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Life Guards (Swedish Army)
Encyclopedia
The Life Guards is a combined cavalry
/infantry
regiment of the Swedish Army
, with responsibility for training. The infantry battalion (called the Guards Battalion) trains ordinary infantry soldiers in both the mechanized and rifle roles, as well as training clerical soldiers. The Guards Battalion consists of three companies, The Life Company, the 6th company and the 8th company. They are light mechanized companies trained for urban combat with the defense of Stockholm as its first and foremost wartime duty. The cavalry battalion (called the Dragoons Battalion) has responsibility for training military police, counter-sabotage units, depot soldiers and guards. The Dragoons Battalion's 4th Squadron is the only mounted cavalry unit in the Swedish Armed Forces
. The soldiers of the Life Guards are also frequently used for ceremonial duties like the Royal Guard
at the Stockholm Palace, state occasions like openings of the Parliament
and as a guard of honour
on the occasion of royal audiences and visits.
The Life Guards as it exists today has been part of the Swedish Army since 2000, when the functions of three separate units, the Svea Life Guards, the Household Brigade and the Household Dragoons, all of which were classed as Household troops, were amalgamated into a single regiment.
chose 16 young men as body guards for Gustav Vasa. The Guards Battalion's Life Company is the world's oldest company. Since the year 1523 the section, now enlarged, has been known as the Royal Corps of Halberdiers and, under various names, the regiment has had its natural home at the Palace in Stockholm. The Halberdiers were transformed in 1619 into the Household Company which accompanied Gustavus Adolphus
wherever he went in Europe. It was from this time too that the unit was classed as a regiment. In 1633 the company brought the king's body home from Lützen
and thereafter formed the basis of Queen Christina's new guards regiment within the royal household.
The three following Carolean
kings – Charles X, Charles XI
, and Charles XII
– required a government organization that was more mobile and the guards officers and soldiers accompanied them to the various battlefields under the name of His Royal Majesty's Guards. With the destruction of the palace in Stockholm by fire in 1697 the guards' natural responsibility for the defense of the capital disappeared. The new palace was completed in the 1750s and there was again a need for Life Guards and Household Troops for defending the capital.
During the period 1756-1810 - when there were constant palace coups and a large number of assassination conspiracies - the guards officers and the palace guard often played a decisive role. Gustav III
tried to exploit this by appointing himself head of the regiment in 1774. The colonel was then given the title of second-in-command or deputy commander and this command hierarchy continued until 1980 when a number of constitutional changes brought it to an end. The Life Guards reckon August 19, 1772, as the proudest day in this period for it was then that Gustav III was able to break with corrupt governments. The most ignominious day is June 20, 1810 when the Marshal of the Realm, Axel von Fersen, was lynched during the funeral of the crown prince without the regiment intervening in spite of its being on duty.
The name was changed to the Svea Life Guards in 1792 and in 1802 the regiment moved to barracks at Fredrikshov. In the ensuing century the unit was used for various tasks. For example, the commander of the capital made use of the men and officers for keeping order in Stockholm. The regiment moved to barracks on Linnégatan in 1888. At the same time there were proposals to extend the training grounds on Ladugårdsgärde and at the beginning of the 1900s an artillery range was commissioned on Järvafält. The Svea Life Guards again moved their barracks in 1946, this time to Ulriksdal on the outskirts of Stockholm. At the end of the 1960s the Municipality of Stockholm wanted to build dwellings on Järva and the regiment was again under increasing pressure to move. In 1970 there was no longer room for the unit in central Stockholm and it was obliged to move men and equipment out to Kungsängen. A positive aspect of the move was that the regiment at last had access to training grounds and artillery ranges adjacent to the barracks.
During the military alert in the 1940s Sweden was divided into a number of defense districts. The idea was that the various staff commands would be wholly responsible for defending their own geographic areas. In 1946 the Stockholm and Norrtälje defence districts were united into the joint Fo 44. In order to reduce administration, the Svea Lifeguards were grouped with K 1 out in Kungsängen in 1975-1985. In August 1985 the regiment also assumed responsibility for training K 1. Between 1985-1992 the Svea Lifeguards also had administrative responsibility for the Armed Forces NBC-defense units, which was also grouped in the barracks at Kungsängen.
The official collective name of Svea Lifeguards (I 1/Fo 44), lasted for nine years. In 1994 I 1, IB 1 and K 1 were separated and became independent units. But they retained the old barracks in Kungsängen and on Lidingövägen. The Svea Lifeguards also continued to take responsibility for various administrative duties for the other two units.
With the reorganization of the defense forces, the Svea Lifeguards were disbanded on June 30, 2000. Most of the staff and duties are now to be found with the Life Guards. At a solemn ceremony on the inner palace yard, the Lifeguards and the Household Brigade were presented with a new standard by King Carl XVI Gustaf
. The new standard is a unique artefact presenting the national coat of arms with the chain of the Order of the Seraphim and two supporting lions, as well as all the battle honours, on a white ground.
The motto
of the Life Guards is "Possunt nec posse videntur" meaning "They can [do], what it seems they cannot" or more directly "They do what seems impossible".
1521, Rhen
1631, Lützen
1632, Warsaw
1656, Halmstad
1676, Lund
1676, Landskrona
1677, Narva
1700, Düna 1701, Kliszow
1702, Holowczyn
1708, Svensksund
1790
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
/infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
regiment of the Swedish Army
Swedish Army
The Swedish Army is one of the oldest standing armies in the world and a branch of the Swedish Armed Forces; it is in charge of land operations. General Sverker Göranson is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Army.- Organization :...
, with responsibility for training. The infantry battalion (called the Guards Battalion) trains ordinary infantry soldiers in both the mechanized and rifle roles, as well as training clerical soldiers. The Guards Battalion consists of three companies, The Life Company, the 6th company and the 8th company. They are light mechanized companies trained for urban combat with the defense of Stockholm as its first and foremost wartime duty. The cavalry battalion (called the Dragoons Battalion) has responsibility for training military police, counter-sabotage units, depot soldiers and guards. The Dragoons Battalion's 4th Squadron is the only mounted cavalry unit in the Swedish Armed Forces
Swedish Armed Forces
The Swedish Armed Forces is a Swedish Government Agency responsible for the operation of the armed forces of the Realm. The primary task of the agency is to train, organize and to deploy military forces, domestically and abroad, while maintaining the long-term ability to defend the Realm in the...
. The soldiers of the Life Guards are also frequently used for ceremonial duties like the Royal Guard
Royal Guards (Sweden)
The Royal Guards , the Main Guard at the Stockholm Palace is carried out by units of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is the King of Sweden's guard of honour and is responsible for the protection of the Royal Family. The Royal Guard is normally divided in two parts, the main guard stationed at the...
at the Stockholm Palace, state occasions like openings of the Parliament
Parliament of Sweden
The Riksdag is the national legislative assembly of Sweden. The riksdag is a unicameral assembly with 349 members , who are elected on a proportional basis to serve fixed terms of four years...
and as a guard of honour
Guard of honour
A guard of honour is a ceremonial event practice in military and sports as a mark of respect.-Military:In the military a guard of honour is a ceremonial practice to honour visiting foreign dignitaries, or the fallen in war, or a ceremony for public figures who have died.The commander is three paces...
on the occasion of royal audiences and visits.
The Life Guards as it exists today has been part of the Swedish Army since 2000, when the functions of three separate units, the Svea Life Guards, the Household Brigade and the Household Dragoons, all of which were classed as Household troops, were amalgamated into a single regiment.
History
Svea Livgarde was one of the world's oldest regiment still in existence, dating back to the year 1521 when the men of DalarnaDalarna
', English exonym: Dalecarlia, is a historical province or landskap in central Sweden. Another English language form established in literature is the Dales. Places involving the element Dalecarlia exist in the United States....
chose 16 young men as body guards for Gustav Vasa. The Guards Battalion's Life Company is the world's oldest company. Since the year 1523 the section, now enlarged, has been known as the Royal Corps of Halberdiers and, under various names, the regiment has had its natural home at the Palace in Stockholm. The Halberdiers were transformed in 1619 into the Household Company which accompanied Gustavus Adolphus
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden
Gustav II Adolf has been widely known in English by his Latinized name Gustavus Adolphus Magnus and variously in historical writings also as Gustavus, or Gustavus the Great, or Gustav Adolph the Great,...
wherever he went in Europe. It was from this time too that the unit was classed as a regiment. In 1633 the company brought the king's body home from Lützen
Battle of Lützen (1632)
The Battle of Lützen was one of the most decisive battles of the Thirty Years' War. It was a Protestant victory, but cost the life of one of the most important leaders of the Protestant alliance, Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, which caused the Protestant campaign to lose direction.- Prelude to the...
and thereafter formed the basis of Queen Christina's new guards regiment within the royal household.
The three following Carolean
Caroleans
Caroleans were the soldiers of the Swedish kings Charles XI and Charles XII.-The Carolean army:To compensate for the lack of manpower and resources Sweden strived for innovative ways to make an effective army...
kings – Charles X, Charles XI
Charles XI of Sweden
Charles XI also Carl, was King of Sweden from 1660 until his death, in a period in Swedish history known as the Swedish empire ....
, and Charles XII
Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII also Carl of Sweden, , Latinized to Carolus Rex, Turkish: Demirbaş Şarl, also known as Charles the Habitué was the King of the Swedish Empire from 1697 to 1718...
– required a government organization that was more mobile and the guards officers and soldiers accompanied them to the various battlefields under the name of His Royal Majesty's Guards. With the destruction of the palace in Stockholm by fire in 1697 the guards' natural responsibility for the defense of the capital disappeared. The new palace was completed in the 1750s and there was again a need for Life Guards and Household Troops for defending the capital.
During the period 1756-1810 - when there were constant palace coups and a large number of assassination conspiracies - the guards officers and the palace guard often played a decisive role. Gustav III
Gustav III of Sweden
Gustav III was King of Sweden from 1771 until his death. He was the eldest son of King Adolph Frederick and Queen Louise Ulrica of Sweden, she a sister of Frederick the Great of Prussia....
tried to exploit this by appointing himself head of the regiment in 1774. The colonel was then given the title of second-in-command or deputy commander and this command hierarchy continued until 1980 when a number of constitutional changes brought it to an end. The Life Guards reckon August 19, 1772, as the proudest day in this period for it was then that Gustav III was able to break with corrupt governments. The most ignominious day is June 20, 1810 when the Marshal of the Realm, Axel von Fersen, was lynched during the funeral of the crown prince without the regiment intervening in spite of its being on duty.
The name was changed to the Svea Life Guards in 1792 and in 1802 the regiment moved to barracks at Fredrikshov. In the ensuing century the unit was used for various tasks. For example, the commander of the capital made use of the men and officers for keeping order in Stockholm. The regiment moved to barracks on Linnégatan in 1888. At the same time there were proposals to extend the training grounds on Ladugårdsgärde and at the beginning of the 1900s an artillery range was commissioned on Järvafält. The Svea Life Guards again moved their barracks in 1946, this time to Ulriksdal on the outskirts of Stockholm. At the end of the 1960s the Municipality of Stockholm wanted to build dwellings on Järva and the regiment was again under increasing pressure to move. In 1970 there was no longer room for the unit in central Stockholm and it was obliged to move men and equipment out to Kungsängen. A positive aspect of the move was that the regiment at last had access to training grounds and artillery ranges adjacent to the barracks.
During the military alert in the 1940s Sweden was divided into a number of defense districts. The idea was that the various staff commands would be wholly responsible for defending their own geographic areas. In 1946 the Stockholm and Norrtälje defence districts were united into the joint Fo 44. In order to reduce administration, the Svea Lifeguards were grouped with K 1 out in Kungsängen in 1975-1985. In August 1985 the regiment also assumed responsibility for training K 1. Between 1985-1992 the Svea Lifeguards also had administrative responsibility for the Armed Forces NBC-defense units, which was also grouped in the barracks at Kungsängen.
Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
Carl XVI Gustaf is the reigning King of Sweden since 15 September 1973, succeeding his grandfather King Gustaf VI Adolf because his father had predeceased him...
. The new standard is a unique artefact presenting the national coat of arms with the chain of the Order of the Seraphim and two supporting lions, as well as all the battle honours, on a white ground.
The motto
Motto
A motto is a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottoes of governments...
of the Life Guards is "Possunt nec posse videntur" meaning "They can [do], what it seems they cannot" or more directly "They do what seems impossible".
Battle honours
BefrielsekrigetSwedish War of Liberation
The Swedish War of Liberation , , was a civil war in which the Swedish nobleman Gustav Vasa successfully deposed the Danish king Christian II as regent of the Kalmar Union in Sweden. The war started in January 1521 when Gustav Vasa was appointed "hövitsman" over Dalarna. After Gustav Vasa sacked...
1521, Rhen
Battle of Rain
The Battle of Rain was fought on April 15, 1632, as part of the Thirty Years' War. The forces involved in this conflict were 40,000 Swedish troops under Gustavus Adolphus and 25,000 Catholic League troops under Count Johan Tzerclaes of Tilly...
1631, Lützen
Battle of Lützen (1632)
The Battle of Lützen was one of the most decisive battles of the Thirty Years' War. It was a Protestant victory, but cost the life of one of the most important leaders of the Protestant alliance, Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, which caused the Protestant campaign to lose direction.- Prelude to the...
1632, Warsaw
Battle of Warsaw (1656)
The Battle of Warsaw was a battle which took place near Warsaw on , between the armies of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on the one hand and of Sweden and Brandenburg on the other. It was a major battle in the Second Northern War between Poland and Sweden in the period 1655–1660, also known as...
1656, Halmstad
Battle of Halmstad
The Battle of Halmstad was fought at Fyllebro, approximately five kilometers south of the town Halmstad in southwest Sweden on August 17, 1676...
1676, Lund
Battle of Lund
The Battle of Lund was fought on December 4, 1676 in an area north of the city of Lund in Scania in southern Sweden, between the invading Danish army and the army of Charles XI of Sweden. It was part of the Scanian War...
1676, Landskrona
Battle of Landskrona
The Battle of Landskrona was fought on the Ylleshed moore, outside the town of Landskrona, in southern Sweden onJuly 14, 1677 .-Prelude:...
1677, Narva
Battle of Narva (1700)
The Battle of Narva on 19 November 1700 was an early battle in the Great Northern War. A Swedish relief army under Charles XII of Sweden defeated a Russian siege force three times its size. Before, Charles XII had forced Denmark-Norway to sign the Treaty of Travendal...
1700, Düna 1701, Kliszow
Battle of Kliszów
The Battle of Klissow took place on July 8 / July 9 / July 19, 1702 near Kliszów, Poland-Lithuania, during the Great Northern War...
1702, Holowczyn
Battle of Holowczyn
The Battle of Holowczyn or Golovchin was fought between the Russian army, led by Field Marshal Boris Sheremetyev, and the Swedish army, led by Charles XII of Sweden, only 26 years of age at the time. Despite difficult natural obstacles and superior enemy artillery, the Swedes were able to achieve...
1708, Svensksund
Battle of Svensksund (1790)
The Battle of Svensksund was a naval battle fought in the Gulf of Finland outside the present day city of Kotka on 9 July 1790. The Swedish naval forces dealt the Russian fleet a devastating defeat that resulted in an end to the Russo-Swedish War of 1788–90...
1790
External links
- Life Guards - Official website