Någonstans i Sverige

In the end of 1939 the Soviet Union attacks Finland. In Sweden 100.000 men are quickly drafted to guard the northeastern border. Men, who have almost no military training, are suddenly expected to behave as full-fledged soldiers. In one of the units we find 107 Andersson, 111 Loffe and a bunch of men with nicknames as Morsgrisen and Stora Norrland. After some months the war in Finland is over, but World War II continues and the unit moves to the western border of Sweden, where the men have to stay for many years to come. Sweden is not at war, but some of the men are frightened that the Nazis will one day attack also this country. The years passes by without much drama. There are some confrontations with German soldiers on the other side of the border, but the problems the men in the unit encounter are mainly of a more social nature. The young staff sergeant develops a liaison with a woman in a nearby village although he is already engaged with a girl back home, and in Stockholm Loffe's wife gets entangled in a sexual affair with a rich black-marketeer. When the war ends in May 1945 the men in the unit have been together for more than five years, but they never meet again. —Maths Jesperson {maths.jesperson@bredband.net}