Bertil Gustafsson Uggla (19 August 1890 – 29 September 1945) was a Swedish officer,

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete,

modern pentathlete The modern pentathlon is an Olympic multisport that consists of five events: fencing (one-touch épée followed by direct elimination), freestyle swimming, obstacle course racing, laser pistol shooting, and cross country running. The sport wa ...

, and fencer.

Early life

Uggla was born on 19 August 1890 at

Karlberg Palace Karlberg Palace () is a palace by the Karlberg Canal in Solna Municipality in Sweden, adjacent to Stockholm's Vasastaden district. The palace, built in 1630,Solna: Huvudsta today houses the Military Academy Karlberg. In the palace park are fou ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden, the son of General Gustaf Uggla (1846–1924) and his wife Augusta von Post (1851–1921). He had nine siblings: Carl Gustafsson (born 1875); Louise (born 1877); Eva Thurinna (born 1879); Gustaf Gustafsson (born 1880); Elsa (born 1882); Signe (born 1883); Axel (born 1888); Thorsten Gustafsson (born 1892) and Bengt Gustafsson (born 1894).

Career

Military career

He was commissioned as an officer in the

Svea Life Guards The Svea Life Guards (), also I 1, was a Swedish Army infantry regiment that was active in various forms 1521–2000. The unit was based in the Stockholm Garrison in Stockholm and belonged to the King's Life and Household Troops (''Kungl. Maj: ...

in 1910 with the rank of ''

underlöjtnant ''Underlöjtnant'' (from the German word '' Unterleutnant'') was the lowest officer rank in the Swedish Army from 1835 to 1937 instead of the previous ranks of ''fänrik'' and cornet. was reintroduced in 1914 with the same position as , from 19 ...

''. Uggla became a lieutenant in 1913, received an upper secondary school teacher's degree in 1915 and was a teacher at the

Military Academy Karlberg Military Academy Karlberg (, MHS K) is a Swedish military academy, since its inauguration in 1792 in operation in the Karlberg Palace in Solna, just north of central Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urb ...

from 1916 to 1918 and studied at the ''École normale militaire d’éducation physique'' in

Joinville-le-Pont Joinville-le-Pont () is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. History The commune was created in 1791 under the name La Branche-du-Pont-de-Saint-Maur (literally "The Branch of Saint-Mau ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

from 1919 to 1920. He attended the Royal Swedish Army Staff College from 1920 to 1922, served as an aspirant in the

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

in 1924 to 1926 and was promoted to captain in 1925. Uggla was then a teacher at the Military Academy Karlberg from 1926 to 1934, and he was promoted to major in 1933. Uggla served as a major in

Norrbotten Regiment The Norrbotten Regiment (), designation I 19, is a Swedish Army arctic armoured, light infantry and commando regiment that traces its origins back to the 19th century. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruited from the province of Norrb ...

in 1934 and in the General Staff in 1935. He became lieutenant colonel in the General Staff in 1937 and in the Life Grenadier Regiment in 1937. He then served as Acting Executive Officer of Göta Life Guards in 1938 and was promoted to colonel in 1939. He was commanding officer of the Military Academy Karlberg from 1940 to 1944 and served as Deputy Military Commander of the III Military District in 1944.

Sports career

He competed in

modern pentathlon The modern pentathlon is an Summer Olympics, Olympic multisport that consists of five events: fencing (one-touch épée followed by direct elimination), freestyle swimming, obstacle course racing, Laser pistol (sport), laser pistol shooting, and ...

, and épée and foil

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

at the

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

and

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the IX Olympiad (), was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 28 July to 12 August 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam had previously bid for ...

and won two bronze medals: in the

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

in 1912 and in the modern pentathlon in 1924. The 1912 pole vaulting competition was unusual in that two silver and three bronze medals were given to athletes who cleared equal heights. Uggla was awarded

Stora Grabbars Märke Stora Enso Oyj (from and ) is a Finnish and Swedish forest industry company. It develops and produces various materials, mostly based on wood, for a range of industries and applications worldwide. It has headquarters in Helsinki, Finland, and ...

in 1928.

Civil career

Uggla belonged to the board of several military sports associations (mainly

), was in gymnastics the leader of the winning squad at the 1920 Olympics, for Gymno's elite squad from 1923 to 1927 and in 1929-1945 led the morning gymnastics on radio, to which he took the initiative. He was secretary in the Swedish Gymnastic Association (''Svenska Gymnastikförbundet'') from 1920 to 1926 and in the Swedish Fencing Association (''Svenska Fäktförbundet'') from 1925 to 1928, belonged to the executive board of the Royal Central Gymnastics Institute from 1932 to 1934 and was appointed its chief in 1945. He organized the military Physical Training School (''Gymnastik- och idrottsskolan'', GIS) in 1936 and commanded the same from 1941 to 1944. Uggla was also chairman of the executive committee of the Swedish Military Sports Association (''Sveriges Militära Idrottsförbund'') from 1940 to 1944, chairman of the Stockholm district's executive committee from 1931 to 1934 and of the Boden district from 1934 to 1937. From 1928 until his death he was a member of the

Swedish Olympic Committee The Swedish Olympic Committee (SOC; (, SOK) is the Swedish National Olympic Committee (NOC). The Swedish Olympic Committee organize the Swedish participation in the Olympics, choose the participants and run a support program for swedish elite a ...

, since 1926 a board member of the Central Association (chairman of its Working Committee since 1939), the Central Association's representative in the

Swedish Sports Confederation The Swedish Sports Confederation (, RF) is the umbrella organisation of the Sport in Sweden, Swedish sports movement founded in 1903. Through its member organisations, it has three million members in 22,000 clubs. Its present chair, since 2024, i ...

's Central Board since 1931 (deputy from 1927 to 1930), since 1940 chairman of the Central Committee of the Field Sports' Working Committee and supervisor of its field sports leadership courses and from 1943 chairman of the Gymnastics and Sports Museum Board (''Gymnastik- och Idrottsmuseinämnden'').

Personal life

In 1918, he married Karin Hammarskiöld (born 1897), the daughter of Lieutenant General

Ludvig Hammarskiöld Lieutenant General Peder Adolf Ludvig Regnell Hammarskiöld (26 June 1869 – 4 July 1958) was a Swedish Army officer. Hammarskiöld's senior commands include commanding officer of the 2nd Army Division and the Eastern Army Division, the position ...

and Gerda Neijber. He was the father of Bengt B:son Uggla (born 1920).

Death

Colonel Uggla died on 29 September 1945 while preparing for an

eventing Eventing (also known as three-day eventing or horse trials) is an equestrian event where the same horse and rider combination compete against other competitors across the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. This ...

competition in a forest outside

Karlstad Karlstad (, ) is the 20th-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Karlstad Municipality, the capital of Värmland County, and the largest city in the province Värmland in Sweden. The city proper had 67,122 inhabitants in 2020 with 97,233 inhabitan ...

. Uggla suffered a heart attack during a walk outside Karlstad. When he was found, he was still alive but died later that evening at Karlstad Hospital, where he was taken by ambulance.

Dates of rank

*1910 – ''

Underlöjtnant ''Underlöjtnant'' (from the German word '' Unterleutnant'') was the lowest officer rank in the Swedish Army from 1835 to 1937 instead of the previous ranks of ''fänrik'' and cornet. was reintroduced in 1914 with the same position as , from 19 ...

'' *1913 –

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

*1925 –

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

*1933 –

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

*1937 – Lieutenant colonel *1939 –

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Awards and decorations

* Swedish Fencing Federation Royal Medal of Merit in gold (''Svenska fäktförbundets kungliga förtjänstmedalj i guld'') (1940)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Uggla, Bertil 1890 births 1945 deaths Swedish Army colonels Swedish male pole vaulters Swedish male modern pentathletes Swedish male foil fencers Swedish male épée fencers Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics Modern pentathletes at the 1924 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1920 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1928 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Sweden Olympic modern pentathletes for Sweden Olympic fencers for Sweden Olympic bronze medalists for Sweden Olympic medalists in modern pentathlon Sportspeople from Solna Municipality Athletes from Stockholm County Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Hunting accident deaths Accidental deaths in Sweden Föreningen för Fäktkonstens Främjande fencers IFK Stockholm athletes Bertil