The Middle Army Division (, 14. förd), was a division of the

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 ...

which operated in various forms from 1941 to 1997. Its staff was located in Linköping Garrison in

Linköping Linköping ( , ) is a city in southern Sweden, with around 167,000 inhabitants as of 2024. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Chu ...

History

The Middle Army Division was raised on 1 August 1941 as the XIV Division (''XIV. fördelningen''), a doubling division of the IV Division. The army division was directly subordinate to the military commander of the IV Military District, while 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: ...

was responsible for raising and mobilization of the army division staff. In 1966, the mobilization responsibility for the army division was transferred to the Life Grenadier Regiment in

. On 1 October 1966, the designation was changed from being given in

Roman numerals Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...

Arabic numerals The ten Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) are the most commonly used symbols for writing numbers. The term often also implies a positional notation number with a decimal base, in particular when contrasted with Roman numera ...

, that is, the division was termed the 14th Division (''14. fördelningen''). On 1 July 1984, the mobilization responsibility for the army division was transferred to Södermanland Regiment (P 10/Fo 43) in

Strängnäs Strängnäs is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Strängnäs Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 15,363 inhabitants in 2020. It is located by Lake Mälaren and is the episcopal see of the Diocese of Strängnäs, one of t ...

. On 1 July 1991, the Bergslagen Military District and 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 ...

merged and formed the

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 ...

. The army division, together with the Eastern Army Division, thus came to be subordinate to the military commander of the Middle Military District. Through the Defence Act of 1992, the

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

decided that 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 ...

' war organization should reflect the peace organization. As of 1 July 1994, the army division staff, together with the Eastern Army Division, came to be organized as cadre-organized units within the Middle Military District. With this reorganization, the division was relocated to Linköping Garrison. 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 areas 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.

Barracks and training areas

Although the division was mobilized by other units, it was in peace time grouped together with the military area staff. When the division staff was raised, it came to be co-located with the Eastern Military District Staff at

Stureplan Stureplan is a Town square, public square in central Stockholm, between Norrmalm (proper), Norrmalm and Östermalm. The square connects the major streets Kungsgatan, Stockholm, Kungsgatan, Birger Jarlsgatan and Sturegatan. The buildings around ...

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 1949, the two staffs were moved to the barracks of the Life Regiment of Horse (K 1) at Lidingövägen 28 in Stockholm. On 14 June 1963, both staff were transferred to a new property complex in

Garrison. When the staff became independent on 1 July 1994, the staff was placed to the barracks area in

Garrison.

Heraldry and traditions

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of the Middle Army Division used from 1994 to 1997.

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 Östergötland, a griffin with dragon wing and tail or, armed and langued gules. The shield surmounted two batons, charged with open crowns azure in saltire or".

Medals

In 1995, the ''Mellersta arméfördelningens förtjänstmedalj'' ("Middle Army Division Medal of Merit") in silver (MellfördSM) of the 8th size was established. In 1997, this medal was renamed ''Mellersta fördelningens (14.förd) minnesmedalj'' ("Middle Division (14.förd) Commemorative Medal") in silver (MellfördSMM). The

medal ribbon A medal ribbon, service ribbon or ribbon bar is a small ribbon, mounted on a small metal bar equipped with an attaching device, which is generally issued for wear in place of a medal when it is not appropriate to wear the actual medal. Each cou ...

is blue with red edges followed by a yellow stripe.

Commanding officers

*1941–1994: ? *1994–1996:

Senior Colonel __NOTOC__ Senior colonel is an officer rank usually placed between a regular colonel and a British brigadier or American brigadier general. Use Most western militaries tend to equate a senior colonel as being on the level of a "brigadier general ...

Hans Berndtson Generallöjtnant, Lieutenant General Hans Göran Berndtson (born 2 July 1945) was a Swedish Army officer. His senior commands include commanding officer of the Middle Army Division, head of the General Training and Management Directorate in the S ...

*1996–1997: Lieutenant Colonel Anders Ihrén (acting)

Names, designations and locations

Footnotes

References

Notes

Print

* * * * * *{{cite book , last=Sandberg , first=Bo , title=Försvarets marscher och signaler förr och nu: marscher antagna av svenska militära förband, skolor och staber samt igenkännings-, tjänstgörings- och exercissignaler , edition=New , year=2007 , publisher=Militärmusiksamfundet med Svenskt marscharkiv , location=Stockholm , language=sv , isbn=978-91-631-8699-8 , id={{LIBRIS, 10413065 Divisions of Sweden Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations disestablished in 1997 1941 establishments in Sweden 1997 disestablishments in Sweden Disbanded units and formations of Sweden Stockholm Garrison Linköping Garrison Strängnäs Garrison