Eastern Army Division

Eastern Army Division
	Östra arméfördelningen
Active	1941–2000
Country	Sweden
Allegiance	Swedish Armed Forces
Branch	Swedish Army
Type	Infantry
Size	Army Division
Part of	IV Military District (1941–1966); Eastern Military District (1966–1991); Middle Military District (1991–1997)
Garrison/HQ	Strängnäs
Motto(s)	Semper primum ("Always first")
March	"Ryska grenadjärerregementets Konungen av Preussen marsch" (Schubert)[note 1]
Insignia
Command flag

The Eastern Army Division (Swedish: Östra arméfördelningen, 4. förd), was a division of the Swedish Army that operated in various forms from 1941 to 2000. Its staff was located in Strängnäs Garrison in Strängnäs.[2][3] The unit was disbanded as a result of the disarmament policies set forward in the Defence Act of 2000.

History

The Eastern Army Division was raised on 1 August 1941 as the IV Division (IV. fördelningen). The division was together with the XIV Division directly subordinate to the military commander of the IV Military District, while the Svea Life Guards was responsible for raising and mobilization of the army division staff. In 1957, the mobilization responsibility for the division was transferred to the Göta Life Guards, and in 1970 to the Uppland Regiment. However, the peace organization of the army division was co-located with the military district staff.[2]

On 1 October 1966, the designation was changed from being given in Roman numerals to Arabic numerals, that is, the division was termed the 4th Division (4. fördelningen). On 1 July 1991, the Bergslagen Military District and the Eastern Military District merged and formed the Middle Military District. The army division, together with the Middle Army Division, thus came to be subordinate to the military commander of the Middle Military District.[2] Through the Defence Act of 1992, the Riksdag decided that the Swedish Armed Forces' war organization should reflect the peace organization. As of 1 July 1994, the army division staff, together with the Middle Army Division, came to be organized as cadre-organized units within the Middle Military District.[4]

Prior to the Defence Act of 1996, the Swedish government proposed to the Riksdag that the war organization to be reduced. Where, among other things, the three military districts would be covered by each division staff. Of the six division staffs, three with division units and 13 army brigades would be maintained. Within the Middle Military District, the government proposed that the Middle Army Division should be disbanded. On 13 December 1996, the Riksdag adopted the government's bill, which meant that the Middle Army Division was disbanded on 31 December 1997.[5] By the disbandment of the Middle Army Division, the Eastern Army Division became the only remaining army division in Svealand.

Prior to Defence Act of 2000, the government proposed in its bill to the Riksdag that the tactical level would be reduced by the disbandment of divisions, and defense district staffs as well as naval commands and air force commands. This was to design an Army Tactical Command, Naval Tactical Command and an Air Force Tactical Command which would be co-located with the Joint Forces Command. The proposal meant that all territorial staffs would be disbanded, which meant, among other things, that the three army division staffs were disbanded on 30 June 2000. In its place on 1 July 2000, the 1st Mechanized Division (1. mekaniserade divisionen), was raised which gathered all field units within the army.[6]

Barracks and training areas

Although the division was mobilized by other units, it was in peace time grouped together with the military district staff. When the division staff was raised, it came to be co-located with the Eastern Military District Staff at Stureplan in Stockholm. In 1949, the two staffs were moved to the barracks of the Life Regiment of Horse (Livregementets till häst, K 1) at Lidingövägen 28 in Stockholm. On 14 June 1963, both staff were transferred to a new property complex in Strängnäs Garrison, where it was located in various forms until 2005.[7][8]

Heraldry and traditions

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of the Eastern Army Division used from 1994 to 2000. Blazon: "Or, from a wavy base azure, a demigriffon issuant sable, armed and langued gules. The shield surmounted two batons, charged with open crowns azure in saltire or".[9]

Medals

In 2000, the Östra arméfördelningens (4.förd) minnesmedalj ("Eastern Army Division (4.förd) Commemorative Merit") in silver (ÖFördSMM) of the 8th size was established. The medal ribbon is of blue moiré with a broad red stripe on the middle followed on both sides by a white line and with two yellow lines on each side.[10]

Eastern Army Division Commemorative Merit.
Ribbon.

Commanding officers

1941–1968: ?
1968–1970: Colonel Nils Östlund
1970–1976: Senior Colonel Sten Ljungqvist
1976–1979: Senior Colonel Bengt Selander
1979–1990: Senior Colonel Åke Lundin
1990–1994: Senior Colonel Nils Rosenqvist
1994–1999: Senior Colonel Ulf Henricsson
1999–2000: Senior Colonel Roland Ekenberg

Names, designations and locations

Name	Translation	From		To
IV. fördelningen	IV Division	1941-08-01	–	1966-09-30
4. arméfördelningen	4th Army Division	1966-10-01	–	1994-06-30
Östra arméfördelningen	Eastern Army Division	1994-07-01	–	2000-06-30
Designation		From		To
IV. förd		1941-08-01	–	1966-09-30
4. förd		1966-10-01	–	2000-06-30
Location		From		To
Stockholm Garrison		1941-08-01	–	1963-06-13
Strängnäs Garrison		1963-06-14	–	2000-06-30

Footnotes

The march was inherited from the Göta Life Guards, and was established on 13 June 1996 by TFG 960005.[1]

References

Notes

Sandberg 2007, p. 69
Braunstein 2003, pp. 307–308
"Östra arméfördelningen (4. fördelningen), Försvarsmakten" (in Swedish). National Archives of Sweden. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
Bildt, Carl; Björck, Anders (13 February 1992). "Regeringens proposition 1991/92:102: Totalförsvarets utveckling till och med budgetåret 1996/97 samt anslag för budgetåret 1992/93" (in Swedish). Stockholm: Riksdag. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
Persson, Göran; Peterson, Thage G. (12 September 1996). "Proposition 1996/97:4: Totalförsvar i förnyelse - etapp 2" (in Swedish). Stockholm: Riksdag. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
Thalén, Ingela; von Sydow, Björn (18 November 1999). "Det nya försvaret: Proposition 1999/2000:30" (in Swedish). Stockholm: Riksdag. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
Jansson, Christian (27 September 2013). "Högre regional ledning" (PDF) (in Swedish). Försvarets Historiska Telesamlingar. p. 124. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
Holmberg 1993, p. 87
Braunstein 2006, p. 18
Braunstein 2007, p. 114

Print

Braunstein, Christian (2003). Sveriges arméförband under 1900-talet. Skrift / Statens försvarshistoriska museer, 1101-7023 ; 5 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Statens försvarshistoriska museer. ISBN 91-971584-4-5. SELIBR 8902928.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Braunstein, Christian (2006). Heraldiska vapen inom det svenska försvaret [Heraldry of the Swedish Armed Forces] (PDF). Skrift / Statens försvarshistoriska museer, 1101-7023 ; 9 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Statens försvarshistoriska museer. ISBN 91-971584-9-6. SELIBR 10099224.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Braunstein, Christian (2007). Utmärkelsetecken på militära uniformer [Decorations on Swedish military uniforms] (PDF). Skrift / Statens försvarshistoriska museer, 1101-7023 ; 12 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Statens försvarshistoriska museer. ISBN 978-91-976220-2-8. SELIBR 10423295.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Holmberg, Björn (1993). Arméns regementen, skolor och staber: [en uppslagsbok] : en sammanställning (in Swedish). Arvidsjaur: Svenskt militärhistoriskt bibliotek (SMB). ISBN 91-972209-0-6. SELIBR 7796532.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Sandberg, Bo (2007). Försvarets marscher och signaler förr och nu: marscher antagna av svenska militära förband, skolor och staber samt igenkännings-, tjänstgörings- och exercissignaler (in Swedish) (New ed.). Stockholm: Militärmusiksamfundet med Svenskt marscharkiv. ISBN 978-91-631-8699-8. SELIBR 10413065.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)