''Friherre'' Major General Nils-Fredrik Palmstierna (8 March 1919 – 5 August 1990) was a

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( sv, Svenska flygvapnet or just ) is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the es ...

officer. His senior commands include the post of Vice Chief of the Defence Staff, Chief of Staff of the

Eastern Military District The 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 within the Far Eastern Federal ...

and head of the

Swedish Armed Forces Staff College The oyalSwedish Armed Forces Staff College ( sv, Militärhögskolan, MHS) was from 1961 to 1996 the Swedish Armed Forces highest institution for officers training, for staff and senior executive education and was located in Stockholm. In 1997 it ...

Early life

Palmstierna was born on 8 March 1919 in Eksjö Parish,

Jönköping County Jönköping County ( sv, Jönköpings län) is a county or '' län'' in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Halland, Västra Götaland, Östergötland, Kalmar and Kronoberg. The total county population was 356,291 inhabitants in Septe ...

, the son of Colonel, ''Friherre'' Henrik Palmstierna and his wife Inger (née Fåhræus). Palmstierna passed '' studentexamen'' in Skövde in 1939.

Career

Palmstierna graduated from the Swedish Air Force Flying School (F 5) in Ljungbyhed and was commissioned as an officer at the Västgöta Wing (F 6) with the rank of second lieutenant. Palmstierna served as a flight instructor at the Swedish Air Force Flying School (F 5) from 1943 to 1946 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1944. He attended the Staff Course at the Royal Swedish Air Force Staff College in 1949 and was appointed captain the same year. From 1953 to 1955, he served as squadron commander at Halland Air Force Wing (''Hallands flygflottilj'', F 14). From 1955 he served as '' Aide-de-camp'' to Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland and the same year he was promoted to major. He was posted as chief of staff of the First Air Group from 1955 to 1959 when he was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and the same year he studied at the Swedish National Defence College. He was then posted to the Defence Staff from 1960 to 1963 as head of the Planning Department during which time he served as an expert in the 1960 and the 1962 Defense Committees. In 1963, Palmstierna was promoted to colonel and appointed commanding officer of

Svea Air Corps Svea Air Corps ( sv, Svea flygkår), also F 8 Barkarby, or simply F 8, is a former Swedish Air Force air corps wing with the main base located in Barkarby just north of the capital Stockholm on the east coast. History The meadows in the area wer ...

(F 8). He was an expert in the 1965 Defense Investigation and in 1967, Palmstierna was appointed chief of Section 4 in the Defence Staff. Three years later, he assumed the position of Vice Chief of the Defence Staff and head of the Operations Command on 1 April 1970 and he was promoted to major general on 1 October the same year. Palmstierna was then chief of staff of the

from 1973 to 1978 and commanding offier of the

from 1978 to 1984. Palmstierna was chairman of the boards of the Military Literature Association (''Militärlitteraturföreningen''), ''Militärhistoriska Förlaget'' and the Military History Research Delegation (''Delegationen för militärhistorisk forskning'', DMF). He was also a member of the boards of directors of the ''HDF-bolagen'' in

Halmstad Halmstad () is a port, university, industrial and recreational city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Socia ...

, Stafsjö bruk and Starfors skogar.

Personal life

In 1945, he married Louise Cavalli (born 1926), the daughter of colonel Evert Cavalli and Greta (née Berggren). They had two children: Charlotte Marie (born 1946), married in 1985 to

Anders Wall Karl Anders Wall (born Andersson; 10 March 1931) is a Swedish businessman, the former chairman of Volvo. Anders Wall was born in 1931. He was educated at the Stockholm School of Economics. References

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, and Klas Henrik (born 1949), who was married 1974–1981 to Countess Ylva Catharina Egilsdotter von Rosen. Palmstierna died on 5 August 1990 in Danderyd Parish, Sweden. He was buried in Djursholm Cemetery on 17 December 1990.

Dates of rank

*1942 –

Second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

*1944 – Lieutenant *1949 –

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

*1955 –

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

*1959 –

Lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

*1963 – Colonel *1970 – Major general

Awards and decorations

Royal_Order_of_the_Sword_-_Commander_1st_Class_BAR

Commanders 1st Class of the Order of the Sword (6 June 1970) * Royal_Order_of_the_Sword_-_Commander_BAR

Commander of the Order of the Sword (6 June 1967) * Order_of_the_Sword_-_Ribbon_bar

Knight of the Order of the Sword (1960) * SWE_Order_of_Vasa_-_Knight_2nd_Class_BAR

Knight of the Order of Vasa (1965)

Honours

*Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences (1962)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmstierna, Nils-Fredrik 1919 births 1990 deaths Barons of Sweden Swedish Air Force major generals People from Eksjö Municipality Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences Commanders First Class of the Order of the Sword Knights of the Order of Vasa