Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Fale Faleson Burman (12 January 19036 September 1973) was a

Swedish Army The Swedish Army () is the army, land force of the Swedish Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. Beginning with its service in 1521, the Swedish Army has been active for more than 500 years. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1 ...

officer. Burman served as commander of Göta Life Guards (1951–1955), as Inspector of the Army Signal Troops (1955–1959) and as Commanding General of the VII Military District (1959–1963) and the III Military District (1963–1966).

Early life

Burman was born on 12 January 1903 in Malmö garnisonsförsamling,

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

, Sweden, the son of Fale Burman, a captain in the cavalry, and his wife Cornelia Siwers. He passed '' studentexamen'' at Nya Elementar in

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 ...

in 1920.

Career

Burman was commissioned as an officer in 1922 and was assigned as a second lieutenant to the Scanian Hussar Regiment in

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , ), is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania County, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, ninth ...

. He attended the Swedish Army Riding and Horse-Driving School from 1923 to 1924 and was promoted to ''underlöjtnant'' in 1924 and attended the Royal Central Gymnastics Institute from 1924 to 1926. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1927 and served from 1928 in the Scanian Cavalry Regiment (''Skånska kavalleriregementet''). Burman attended the General Course at the Artillery and Engineering College from 1928 to 1930 and the Higher Course there from 1930 to 1932. He was an

aspirant Aspirant is usually an officer cadet rank used in armies, navies and air forces. In Western Christianity, an aspirant is the first stage in becoming a monastic. Religious use In Western Christianity, the term is also used in reference to rel ...

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 ...

from 1933 to 1935, was promoted to captain in the General Staff in 1935 and was appointed ''ryttmästare'' in the Scanian Cavalry Regiment in 1936. He was head of the Equipment Office in the Organization Department in the General Staff and thereby made efforts in various areas of equipment during the strengthening of the Swedish defence in the late 1930s, including the acquisition of tanks. In the years 1940–1941 he belonged to Jämtland Ranger Regiment and was department head at the Army Staff. In 1941, Burman was promoted to major in the General Staff Corps, whereupon he served as chief of staff of 2nd Army Division (''II. arméfördelningen'') from 1941 to 1942 and of the staff in the II Military District from 1942 to 1944. Burman was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1944 and served in the Scanian Armoured Regiment from 1944 to 1945, in Göta Armour Guards Regiment in 1946 and in Södermanland Armoured Regiment in 1946. Burman served as military attaché in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

from 1948 to 1950, also in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

and

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

from 1949 to 1950. He was promoted to colonel in the

Swedish Armoured Troops The Swedish Armoured Troops (, P) is the Armoured warfare, armoured branch of the Swedish Army. Since 2005, the Armoured Troops include the South Scanian Regiment (P 7) in Revingehed, Skaraborg Regiment (armoured), Skaraborg Regiment (P 4) in Sk� ...

in 1949 and served in the Defence Staff. In 1951 he was appointed commander of the

Gotland Infantry Regiment The Gotland Infantry Regiment (), designations I 27 and I 18, was a Swedish Army infantry regiment that traced its origins back to the 19th century. It was reorganized into an Gotland_Regiment, armoured regiment in 1963. The regiment's soldiers we ...

but before he took command, he was instead appointed executive commander of Göta Life Guards - a post he came to hold from 1951 to 1955. Burman then served as Inspector of the Swedish Army Signal Troops in the Defence Staff from 1955 to 1959 when he was promoted to major general and appointed Commanding General of the VII Military District. He served in this position until 1963 when he was appointed Commanding General of the III Military District. From 1966 to 1968 Burman was at the

Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces The Chief of Defence, formerly the Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces (; acronym: ÖB) is the highest ranked professional military officer in the Swedish Armed Forces, and is by NATO terminology the Sweden, Swedish chief of defence, c ...

's disposal and in 1968 he retired from active service and was promoted to lieutenant general on the reserve list. Burman wrote articles for both military journals and the daily press. In a

obituary An obituary (wikt:obit#Etymology 2, obit for short) is an Article (publishing), article about a recently death, deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as Article (publishing), news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on p ...

it says: "In speech and writing, he was happy to defend his views and there were often fights around him." In 1969 he published the memoir ''Born to be a soldier''. He was an inspector at the higher general educational institution in

Enköping Enköping is a locality and the seat of Enköping Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 30,000 inhabitants in 2018. Geography Enköping is situated near Lake Mälaren, about 78 km west of Stockholm. A comparably large number of S ...

from 1951 to 1955 and chairman of the Gotland Shooting Association (''Gotlands skytteförbund'') from 1960 to 1963.

Personal life

In 1926, Burman married Birgit Westman (born 1905), the daughter of envoy Gustaf Westman and Ester Janse. In 1951 he married Ingrid Gudrun Murray (1905–1980), the daughter of major general Karl Amundson (1873–1938) and Blenda Millberg (1878–1953). He had three children: Hubert (born 1927), Madeleine (born 1930) and Jan (born 1936).

Death

Burman died on 6 September 1973 in Råsunda Parish,

Solna Municipality Solna ( or , ), also known as Solna Municipality, is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in central Stockholm County, Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockh ...

. He was interred at Solna Cemetery.

Dates of rank

*1922 – Second lieutenant *1924 – ''

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 ...

'' *1927 –

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 ...

*1935 – ''Ryttmästare'' *1935 –

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 ...

*1941 –

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 ...

*1944 – Lieutenant colonel *1949 –

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 ...

*1959 – Major general *1968 –

Lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Awards and decorations

Royal_Order_of_the_Sword_-_Commander_Grand_Cross_BAR

Commander Grand Cross of the

Order of the Sword The Royal Order of the Sword (officially: ''Royal Order of the Sword''; Swedish: ''Kungliga Svärdsorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry and military decoration created by King Frederick I of Sweden on 23 February 1748, together with the Or ...

(6 June 1966) * Royal_Order_of_the_Sword_-_Commander_1st_Class_BAR

Commander 1st Class of the

(23 November 1955) * Royal_Order_of_the_Sword_-_Commander_BAR

Commander of the

(23 November 1953) * Order_of_the_Sword_-_Ribbon_bar

Knight of the

(1942) *

Knight of the

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry founded on 29 May 1772 by Gustav III, King Gustav III. It is awarded to Swedish citizens for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. His ...

(1945) *

SWE_Home_Guard_Royal_Medal_of_Merit_ribbon

Home Guard Medal of Merit in gold (6 June 1963) * Swedish Central Federation for Voluntary Military Training Medal of Merit in silver * Uppsala Association for Volunteer Military Training's medal in gold * Gotland Shooting Association's medal in gold * Gotland Association for Volunteer Military Training's medal in gold * Army Shooting Medal (''Arméns skyttemedalj'') *

Swedish Red Cross The Swedish Red Cross ( Swedish: ''Svenska Röda Korset'') is a Swedish humanitarian organisation and a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Founded in 1865, its purpose is to prevent and alleviate human suffering wher ...

Badge of Honor * Norwegian Shooting Board Badge of Honor

Honours

*Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences (1958)

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burman, Fale 1903 births 1973 deaths Swedish Army lieutenant generals Military personnel from Malmö Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences Swedish military attachés Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword Knights of the Order of Vasa