The Härnösand Coastal Artillery Regiment ( sv, Härnösands kustartilleriregemente), designation KA 5, was a

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy ( sv, Svenska marinen) is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet () – as well as marine units, the Amphibious Corps (). In Swedish, vessels o ...

coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of c ...

regiment of the Swedish Armed Forces which operated between 1943 and 1998. The unit was based in Härnösand.

History

In 1914, construction began on Hemsö Fortress. After World War I ended in 1918, the coastal artillery corps that was planned was never raised, and the newly built barracks in Härnösand was instead handed over to the health service. For a period of years, however, operations at Hemsö Fortress were strengthened by various other coastal artillery detachments. Among other things, the 12 cm batteries were manned in the mid-1930s by the 1st Company and the 6th Company from

Vaxholm Coastal Artillery Regiment The Vaxholm Coastal Artillery Regiment ( sv, Vaxholms kustartilleriregemente), designation KA 1, was a Swedish Navy coastal artillery regiment of the Swedish Armed Forces which operated between 1902 and 2000. The unit was based at Rindö in the ...

(KA 1). At the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1939, 125 conscripts were transferred from Vaxholm Coastal Artillery Regiment. Two years later, another 400 conscripts and about 10 officers from

Karlskrona Coastal Artillery Regiment The Karlskrona Coastal Artillery Regiment ( sv, Karlskrona kustartilleriregemente), designation KA 2, was a Swedish Navy coastal artillery regiment of the Swedish Armed Forces which operated between 1902 and 2000. The unit was based in Karlskron ...

(KA 2) were stationed on

Hemsön Hemsön is an island in the Bothnian Sea, northeast of Härnösand, at the mouth of the Ångerman River __NOTOC__ The Ångerman or Angerman ( sv, Ångermanälven) is one of Sweden's longest rivers with a total length of . It also has the third la ...

. The Defence Act of 1942 stated that the detachment in Hemsö Fortress would replace the detached division from KA 1 and on 1 October 1943 the

Defence Act Defence Act is a stock short title used in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the United Kingdom for legislation relating to territorial defence. List Australia *The Defence (Citizen Military Forces) Act 1943 New Zealand *The Defence Act 1886 ...

would be enforced. This formed the Härnösand Coastal Artillery Detachment (KA 4 H). The designation KA 4 H did not indicate a military command relationship between the two troop units

Älvsborg Coastal Artillery Regiment The Älvsborg Coastal Artillery Regiment ( sv, Älvsborgs kustartilleriregemente), designation KA 4, was a Swedish Navy coastal artillery regiment of the Swedish Armed Forces which operated between 1942 and 2000. The unit was based in Gothenburg ...

(KA 4) and Härnösand Coastal Artillery Detachment (KA 4 H), but only indicated that KA 4 would provide some support to the finance, machinery and craft departments. The last round of training ended in the autumn of 1997, with the entire 6th Amphibious Battalion then fully trained. The disbandment ceremony for HMG/KA 5 was held on 14 August 1998. The ceremony began with the last acting commander of HMG/KA 5, Major Gunnar Hällgren, handing over the regimental colour to the commander of the Norrland Coast Naval Command,

Senior Captain Senior captain is a rank which is used in some countries' armed forces, navies, merchant marines, civil aviation and in the airline industry. Army In some armies of the world, the senior captain is a rank between a regular captain and a majo ...

Olov Andersson. The management of the traditions of the Härnösand Marine Group (''Härnösands maringrupp'') with Härnösand Coastal Artillery Regiment was thus passed to the Norrland Coast Naval Command (MKN). The only military presence left on Härnön is located to the chancellery and the northern part of the barracks area.

Location and training areas

When Härnösand Coastal Artillery Regiment was formed, the unit was located to Kusthöjden in northeastern Härnösand. The construction of the establishment at Kusthöjden started in 1944 after the drawings of the 1940 Military Building Investigation. On 19 June 1945, the double swallow-tailed

Swedish flag The national flag of Sweden ( sv, Sveriges flagga) consists of a yellow or gold Nordic cross (i.e. a horizontal cross extending to the edges, with the crossbar closer to the hoist than the fly) on a field of light blue. The Nordic cross design t ...

was hoisted for the first time at the top of the new chancellery in Härnösand. In total, about 30 buildings were built in the area. At the end of the 1960s, an annex was built to the chancellery, after Norrland Coastal Artillery Defence with Härnösand Coastal Artillery Corps was amalgamated into a joint administrative unit. Furthermore, new buildings were also built at the garage area. After Norrland Coastal Artillery Defence was disbanded, the area was managed by the Norrland Coast Naval Command. In 2000, most of the area was sold to Vasallen, but most of the buildings still house military units and staffs. File:Härnösands kustartilleriregementes kaserner.jpg, Barracks during the 1940s. File:Härnösand, Kusthöjden, juli 2018 (06).jpg, Barracks in 2018 File:Härnösand, Kusthöjden, juli 2018 (08).jpg, Guard house File:Härnösand, Kusthöjden, juli 2018 (13).jpg, Building File:Härnösand, Kusthöjden, juli 2018 (15).jpg, Building File:Härnösand, Kusthöjden, juli 2018 (17).jpg, Building

Heraldry and traditions

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of the Härnösand Coastal Artillery Regiment (KA 5) was used by KA 5 from 1975 to 1994, by the Norrland kustartilleriförsvar med Härnösands kustartilleriregemente (NK/KA 5) from 1975 to 1994, by the Härnösands maringrupp med Härnösands kustartilleriregemente (HMG) from 1994 to 1997 and by the Härnösandsgruppen since 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 the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...

: "Argent, the town badge of Härnösand, a beaver, a pike in the mouth, both sable. The shield surmounted two gunbarrels of older pattern in saltire above a flaming grenade and waves".

Colours, standards and guidons

The colour of the regiment was presented to the regiment on 1 June 1945 by His Majesty the King Gustaf V at a ceremony at Stockholm Palace. It was used as regimental colour by KA 5 until 1 January 1998. The colour is drawn by Brita Grep and embroidered by hand in insertion technique probably by the company Libraria.

: "On red cloth in the centre the badge of the former

Coastal Artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of c ...

; two gunbarrels of older pattern in saltire under a royal crown proper and over a blazing grenade and waves, all yellow. In the first corner the town badge of Härnösand; a beaver with a pike in its mouth, all white."

Medals

In 1999, the ''Härnösands kustartilleriregementes (KA 5) minnesmedalj'' ("Härnösand Coastal Artillery Regiment (KA 5) Commemorative Medal") in silver (HärnkaregSMM) of the 8th size was established. The medal ribbon is of red moiré with a broad yellow stripe on each side.

Commanding officers

Corps and regimental commanders active in Härnösand Coastal Artillery Regiment. From 1961, the unit commander was also head of the Norrland Coast Coastal Artillery Defence and from 1986 of the Norrland Coast Naval Command. *1942–1950: Ragnar Isaacsson *1950–1957: Swen Lagerberg *1957–1964: Stig Stade *1964–1966: Gunnar Eklund *1966–1974: Jan Beckman *1974–1977: Eric Jarneberg *1977–1981: Per-Erik Bergstrand *1981–1983: Lars Ahlström *1983–1985:

Lars G. Persson Lieutenant General Lars Göran Persson (born 13 May 1937) was a Swedish Coastal Artillery officer. Persson was Chief of the Naval Staff from 1987 to 1994 and Chief of Staff and Military Commander of the Northern Military District from 1996 to 1 ...

*1985–1991: Karl-Wilhelm Hansen *1991–1994: Ulf Rubarth *1994–1996:

Claes-Göran Hedén Brigadier General Claes-Göran Hedén (born 12 October 1944) is a retired Swedish Coastal Artillery/Swedish Amphibious Corps officer. His senior commands include commanding officer of the Coastal Ranger School, Vaxholm Coastal Artillery Regiment, ...

History

Location and training areas

Heraldry and traditions

Coat of arms

Colours, standards and guidons

Medals

Commanding officers

Names, designations and locations

See also

Footnotes

References

Notes

Print

Further reading