Torsten Emanuel Stålnacke (31 December 1933 – 4 August 2012) was a former

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

soldier and Swedish Army '' överfurir'', mostly known for his actions during the

Congo Crisis The Congo Crisis (french: Crise congolaise, link=no) was a period of political upheaval and conflict between 1960 and 1965 in the Republic of the Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The crisis began almost immediately after ...

in 1961.

Early life

Stålnacke was born in

Svappavaara Svappavaara (Meänkieli: ''Vaskivuori'') is a locality situated in Kiruna Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden with 417 inhabitants in 2010. It is a mining village. Mining was started around 1650. Large scale iron mining started in 1965. The ...

, Sweden and did his military service at

Norrbotten Regiment The Norrbotten Regiment ( sv, Norrbottens regemente), designation I 19, is a Swedish Army arctic armoured, light infantry and commando regiment that traces its origins back to the 19th century. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruited f ...

(I 19) in Boden.

Career

He served with the rank of '' furir'' in the first two Swedish UN battalions in

Suez Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same bou ...

- Gaza from 1956 to 1957 as part of

UNEF UNEF may refer to: * United Nations Emergency Force, a UN force deployed in the Middle East in 1956 * UNEF, a designation for Extra-Fine thread series of Standard Unified Screw Threads (ANSI B1.1) * Union Nationale des Étudiants de France (Natio ...

. In Congo, he belonged to Battalion XIIK in 1961. Stålnacke became known during the

for his gallant conduct in action on 14 September 1961. In connection with repelling a Gendarmerie armoured car attack on the refugee camp, and their nearby depot, two of his comrades were shocked and Stålnacke advanced by himself against an enemy firing position, armed with a

Carl Gustav recoilless rifle The Carl Gustaf 8.4 cm recoilless rifle (, named after ''Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori'' which initially produced it) is a Swedish developed caliber man-portable shoulder-fired recoilless rifle, initially developed by the Royal Swedish ...

. He took out an enemy armoured car and a number of enemies before his

jaw The jaw is any opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth, typically used for grasping and manipulating food. The term ''jaws'' is also broadly applied to the whole of the structures constituting the vault of the mouth and serv ...

was shot to pieces. His chin hung down to his chest and he was suffocating. With his fingers he cleared the throat from bone fragments and pulled the tongue up, thereby able to breath again. During the retreat, and with whistling bullets around him, Stålnacke kept his chin up with one hand and held the recoilless rifle with the other and managed with hand gestures and kicks get his two badly shocked comrades with him from the battlefield. Because of fighting around the

Italian Red Cross The Italian Red Cross (IRC, it, Croce Rossa Italiana or ''CRI'') is the Italian national Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff w ...

hospital in the centre of

Élisabethville Lubumbashi (former names: ( French), (Dutch)) is the second-largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, located in the country's southeasternmost part, along the border with Zambia. The capital and principal city of the Haut-Katanga ...

, the ambulance could not drive all the way to it. The last hundred meters Stålnacke and his comrades had to run to the hospital under the protection of the house walls. The Italian chief medical director Giuseppe Cipolat who initiated the treatment of Stålnacke in Élisabethville, said to colonel Jonas Wærn: "I served as a field medic in

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 opposing ...

, including the desert battles of

Tobruk Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near ...

, and have taken care of wounded soldiers from many countries but I have never met a soldier who showed such courage and willpower as Torsten Stålnacke did." Stålnacke was awarded the

Vasa Medal Vasa Medal ( sv, Vasamedaljen, VGM/SM) Is a Swedish medal, awarded for general civil virtues. It was established by King Oscar II of Sweden in 1895. It was given in gold and silver in 8th and 5th sizes. It ceased to be awarded in 1974. Torsten ...

on 10 May 1962 for his bravery. Until spring 1963, Stålnacke had undergone 18 operations. All in all he underwent 33 operations for his injuries at the Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm. Though he was never fully recovered, he served in the

United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) is a United Nations peacekeeping force that was established under United Nations Security Council Resolution 186 in 1964 to prevent a recurrence of fighting following intercommunal violen ...

during the years 1965 to 1968.

Later life

After Stålnacke's time in the military, he ran a tavern in

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , , ) is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and ninth-largest in Sweden, with a population of 113,816 (2020). Helsingborg is the cent ...

until 1972 when he bought the pension ''Pelikanen'' in

Sälen Sälen () is a locality situated in Malung-Sälen Municipality, Dalarna County, Sweden with 652 inhabitants in 2010. Despite its small population, Sälen receives many tourists every winter. Sälen is best known for hosting the start of Vasaloppet ...

which he ran until his retirement in 2003. On 29 May 2012, on the Swedish Veterans Day he was awarded with the

Swedish Armed Forces Medal for Wounded in Battle Swedish Armed Forces Medal for Wounded in Battle ( sv, Försvarsmaktens medalj för sårade i strid, FMGMsis) is a Swedish is a reward medal instituted by the Swedish Armed Forces and is awarded to Swedish Armed Forces personnel wounded directly o ...

. The medal was awarded because of the injuries he sustained in the battle in Congo on 14 September 1961.

Personal life

Stålnacke was living with his partner Marianne and he had a daughter, Susanne. His biggest interests included berry picking, fishing and hunting.

Death

Stålnacke died in his home on 4 August 2012 and was buried on 24 August in Svappavaara cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stalnacke, Torsten 1933 births 2012 deaths Swedish Army soldiers People from Kiruna Municipality People of the Congo Crisis