Gotland Military Command (, MKG) previously VII Military District () was a

military district Military districts (also called military regions) are formations of a state's armed forces (often of the Army) which are responsible for a certain area of territory. They are often more responsible for administrative than operational matters ...

, and later a

command Command may refer to: Computing * Command (computing), a statement in a computer language * command (Unix), a Unix command * COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS * Command key, a modifier key on A ...

in the

Swedish Armed Forces The Swedish Armed Forces (, literally ''Defence Force'') are the Military, armed forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. It consists of four separate military branches, the Swedish Army, the Swedish Navy, the Swedish Air Force and the Home Guard (Swed ...

. It existed between the years 1942 and 2000. The staff of the military district was located within Gotland Garrison in

Visby Visby () is an urban areas in Sweden, urban area in Sweden and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County on the island of Gotland with 24,330 inhabitants . Visby is also the episcopal see for the Diocese of Visby. The Hanseatic League, ...

Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

History

Gotland Military Command was established on 1 October 1942 as the VII Military District (''VII. militärområdet'') and was commanded by a military commander which had the responsibility of the territorial and land operational task. In 1966 the name was changed to Gotland Military Command and was included as a

in the

Eastern Military District The Order of the Red Banner Eastern Military District ( Russian: Восточный военный округ) is a military district of Russia. It is one of the five military districts of the Russian Armed Forces, with its jurisdiction wi ...

(Milo Ö). This was done in accordance with the new model in which Gotland was too small for a

. Simultaneously, the operational tasks of the commanders of the naval commands and destroyer squadrons were given to the military commander, which meant that the military commander had full responsibility for the overall operational management of all military forces within the military district. In 1991, Gotland Military Command became a part of the newly formed

Middle Military District Middle Military District (, Milo M) was a Sweden, Swedish Military district (Sweden), military district, a command of the Swedish Armed Forces that had operational control over Middle Sweden, for most time of its existence corresponding to the ar ...

(Milo M), but remained as a staff until the Defence Act of 2000, when the staff was phased out and replaced in part by the

Gotland Military District Gotland Military District (, MD G) was a military district within the Swedish Armed Forces active between 2000 and 2004. The staff was located within Gotland Garrison in Visby on Gotland. History Gotland Military District was formed on 1 July 200 ...

(MD G).

Organisation

*A 7

Gotland Artillery Regiment The Gotland Artillery Regiment (, designation A 7) was a Swedish Army artillery regiment that was in active service between 1811 and 2000. The regiment was based in Visby as part of the Gotland Garrison. History The regiment origins from the Art ...

, Visby. (1942–2000) *KA 3 Gotland Coastal Artillery Regiment, Fårösund. (1942–2000) *Lv 2

Gotland Anti-Aircraft Corps Gotland Anti-Aircraft Corps (), also Lv 2, was a Swedish Army Anti-aircraft warfare, anti-aircraft unit that was active in various forms between 1944–2000. The unit was based in Visby on Gotland. History Gotland's air defence has its origins in ...

, Visby. (1963–2000) *I 18

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 ...

, Visby (1887–1963) *P 18

Gotland Regiment The Gotland Regiment (, P 18) is a Swedish Army armoured warfare, armoured regiment which has been active in various forms between 1963–1994 and 2000–2005, when it was disbanded. The regiment was re-established on 1 January 2018. The regiment ...

, Visby. (1963–2000) *MD G Gotland Naval District, Visby. (1942–1956) *MekB 18 Gotland Brigade, Visby. (1949–2000)

Heraldry

The coat of arms of the Gotland Military Command used from 1982 to 1994.

Blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

: "Azure, the provincial badge of Gotland, a ram passant argent, armed or, cross and banner gules, staff, edging and five flaps or. The shield surmounted two swords in saltire or." The coat of arms of the Gotland Military Command Staff (''Gotlands militärkommandostab'') used from 1994 to 2000 and the Gotland Military District Staff from 2000 to 2004. Blazon: "Azure, the provincial badge of Gotland, a ram passant argent, armed or, cross and banner gules, staff, edging and five flaps or. The shield surmounted an erect sword or". File:Gotlandsgruppen vapen.svg, Coat of arms of the Gotland Military Command 1982–1994. File:Gotlands militärdistriktsstab vapen.svg, Coat of arms of the Gotland Military Command Staff 1994–2000 and the Gotland Military District Staff 2000–2004.

Commanding officers

The rank abbreviations refer to rank when the person took command and after any promotion in that position.

VII Military District

*1942-10-01 – 1948-09-30: Maj. Gen.

Samuel Åkerhielm Lieutenant General ''Friherre'' Samuel Lars Åkerhielm af Blombacka (23 October 1887 – 15 January 1976) was a senior Swedish Army officer. Åkerhielm had a distinguished military career in Sweden. He began as an officer in 1908, serving in var ...

*1948-10-01 – 1955-03-31: Maj. Gen.

Ivar Backlund Lieutenant General Gustav ''Ivar'' Backlund (14 February 1892 – 5 July 1969) was a senior Swedish Army officer. Backlund began his military career in 1912, rising to the rank of captain by 1924. He held various roles, including adjutant to the ...

*1955-04-01 – 1955-09-30: Maj. Gen. Thord Bonde *1955-10-01 – 1957-03-31: Maj. Gen.

Hilding Kring Lieutenant General Knut Georg Hilding Kring (24 April 1899 – 22 September 1971) was a Swedish Army officer. His senior commands include Commandant in Boden Fortress, Inspector of the Army Signal Troops, military commander of the VII Military ...

*1957-04-01 – 1959-09-30: Maj. Gen. Regner Leuhusen *1959-10-01 – 1963-09-30: Maj. Gen.

Fale Burman Lieutenant General Fale Faleson Burman (12 January 19036 September 1973) was a Swedish Army officer. Burman served as commander of Göta Life Guards (1951–1955), as Inspector of the Army Signal Troops (1955–1959) and as Commanding General o ...

*1963-10-01 – 1966-09-30: Maj. Gen. Karl Gustaf Brandberg

Gotland Military Command

*1966-10-01 – 1968-09-30: Maj. Gen. Karl Gustaf Brandberg *1968-10-01 – 1971-09-30: Maj. Gen. Fredrik Löwenhielm *1971-10-01 – 1980-09-30: Maj. Gen. Kjell Nordström *1980-10-01 – 1983-03-31: Maj. Gen. Bengt Tamfeldt *1983-04-01 – 1988-03-31: Maj. Gen. Lars-Eric Wahlgren *1988-04-01 – 1994-06-30: Maj. Gen.

Sven-Åke Jansson Lieutenant General Sven-Åke Jansson (25 October 1937 – 10 September 2014) was a senior Swedish Army officer. He served as commander of Gotland Military Command (1988–1994) and as Commanding General of the Southern Military District (1994– ...

*1994-07-01 – 2000-06-30: Maj. Gen. Göran De Geer

Chiefs of Staff

Chiefs of Staff of MB and MKG: *1937-07-01 – 1938-09-30: MAJ B S Pontén, ( Gst) *1938-10-01 – 1940-09-30: MAJ W C G Möller, (Gst) *1940-10-01 – 1943-09-30: MAJ/ LTC Nils Falk, (Gst) *1943-10-01 – 1944-06-30: LTC B Ingvarsson, (Gst) *1944-07-01 – 1945-09-30: MAJ

Arne Francke Arne Eduard Francke (6 May 1904 – 11 March 1973) was a Swedish Army officer and horse rider. Francke had a military career that began in 1924 as a second lieutenant and progressed to lieutenant colonel by 1946. He served as Adjutant to the Kin ...

, (Gst) *1945-10-01 – 1949-03-31: MAJ Stig Hamilton, (Gst) *1949-04-01 – 1952-03-31: MAJ Nils Juhlin, (Gst) *1952-04-01 – 1956-09-30: MAJ S Eriksson, (Gst) *1956-10-01 – 1961-03-31: MAJ/LTC Åke Bernström, (Gst) *1961-04-01 – 1964-03-31: MAJ/LTC Bertil Creutzer, (Gst) *1964-04-01 – 1966-09-30: MAJ/LTC Gustaf Malmström, (Gst) *1966-10-01 – 1969-03-31: LTC Eric Jarneberg, ( KA) *1969-04-01 – 1972-09-30: LTC Sven-Åke Adler, (KA) *1972-10-01 – 1975-09-30: LTC Lennart Sölvinger, (KA) *1975-10-01 – 1978-09-30: LTC Svante Kristensson, (KA) *1978-10-01 – 1982-09-30: LTC Per Lundbeck, (KA) *1982-10-01 – 1986-09-30: LTC Göte Dygéus, (KA) *1986-10-01 – 1993-04-30: LTC C Eklund, (KA) *1993-05-01 – 1995-09-30: LTC Anthonie (Tonie) Fåhraeus, (KA) *1995-10-01 – 1998-03-31:

COL A col is the lowest point on a mountain ridge between two peaks; a mountain pass or saddle. COL, CoL or col may also refer to: Computers * Caldera OpenLinux, a defunct Linux distribution * , an HTML element specifying a column * A collision sig ...

Bengt Delang, (KA) *1998-04-01 – 2000-06-30: LTC/COL Jörgen Bergmark, (KA)

Names, designations and locations

Footnotes

References

Notes

Print

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External links

Gotland Military History
{{Military districts of Sweden Joint commands of Sweden Disbanded units and formations of Sweden Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations established in 2000 1942 establishments in Sweden 2000 disestablishments in Sweden Visby Garrison