Göta Armoured Life Guards' Company in Gotland

Göta Armoured Life Guards' Company in Gotland (Swedish: Göta pansarlivgardes kompani på Gotland or P 1 Gotland), designated P 1 G, was a Swedish Army armoured unit that was active in various forms 1944–1963. The unit was based in Visby Garrison in Visby, Gotland. It was part of Göta Armour Guards Regiment until 1963.^[2][3]

Göta Armoured Life Guards' Company in Gotland
Göta pansarlivgardes kompani på Gotland
Active	1944–1963
Country	Sweden
Allegiance	Swedish Armed Forces
Branch	Swedish Army
Type	Armoured
Size	Company
Part of	Göta Armour Guards Regiment
Garrison/HQ	Visby
Colors	Red
March	"Göta livgardes marsch" (Schubert)^[note 1]
Battle honours	Svensksund (1790)

History

 

A Stridsvagn m/42 similar to the company's initial equipment, photographed in 1943.

The unit was raised in 1944 as a detachment on Gotland of the Göta Armour Guards Regiment (P 1). The detachment mainly consisted of a heavy tank company, which had been added from the 10th Armored Brigade. Initially, the company was armed with 18 Stridsvagn m/42, which were replaced in September by 20 Stridsvagn m/41. On 30 March 1963, the detachment was disbanded. On 1 April 1963, the unit was amalgamated with the Gotland Infantry Regiment (I 18) and formed Gotland Regiment (P 18).^[2][3]

Barracks and training areas

Barracks

On 1 October 1944, the company was placed to Gotland. The detachment was placed in barracks at Gotland Infantry Regiment (I 18). From 1946, the detachment moved into a newly built barracks, Barracks IV (known from the 1960s as barracks Havde), at Gotland Infantry Regiment.^[3]

Training areas

The detachment on Gotland conducted its training at Hällarna in Visby and at the Tofta proving ground.^[3]

Heraldry and traditions

Colours, standards and guidons

The unit received its colour on 6 June 1947. It was presented by the military commander of the VII Military Area, major general Samuel Åkerhielm at a ceremony at Oscarsstanen, at which both I 18, A 7, P 1 G and Lv 3 G participated. P 1 G's colour was taken down on 31 March 1963, the last day P 1 G existed as an independent unit. The colour was then put away for 25 years. Colonel Stig Barke, the commanding officer of P 18 from 1983 to 1988, thought that P 18 would manage the memory of P 1 G with the colour as the basis. When P 18 on 30 March 1988 celebrated its 25 years as an armoured regiment, the colour was shown once again. It was handed over to major Anders Österberg, commander of the tank company, by the last commanding officer of P 1 G, the retired lieutenant colonel Bo Forsman. The colour then came to be carried in parallel with the regiment's own colour until the spring of 2000, when it was taken down for the last time, because the tank training at P 18 then ceased.^[4]

Commanding officers

List of commanding officers of the detachment from 1944 to 1963.^[5]

• 1944-04-01 – 1945-09-30: CPT Rolf von Krusenstierna
• 1945-10-01 – 1949-05-20: CPT Bengt Ewertz
• 1949-05-21 – 1953-08-31: CPT Sten Sundblad
• 1953-09-01 – 1955-09-30: CPT Gustaf Follin
• 1955-10-01 – 1959-03-31: CPT Gunnar Lagerström
• 1959-04-01 – 1963-03-31: CPT Bo Forsman

Names, designations and locations

Name	Translation	From		To
Göta pansarlivgardes kompani på Gotland	Göta Armoured Life Guards'^[6] Company in Gotland	1944-10-01	–	1963-03-31
Designation		From		To
P 1 G		1944-10-01	–	1963-03-31
Location		From		To
Visby Garrison		1944-10-01	–	1963-03-31

See also

• List of Swedish armoured regiments

Footnotes

1. The company shared the march with the Göta Armour Guards Regiment.^[1]

References

Notes

1. Sandberg 2007, p. 69
2. Braunstein 2003, pp. 149–152
3. Holmberg 1993, p. 24
4. Olsson, Kjell. "Gotländska militära fanor 1887-2005". www.tjelvar.se (in Swedish). Gotlands försvarshistoria & Gotlands trupper. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
5. Hammarhjelm 1999, pp. 253
6. Gullberg 1977, p. 630

Print

• Braunstein, Christian (2003). Sveriges arméförband under 1900-talet. Skrift / Statens försvarshistoriska museer, 1101-7023 ; 5 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Statens försvarshistoriska museer. ISBN 91-971584-4-5. SELIBR 8902928.
• Gullberg, Ingvar E. (1977). Svensk-engelsk fackordbok för näringsliv, förvaltning, undervisning och forskning [A Swedish-English dictionary of technical terms used in business, industry, administration, education and research] (in Swedish) (2nd ed.). Stockholm: Norstedt. ISBN 91-1-775052-0. SELIBR 8345587.
• Hammarhjelm, Bengt (1999). Beredskap på Gotland 175 år: 1811-1986 (in Swedish) (2nd, extension, and supplement to 2000 ed.). Visby: Ödin. ISBN 91-85716-84-7. SELIBR 7751982.
• Holmberg, Björn (1993). Arméns regementen, skolor och staber: [en uppslagsbok] : en sammanställning (in Swedish). Arvidsjaur: Svenskt militärhistoriskt bibliotek (SMB). ISBN 91-972209-0-6. SELIBR 7796532.
• Sandberg, Bo (2007). Försvarets marscher och signaler förr och nu: marscher antagna av svenska militära förband, skolor och staber samt igenkännings-, tjänstgörings- och exercissignaler (in Swedish) (New ed.). Stockholm: Militärmusiksamfundet med Svenskt marscharkiv. ISBN 978-91-631-8699-8. SELIBR 10413065.

Further reading

• Olsson, Thorleif (2016). P 1 G: Kungl. Göta pansarlivgardes kompani på Gotland 1944-1963 (in Swedish). Tingstäde: Gotlands Försvarsmuseum. SELIBR 19504978.
• Kungl. Gotlands infanteriregemente och Kungl. Göta pansarlivgardes kompani: en vägledning 1958-1959 (in Swedish). Visby. 1958. SELIBR 3200687.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)