|
World War II photographs, newspaper clippings, Korean War veterans notice ph1-3 |
1952, 1984, 1986 and undated |
Box 1, folder 2 |
|
Journal Flygande Veteraner, Föreningen Flygande Veteraner Information och medlemstidning [Flying Veterans, Association of Flying Veterans Information and member magazine] |
1985-1989 |
Box 1, folder 3 |
|
Journal SJC Taglines |
1989 |
Box 1, folder 3 |
|
Photographs of airplanes at Mefford Field, Tulare, California ph4-27 |
Undated |
Box 1, folder 4 |
|
Lists of American aircraft which force landed in Sweden during World War II |
Undated |
Box 1, folder 4 |
|
Eight Air Force Historical Society news |
1987-1989 |
Box 1, folder 4 |
|
91st Bomb Group (H) Memorial Association, Inc. news (The Ragged Irregular) |
1987-1990 |
Box 1, folder 4 |
|
Shoo Shoo Baby (B-17G) ph28-32 |
1986-1988 and undated |
Box 1, folder 4 |
|
Copies of documents related to internees from the Legation of the United States of America Office of the Military Attaché, Stockholm, Sweden |
1944-1945 |
Box 1, folder 5 |
|
Copy of news article related to Steve Condur |
1987 |
Box 1, folder 5 |
|
Swedish newspaper article (and English translation) regarding emergency landings of 21 American aircraft in Sweden on 20 June 1944 by Sune Lundberg |
Undated |
Box 1, folder 5 |
|
News articles related to Swedish pilots |
1986 and undated |
Box 1, folder 5 |
|
The Association of Americans Interned in Sweden (1943-1945), Charter members, member lists |
1987, 1990 and undated |
Box 1, folder 6 |
|
The Association of Americans Interned in Sweden (1943-1945), Västerås Reunion |
1987 |
Box 1, folder 6 |
|
The Association of Americans Interned in Sweden (1943-1945) news |
1988-1989 and undated |
Box 1, folder 6 |
|
Correspondence to and from ex-internees |
1987-1990 and undated |
Box 1, folder 6 |
|
Correspondence to and from ex-internees |
1987-1990 |
Box 2, folder 7 |
|
Correspondence from and to ex-internees regarding the subject of locating “Speedy Project” pilots |
1987-1990 |
Box 2, folder 8 |
|
Personal account of delivery of P-51 Mustangs from England to Swedish air force, including photographs ph33-56 |
1945, 1990 |
Box 2, folder 9 |
|
Various unit histories and other reports from Leif Hellstrom (copies) |
1945 |
Box 2, folder 10 |
|
Mustang pilots stories and clippings |
1945, 1987, 1990 |
Box 2, folder 11 |
|
801st/492nd Bombardment Group Reunion Association newsletter (The Carpetbagger) |
1989-1990 |
Box 2, folder 12 |
|
Known Mustang pilots röster; Stockholm reunion; Missing Mustang pilot names; “De första mustangerna i Sverige nödlandarna!” |
1945, 1987-1990 |
Box 2, folder 13 |
|
P-51 Mustang Pilots Association newsletter, correspondence and notes |
1987-1988 |
Box 2, folder 14 |
|
Mustang owner, Bill Crump of Sequim, Washington |
1986-1990 |
Box 3, folder 15 |
|
P-51 Mustang parts, acquisitions; correspondence with Leif Jaråker of Västerås, Sweden |
1989-1990 |
Box 3, folder 16 |
|
Correspondence, Flygande Veteraner [Flying Veterans] and Svensk Flyghistorisk Förening [Swedish Aviation History Association] |
1987-1988 |
Box 3, folder 17 |
|
The Association of Americans Interned in Sweden (1943-1945), Västerås Reunion 1990 |
1988-1990 |
Box 3, folder 18 |
|
Correspondence and press regarding video tape of 1990 Sweden Reunion of ex-internees |
1990 |
Box 3, folder 19 |
|
USAAF Historian notes and photographs ph57-63 |
1944-1945, 1989-1990 |
Box 3, folder 20 |
|
Copies of materials related to Colonel Bernt Balchen and photograph ph64 |
1945 and undated |
Box 3, folder 21 |
|
“Bernt Balchen: an outline of his life” by Audrey S. Balchen (print copy from microfilm) |
1975 |
Box 3, folder 22 |