HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

För tapperhet i fält ("For Valour in the Field") and För tapperhet till sjöss ("For Valour at Sea") are two Swedish
military medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the British Armed Forces, armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, below commissioned o ...
s awarded to officers and soldiers of the
Swedish Armed Forces The Swedish Armed Forces (, literally ''Defence Force'') are the Military, armed forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. It consists of four separate military branches, the Swedish Army, the Swedish Navy, the Swedish Air Force and the Home Guard (Swed ...
who have—as the medal names suggest—shown valour in the field or at sea in wartime. These two medals, along with the various grades of the Order of the Sword, are the only awards in Sweden that have the designation "Swedish war decorations" (''Svenska krigsdekorationer'').''Uniformsreglemente för Försvarsmakten'' The medal was instituted by Gustav III on 28 May 1789, during his war against Russia and was meant to complement the Order of the Sword—which was instituted on 23 February 1748 and was awarded for the same purpose—valour in the field or at sea—but only to officers. The original award was in silver and was intended for
non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...
s and privates only, but a version in gold was introduced in 1806, available only for higher-ranking officers. By royal letters on 24 March 1807 and 10 June 1809, it was decided that two different decorations be instituted,"Tapperhetsmedaljer" ''För tapperhet i fält'' (abbreviation Mtf) for valour in the field, and ''För tapperhet till sjöss'' (Mts) for valour at sea. Each of the two awards has a variant i gold (prefix G, for example GMtf) for officers and a variant in silver (prefix S, for example SMts) for NCOs and privates.Ordnar, dekorationer och medaljer i Sverige The design is simple, a round medal, modern size 8 of the Swedish medal scale of 1773, called ''Mensura magnitudinis Nummorum'', which is equal to a diameter of 31 mm. The obverse side shows the name of the medal, "FÖR TAPPERHET I FÄLT" or "FÖR TAPPERHET TILL SJÖSS" (or for older medals " ..TILL SIÖS"), encircled by a wreath. The reverse side has since 1809 been decorated by the symbol of the Order of the Sword. Before that, the reverse carried a picture of Gustav III and the text "GUSTAV III SVERIGES KONUNG" ("Gustav III King of Sweden"). A band in blue and yellow has been issued with the awards since 1819. ''
De jure In law and government, ''de jure'' (; ; ) describes practices that are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. The phrase is often used in contrast with '' de facto'' ('from fa ...
'', the medal is still active and can be awarded to any Swedish soldier. However nobody has been awarded either of the two medals since 1915, when the last medal was issued to an officer serving with the Swedish Gendarmerie of Persia."Försvarsmaktens belöningsmedaljer" Sweden has not been in a state of war since 1814, but the medal was awarded a few times between 1814 and 1915 nevertheless. Besides the previous mention, the medal was awarded another four times under the rule of Gustav V whose reign started in 1907, and it was also awarded in 1899 to at least one of the Swedish volunteers in the
Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...
. There has been some controversy regarding the fact that the medal has not been awarded since 1915. It has been argued that some of the Swedish soldiers that have served abroad on international missions should have been awarded the medal. One example is Furir Torsten Stålnacke who served with the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
in the Congo Crisis where he during a firefight got his
lower jaw In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla). The jawbone i ...
blown away by a bullet, but still managed to drag and carry two of his shocked comrades as well as his Carl Gustav recoilless rifle into safety. He was not awarded the medal as the Swedish Armed Forces at the time only wanted to award the medal if Sweden was in a state of war, which they were not. This however is contrary to what had been done in the cases mentioned above, as Sweden was neutral during both the Second Boer War and during Gustav V's reign, when five medals were awarded.


References

* * * * *


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:For Tapperhet I Falt Orders, decorations, and medals of Sweden Awards established in 1789 1789 establishments in Sweden