White Buses - The Danes Join

The Danes Join

On April 5 close to half of the Swedes returned to Sweden and they were replaced by Danes. This was accepted by the Germans and the Swedish foreign department. The Danes mustered 33 buses, 14 ambulances, seven lorries and four private cars. They were led by Frants Hvass from the Danish foreign department. The Danish contingent were coordinated with the Swedish and from April 8 the "white buses" were a mixed Swedish-Danish expedition, with the Swedes in command. The Danish vehicles were also painted white, but displayed the Danish flag, (the Dannebrog), instead of the Red Cross.

Prisoners kept in ordinary jails were a separate category and the "white buses" were only allowed to collect these prisoners in April. On April 9 a mixed Swedish-Danish column under Captain Folke travelled to Berlin to transport 200 prisoners from various jails; knowledge of their location was the result of the work of the Reverend Vogt-Svendsen. A total of 211 prisoners were collected from some 20 establishments, among them Dresden, Cottbus, Luckay, Zeithin, Groitsch and Waldheim (east of Dresden). On the return trip to Neuengamme on April 11, the column witnessed for the first time a German car painted white with Red Cross markings, similar to the "white buses". On April 15 a column collected 524 prisoners from jails in Mecklenburg.