Swedish Armoured Troops
Swedish Armoured Troops (Swedish: Pansartrupperna) is the armoured branch of the Swedish Army. Since 2005, the Armoured Troops include the South Scanian Regiment (P 7) in Revingehed and Skaraborg Regiment (P 4) in Skövde, and since 2018 also Gotland Regiment (P 18).
| Swedish Armoured Troops | |
|---|---|
| Pansartrupperna | |
 Branch insignia m/63. | |
| Active | 1942–present |
| Country | Sweden |
| Allegiance | Swedish Armed Forces |
| Branch | Swedish Army |
| Type | Armoured corps |
| Part of | Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters[lower-alpha 1] |
History
In Sweden, after the World War I, a smaller number of tanks were procured. The training with these was located to Svea Life Guards (I 1). According to the Defence Act of 1925, a tank battalion was organized, which was placed to Göta Life Guards (I 2).[1] A tank battalion was organized at the Göta Life Guards (I 2) from 1928 to 1939 and after the regiment was disbanded in 1930, tank battalions were organized in Skaraborg Regiment (I 9) and Södermanland Regiment (I 10) between 1939 and 1942. Parallel attempts were made with armored cars in the cavalry between 1925 and 1942 and with motorized brigade between 1940 and 1942.[2]
The Swedish Armoured Troops were formed on 1 October 1942.[3] According to the Defence Act of 1942, the armoured troops were organized in peace-time as an independent branch of four armoured regiments (Göta Armoured Life Guards, Scanian Armoured Regiment, Södermanland Armoured Regiment and Skaraborg Armoured Regiment). The Swedish Armoured Troops were organized in war-time in armoured brigades consisting of, among other things, a tank and two armoured infantry battalions and an artillery battalion.[1]
Officers where trained at the Swedish Armoured Troops School in Skövde 1944–1981, the Swedish Armoured Troops Combat School (Pansartruppernas stridsskola, PS) in Skövde 1981–1991 and the Swedish Armoured Troops Cadet and Officer Candidate School in Enköping 1961–1981.
Inspector of the Swedish Armoured Troops
The head was called Inspector of the Swedish Armoured Troops (Pansarinspektören).[4] The Inspector was from 1991 to 1995 the head of the Swedish Army Armoured Center (Arméns pansarcentrum, PaC). Below is a list of inspectors active in the years 1942–1995.[5]
- 1942–1945: Pehr Janse
- 1945–1946: Gunnar Berggren
- 1946–1956: Birger Pontén
- 1956–1957: Gustav Åkerman
- 1957–1960: Malcolm Murray
- 1960–1963: Tage Olihn
- 1963–1967: Per-Hjalmar Bauer
- 1967–1976: Hugo Cederschiöld
- 1976–1980: Per Björkman
- 1980–1983: Björn Zickerman
- 1983–1985: Curt Hasselgren
- 1985–1990: Håkan Waernulf
- 1990–1993: Stig Edgren
- 1993–1995: Alf Sandqvist
Insignias
Branch insignia m/52-60. Also known as Pansargrodan ("Iron Frog").- Branch insignia m/1963.
Branch insignia m/1963. Only used for Göta Life Guards (P 1).
Collar patch m/58.
See also
Footnotes
- The branch was subordinate the Inspector of the Swedish Armoured Troops (Pansarinspektören) at the Armoured Department of the Army Staff from 1942 to 1991. After that, it was subordinate to the commander of the Swedish Army Armoured Warfare Centre (1991–1995), the commander of the Swedish Army Brigade Center (1995–1997), the commander of the Swedish Army Center (1997–2000), the Joint Forces Command (2000–2005), and the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters from 2005.
References
Notes
- Carlquist & Carlsson 1955, pp. 345-346
- Catoni 1992, p. 1
- Holmberg 1993, p. 24
- Gullberg 1977, p. 630
- Kjellander 1992, p. 355
Print
- Catoni, Mac, ed. (1992). Pansartrupperna 50 år 1992-10-01 (PDF) (in Swedish). [Stockholm]: [s.n.] SELIBR 9958126.
- Carlquist, Gunnar; Carlsson, Josef, eds. (1955). Svensk uppslagsbok (in Swedish) (2nd, revis. and enlarged ed.). Malmö: Förlagshuset Norden. SELIBR 11112. Archived from the original on 2014-03-12.
- Gullberg, Ingvar E. (1977). Svensk-engelsk fackordbok för näringsliv, förvaltning, undervisning och forskning [A Swedish-English dictionary of technical terms used in business, industry, administration, education and research] (in Swedish) (2nd ed.). Stockholm: Norstedt. ISBN 91-1-775052-0. SELIBR 8345587.
- 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.
- Kjellander, Bo, ed. (1992). Pansartrupperna 1942–1992 (in Swedish). Skövde: Arméns pansarcentrum. ISBN 91-630-1253-7. SELIBR 7449092.
Further reading
- Anderson, Jan, ed. (1982). Pansartrupperna 40 år (in Swedish). [Hässleholm]: [Skånska dragonregementet]. SELIBR 379283.
- Henriksson, Peter, ed. (1993). Pansartrupperna 50 år: en bildkavalkad (in Swedish). Skövde: Arméns pansarcentrum. SELIBR 1746856.
- Kjellander, Bo, ed. (1992). Pansartrupperna 1942–1992 (in Swedish). Skövde: Arméns pansarcentrum. ISBN 91-630-1253-7. SELIBR 7449092.