Copyright © Hans Högman 2021-01-11
Enrollment Book for
Conscript, 1907 - Sweden
Conscription
In 1812 Sweden introduced a military conscript
system called Beväringen. Every male between the
age of 21 to 25 was required to serve in the military
as a conscript (draftee). Beväringen was a
complement and reinforcement to the regular
professional army. The soldiers in Beväringen were
not supposed to operate in independent units but
were always a part of a regular regiment. The
conscription service was universal which meant that
all able-bodied men fit for military service had to
undergo a minimum military training in the armed
forces. Hiring of substitutes was allowed until 1862,
i.e. to pay someone to do the service in his place.
The enrollment numbers (inskrivningsnummer)
were introduced in 1885 and were a three-part
conscript identification number.
In 1901 both the standing allotted army and the
Beväringen was abandoned and instead Sweden
established an army and navy entirely based on a
Universal Conscription System called Allmän
Värnplikt. This new conscript
system was to fully replace
the old standing Army and
Navy with a military force
fully based on conscription.
In a way Beväringen was a
forerunner to the National
Service System.
Image to the right: conscript
infantry soldiers in uniform
m/1910 with cap m/1865-
1899.
Duration
The duration of military training for conscripts was
set at 240 days in 1901. These 240 days were
distributed as 150 days of basic training and 90 days
of 3 refresher courses (repetitionsövning) of 30 days
each.
However, between 1901 and 1908 the duration of
the military training did not reach the stipulated 240
days. During this period the training was only 172
days.
In 1914, at the outbreak of WWI, the training period
was extended to 340 days for the infantry; 250 days
basic training plus 3 x 30 days' refresher courses.
This year the draft age was lowered to 20, see
below.
Draft age
Young men were enrolled for military service the
year they became of draft age; they were then
registered and assigned an enrollment number
(inskrivningsnummer).
The draft age has changed throughout the years.
See table below:
•
Between 1886 – 1914: age 21
•
Between 1914 – 1950: age 20
•
Between 1950 – 1954: age 19
•
Between 1954 – 2010: age 18
Also the year when you left the draft age has varied.
Men were deregistered at the age of:
•
Between 1902 – 1914: age 40
•
Between 1914 – 1936: age 42
•
Between 1937 – 1942: age 45
•
From 1942: age 47
Enrollment books
From 1885 an enrollment book (inskrivningsbok)
was assigned to each draftee when they were
enrolled. This enrollment book was the draftee’s
personal belonging and had to be presented every
time the draftee reported for duty.
Enrollment Book for Conscript -
1907
The enrollment book in this
article belonged to
conscript 242 63/1907 Emil
Walfrid Sjöberg. He was
born on July 31, 1885, in
Ekshärad parish, Värmland.
Emil Walfrid moved to
Rödön, Jämtland province,
in November 1905. Young
men of draft age were
called-up for enrollment at
the age of 21 at this period
of time. However, Emil
Walfrid was 22 when he
was drafted.
Sweden was divided into a number of conscript
Enrollment Areas (inskrivningsområden). Each of
these enrollment areas were at the time divided into
a number of Roll Keeping Areas
(Rullföringsområden). A term in English for Roll
Keeping Area would be Draft Board. Which draft
board a draftee was called-up to depended on his
place of residence (home address).
Emil Walfrid's enrollment number
(inskrivningsnummer), which is stated in the
enrollment book, was 242 63/1907. See the image to
the right.
The last part on the number, 1907, is the year of
enrollment. “63” is the roll keeping area
(rullföringsområde) which tells us where he was
enrolled. “242” is his personal serial number in the
roll.
Enrollment area “63” was Östersund West roll
keeping area [draft board] (Östersunds västra
rullföringsområde) which in 1907 belonged to the
Jämtland enrollment area (Jämtlands
inskrivningsområde).
More information about Military enrollment
numbers for conscripts (draftees)
So, Emil Walfrid was at the time living in Rödön
parish in the vicinity of Östersund and therefore
drafted in the Östersund West roll keeping area
(draft board). Östersund is the major city in Jämtland
province.
Emil Walfrid Sjöberg and his family emigrated from
Jämtland, Sweden to Canada on 1913-06-06 and
settled in the Winnipeg area.
More about Emil Walfrid Sjöberg.
Emil Walfrid's enrollment book (inskrivningsbok) has
been kept and are today in the possession of his
granddaughter Christine Seaberg, Manitoba,
Canada.
The image to the right shows the front page of Emil
Walfrid Sjöberg's enrollment book.
The images of the enrollment book below are shown
with consent of Christine Seaberg, Canada.
Enrollment book (Inskrifningsbok) for conscript 242
63/1907 Emil Walfrid Sjöberg.
Emil Walfrid was enrolled (inskrifen) on March 3,
1907, by J. von Schoting, Commander of Östersund
West Enrollment Area, n:r 63.
Emil Walfrid was born on July 31, 1885, in Ekshärad
parish, Värmland.
However, the above enrollment book has him
incorrectly listed as born in Rödön parish,
Jämtland.
Emil Walfrid's occupation (yrke) is listed as smith
(smed).
Page 4 och 5:
Above:
Årsklassen 1907 = the 1907 class
Tjänstetiden räknas från 1907 = period of service is
counted from 1907
Above, Inskrifnings- och utbildningsförhållanden
mm = Enrollment and military training data.
Emil Walfrid was assigned to the Army (hären) and
the branch of the Army (truppslag) was the Field
Artillery (Fältartilleriet). The handwriting on the left
side, "Hoflagare" tell us that his position in the
artillery was farrier.
On the right-hand side we can read that in 1907 he
was trained to be a farrier (Utbildad till hofslagare).
Today the term hofslagare is spelled hovslagare.
Page 6 and 7:
Above, Tjänstgöring = service record.
In 1907 Emil Walfrid did his basic training at the
Recruit School (Rekrytskola) in the Royal Norrland
Artillery Regiment (Kungliga Norrlands
Artilleriregemente), 5th battery (5. batt).
In 1908 Emil Walfrid was called-up for additional
training (repetitionsöfning) [refresher course] in the
Norrland Artillery Regiment (A4), 5th battery.
Page 10 and 11:
Sida 10 and 11:
Above, Utdrag ur skjutbok = Extract from the shoot
book (exercises at the rifle range).
Skjutresultat = Shooting result
Mönstrad år 1909 = Enrolled in 1909
Utmärkelsetecken = Marks of distinction
Page 14 and 15:
Above, Anteckningar om flyttning = Notes about
moving (change of address).
Inflyttad till = Moved to.
Afflyttad från = Moved from.
Above, we can see that Emil Walfrid lived in Hägra,
Rödön parish, Jämtland, at the time when he was
drafted. In December 1910 he moved to Ås parish,
Jämtland.
