Carl Fredrik Nils Mesterton (16 September 1888 – 10 November 1962) was a

Swedish Army The Swedish Army ( sv, svenska armén) is the land force of the Swedish Armed Forces. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1521, when the men of Dalarna chose 16 young able men as body guards for the insurgent nobleman Gustav Vas ...

officer who became known as the military commander on the scene at the

Ådalen shootings The Ådalen shootings ( sv, skotten i Ådalen) was a series of events in and around the sawmill district of Ådalen, Kramfors Municipality, Ångermanland, Sweden, in May 1931. During a protest on 14 May, five people were killed by bullets fired b ...

in Sweden on 14 May 1931.

Personal background

Nils Mesterton was born in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

as the third son and fourth child of lieutenant Carl Daniel Mesterton and Ebba von Redlich, daughter of the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

consul-general in Stockholm. His grandfather was the doctor

Carl Benedict Mesterton Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of tel ...

. Mesterton's father died in 1889, and in 1899 his mother married the poet

Oscar Levertin Oscar Ivar Levertin (17 July 1862, Norrköping – 22 September 1906) was a Swedish poet, critic and literary historian. Levertin was a dominant voice of the Swedish cultural scene from 1897, when he started writing influential high-profile ...

, who became Mesterton's stepfather. Following his upper-secondary final examination, Mesterton was trained as a reserve officer in the

. He also finished a government administration examination and studied

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

at the university. Thereafter, he worked some time at a bank office. He later became an officer at the Västernorrland Regiment (I 21) in Sollefteå, Ångermanland.

Ådalen shootings

On 14 May 1931 in

Lunde Lunde may refer to: People Politics * Gulbrand Lunde (1901–1942), Norwegian councillor of state in the Nasjonal Samling government * Heidi Nordby Lunde (born 1973), Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party * Jens Lunde (1884–1974), Nor ...

Västernorrland County Västernorrland County ( sv, Västernorrlands län) is a county (''län'') in the north of Sweden. It is bordered by the counties of Gävleborg, Jämtland, Västerbotten and the Gulf of Bothnia. The name ''Västernorrland'' means "Western Norrl ...

, a demonstration was taking place between striking workers and strikebreakers when rioting broke out, and military troops from the Västernorrland Regiment were called in to maintain order. Captain Mesterton was the leader of the military unit. Protesters started to throw stones at the troops, and tried to enter the area where the strikebreakers were located. The troops opened fire, and five people, of them four protesters and one bystander, were killed.

Aftermath

For his role in the shootings, Mesterton was tried by a

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

Sollefteå Sollefteå () is a locality and the seat of Sollefteå Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden with 8,562 inhabitants in 2010. The earliest written account on Sollefteå is found in a script dating back to 1270. During this time the name o ...

which sentenced him to eight days in custody without surveillance. Several of the protesters were tried in a civilian court and received harsh prison sentences. After the Ådalen riots, Mesterton became the target of much of the protestors' anger. He was commonly referred to in the Swedish socialist press as the "murderer from Lunde". Mesterton himself is said to have taken the incident very hard and became a broken man. In 1950, Mesterton became lieutenant colonel in Västernorrland Regiment's reserve.

Personal life

In 1934 he married a widow. Mesterton died on 10 November 1962 in Nora, Sweden and was buried at Karlslund's Cemetery in Nora.

Awards and decorations

*Knight of the Order of the Sword

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mesterton, Nils 1888 births 1962 deaths Military personnel from Stockholm Swedish Army colonels Knights of the Order of the Sword Swedish people of Scottish descent