Västmanland Wing ( sv, Västmanlands flygflottilj), also F 1 Hässlö, or simply F 1, is a former

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( sv, Svenska flygvapnet or just ) is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the es ...

wing with the main base located at Hässlö Airport in

Västerås Västerås ( , , ) is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Mälaren, Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 154,049. Västerås ...

in central Sweden.

History

The 1st Flying Corps was set up near Västerås City on 1 July 1929 on the grounds of the recently disbanded

Västmanland Regiment The Västmanland Regiment ( sv, Västmanlands regemente), designations I 18 and Fo 48, was a Swedish Army infantry regiment that traced its origins back to the 16th century. It was disbanded for the first time in 1927 but later reraised and disb ...

(I 18). The airfield at Hässlö was brought in use in 1931. In 1936, the 1st Flying Corps was redesignated F 1 as the 1st Air Wing and received B 3 bombers. These were later supplemented with B 4 dive bombers. In 1949, F 1 was reorganized as a night fighter wing with 60 surplus J 30 De Havilland Mosquitos from England. They were in turn replaced by 60 J 33 Venoms in 1952. All of the J 30 and J 33 in Sweden were based at F 1. In 1959, the night fighter squadrons were converted to regular fighter squadrons of J 32B. These were in service until 1968 when they were in turn replaced with J 35F until the decommissioning of the wing in 1983. The airfield is known today as Stockholm-Västerås Airport with daily flights to England and charter to Mediterranean destinations.

Barracks and training areas

Barracks

The unit was from 1927 to 1944 located in the former

's (I 18) barracks in Viksäng outside

. Its staff moved on 1 August 1943 to the Hässlö Airfield where new barracks were also ready the following year. The old barracks area was then taken over by the Swedish Air Force Central Ground Training Schools (''Flygvapnets centrala skolor'', FCS) until their final relocation in 1961 to

Halmstad Halmstad () is a port, university, industrial and recreational city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Socia ...

. The wing had one runway in the north-south direction. File:F1_Flottiljvakten.jpg, Guardhouse (1979) File:Hässlö, Västerås, maj 2010-01.jpg, Guardhouse (2010) File:Hässlö, Västerås, maj 2010-03.jpg, View of the guardhouse, barracks and rescue station File:Hässlö, Västerås, maj 2010-02.jpg, Chancellery and traffic control tower (2010) File:F1 Vy mot norr av flygfältet.jpg, The wing and runway (1979) to the north File:Kungliga Västmanlands Flygflottilj, F 1. Bansystem.jpg, The wing and runway seen (2009) to the east

Training areas

The wing's training areas included Hässlö Airfield from 1931 and Gimpelstenarna in Granfjärden and the southern tip of Kärrbolandet during the 1930s.

Heraldry and traditions

Coat of arms

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 ...

: "The provincial badge of

Västmanland Västmanland ( or ), is a historical Swedish province, or ''landskap'', in middle Sweden. It borders Södermanland, Närke, Värmland, Dalarna and Uppland. Västmanland means "(The) Land of the Western Men", where the "western men" (''västerm ...

, a three-pointed mountain argent, flammant proper".

Colours, standards and guidons

A colour was presented to the wing on 16 June 1938 at

Gärdet Gärdet is a part of Stockholm, east and northeast of Östermalm. Its official name is Ladugårdsgärdet. It is renowned for its large number of modernist apartments. Gärdet is one of the largest residential districts built in Stockholm during th ...

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 ...

by His Majesty the King

Gustaf V Gustaf V (Oscar Gustaf Adolf; 16 June 1858 – 29 October 1950) was King of Sweden from 8 December 1907 until his death in 1950. He was the eldest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Sophia of Nassau, a half-sister of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxem ...

on his 80th birthday. At the disbandment of F 1 closure in 1983, it was handed over to the wing's traditional carrier F 16, but is now preserved at the

Swedish Army Museum The Swedish Army Museum ( sv, Armémuseum) is a museum of military history located in the district of Östermalm in Stockholm. It reopened in 2002 after a long period of closure, and was awarded the title of the best museum of Stockholm in 2005. ...

: "On blue cloth in the centre the badge of the Air Force; a winged two-bladed propeller under a royal crown proper. In the first corner the provincial badge of

, a three-pointed mountain, flammant proper". The colour of

(I 18) was used until the regiment was disbanded in 1927. According to government decision on 11 December 1942, the wing would also carry this colour as a traditional colour from 26 September 1943. The colour was presented to the wing on this date by Lieutenant General

Richard Åkerman Generallöjtnant, Lieutenant General Richard "Riri" Oscar Roger Åkerman (6July 1898 – 23June 1981) was a Swedish Army officer. He was Chief of the Defence Staff (Sweden), Chief of the Defence Staff from 1951 to 1957 and military comma ...

. This colour also included the regimental battle honours, and the wing then became Sweden's only wing with battle honours on its colour. The colour was used until Västmanland Wing was disbanded in 1983.

Svea Air Corps Svea Air Corps ( sv, Svea flygkår), also F 8 Barkarby, or simply F 8, is a former Swedish Air Force air corps wing with the main base located in Barkarby just north of the capital Stockholm on the east coast. History The meadows in the area wer ...

' (F 8) colour was deposited in 1974 at the Västmanland Wing. File:Västmanlands flygflottilj fana.jpg, 1938 colour.

March

”Kungl Västmanlands regementes och flygflottiljs marsch” was composed during the 1880s by Benjamin Bilse under the name "Prinz Friedrich Carl-(Sieges-) Marsch". The march was used by

(I 18) from the 1880s, then transferred to the wing and by decision of the Chief of the Army, Lieutenant General

Åke Sagrén Lieutenant General Karl Åke Sagrén (26 January 1935 – 12 December 2022) was a Swedish Army officer. He was Chief of the Army from 1990 to 1994 and Chief of Army Command from 1994 to 1996. Early life Sagrén was born on 26 January 1935 in ...

in 1991, to Västmanland Defence District (''Västmanlands försvarsområde'', Fo 48) prior to the inauguration of Fo 48's new staff building at Viksäng in

. This unit was from 1 July 1994 again referred to as Västmanland Regiment (Fo 48).

Commanding officers

From 1929 to 1936, the commanding officers was referred to as ''kårchef'' ("corps commander") and had the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

. When the wing organization was introduced in 1936, the commanding officer was referred to as ''flottiljchef'' ("wing commander"), and had the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. At the end of the 1940s, the wing commander got the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

. From 1975 to 1981, the wing commander was referred to as ''sektorflottiljchef'' ("sector wing commander") and had the rank of senior colonel. From 1981 to 1983, the commanding officer was again referred to as ''flottiljchef'' ("wing commander"), and had the rank of colonel.

Corps, wing and sector wing commanders

Commanders: *1929–1934: Harald Enell *1934–1937: Egmont Tornberg *1937–1938: Gustav Ström *1938–1942:

Axel Ljungdahl General Axel Georg Ljungdahl (7 August 1897 – 12 April 1995) was a Swedish Air Force officer. He was Chief of the Air Force from 1954 to 1960. Early life Ljungdahl was born on 7 August 1897 in Lund, Sweden, the son of merchant August Ljungd ...

*1942–1945:

Gustaf Adolf Westring Lieutenant General Gustaf Adolf Westring (2 September 1900 – 15 March 1963) was a Swedish Air Force officer. Westring served as commanding officer of Västmanland Wing, as head of the Royal Swedish Air Force Staff College, as Chief of the Air S ...

*1945–1950: Arthur Falk *1950–1954: Ingvar Berg *1954–1959:

Gösta Odqvist Generallöjtnant, Lieutenant General Gösta Odqvist (9 January 1913 – 15 February 2005) was a Swedish Air Force officer. His senior commands include commanding officer of the Västmanland Wing (F 1), the Fourth Air Group (E 4), the Chief of the ...

*1959–1964: Henrik Nordström *1964–1966: Rolf Svartengren *1966–1968: Nils Palmgren *1968–1975: Tore Persson *1975–1976: Börje Björkholm (acting) *1976–1980: Stig Bruse *1980–1983: Börje Björkholm

Deputy sector wing commanders

In order to relieve the sector wing commander, a deputy sector wing commander position was added in 1975. Its task was to lead the unit procurement, a task largely similar to the old wing commander position. Hence he was also referred to as ''flottiljchef'' ("wing commander"). The deputy sector wing commander had the rank of colonel. On 30 June 1981, the deputy sector wing commander position was terminated. *1975–1979: Börje Björkholm *1980–1981: Knut Osmund

History

Barracks and training areas

Barracks

Training areas

Heraldry and traditions

Coat of arms

Colours, standards and guidons

March

Commanding officers

Corps, wing and sector wing commanders

Deputy sector wing commanders

Names, designations and locations

See also

Footnotes

References

Notes

Print

Web

Web

Further reading