Else Knudsen (née Lange)
(1903 - 1987)
Profile
Pvt. Else Knudsen enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) in 1943. She was one of twenty-nine Danish born WACs during the Second World War.
Else L. Knudsen (née Lange) was born on 25 December 1903 in Copenhagen. She was adopted by Hans Ostenfeld Lange and Jonna Lange (née Mielche) on 22 March 1906.[1] Her adopted father was chief librarian at the Royal Danish Library from 1901 to 1924 and associate professor in egyptology at the University of Copenhagen from 1924 to 1937.[2]
She emigrated to Canada in 1927 arriving in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 20 March 1927 onboard the SS Letitia.[3]
She married Knud Johannes Knudsen on 14 August 1928 in Salmonhorst, Canada.[4] They lived in Toronto. Her husband was an electrical engineer and worked for the Hickok Electrical Instrument Co. in Toronto and later at the main plant in Cleveland, Ohio.[5]
The couple moved to the United States on 4 January 1937. She was naturalised as citizen of the United States on 29 May 1942.[6]
Knudsen enlisted as Private (A-130165) in the Women’s Army Corps in New Haven, Connecticut, on 17 July 1943. Her civil occupation is registered in the category ’semiskilled welders and flame cutters.’ This categorization is not always reliable, but if true could indicate that she had benne working in an industrial job before enlistment.[7] There is no further information available on her service.
She died on 25 April 1987 in Volusia, Florida.[8]
Endnotes
[1] DNA: Parish register, Sankt Johannes sogn.
[2] Holm-Rasmussen, Torben: H.O. Lange - biblioteksleder in Dansk Biografisk Leksikon. Retrieved from https://biografiskleksikon.lex.dk/H.O._Lange_-_biblioteksleder (1 August 2022).
[3] Ancestry: U.S., Border Crossings from Canada to U.S., 1895-1960.
[4] Ancestry: New Brunswick, Canada, Marriages, 1789-1950.
[5] Ancestry: U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947.
[6] Ancestry: Ohio, U.S., Naturalization Petition and Record Books, 1888-1946.
[7] Ancestry: U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946.
[8] Ancestry: Florida Death Index, 1877-1998.