Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Fale Faleson Burman (12 January 19036 September 1973) 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. Burman served as commander of Göta Life Guards (1951–1955), as Inspector of the Army Signal Troops (1955–1959) and as Commanding General of the VII Military District (1959–1963) and the III Military District (1963–1966).

Early life

Burman was born on 12 January 1903 in Malmö garnisonsförsamling,

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

, Sweden, the son of Fale Burman, a captain in the cavalry, and his wife Cornelia Siwers. He passed ''

studentexamen Studentexamen (Swedish for "students' examination" or "students' degree"), earlier also ''mogenhetsexamen'' ("maturity examination") was the name of the university entrance examination in Sweden from the 17th century to 1968. From 1862 to 1968 ...

'' at Nya Elementar 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 ...

in 1920.

Career

Burman was commissioned as an officer in 1922 and was assigned as a second lieutenant to the

Scanian Hussar Regiment The Scanian Hussar Regiment ( sv, Skånska husarregementet, K 5) was a Swedish Army cavalry unit which operated in various forms the years 1658–1709 and 1709–1927. Commanding officers Regimental commanders from 1658 to 1927. *1658–1659: ...

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 ...

. He attended the

Swedish Army Riding and Horse-Driving School Swedish Army Riding and Horse-Driving School ( sv, Arméns rid- och körskola, RS) was a Swedish Army equestrian facility which operated from 1868 to 1970. Its tasks from the 1930s were to train commanders at the infantry and cavalry into instruct ...

from 1923 to 1924 and was promoted to ''underlöjtnant'' in 1924 and attended the Royal Central Gymnastics Institute from 1924 to 1926. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1927 and served from 1928 in the Scanian Cavalry Regiment (''Skånska kavalleriregementet''). Burman attended the General Course at the Artillery and Engineering College from 1928 to 1930 and the Higher Course there from 1930 to 1932. He was an aspirant in the

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

from 1933 to 1935, was promoted to captain in the General Staff in 1935 and was appointed ''ryttmästare'' in the Scanian Cavalry Regiment in 1936. He was head of the Equipment Office in the Organization Department in the General Staff and thereby made efforts in various areas of equipment during the strengthening of the Swedish defence in the late 1930s, including the acquisition of tanks. In the years 1940–1941 he belonged to Jämtland Ranger Regiment and was department head at the Army Staff. In 1941, Burman was promoted to major in the

General Staff Corps General Staff Corps ( sv, Generalstabskåren, Gst) was an administrative corps within the Swedish Armed Forces between 1937 and 1990 and consisted of Swedish Army officers chosen for duty in the Defence Staff and Army Staff. It replaced the earlie ...

, whereupon he served as chief of staff of 2nd Army Division (''II. arméfördelningen'') from 1941 to 1942 and of the staff in the II Military District from 1942 to 1944. Burman was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1944 and served in the Scanian Armoured Regiment from 1944 to 1945, in Göta Armour Guards Regiment in 1946 and in Södermanland Armoured Regiment in 1946. Burman served as military attaché in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

from 1948 to 1950, also in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

and

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

from 1949 to 1950. He was promoted to colonel in the

Swedish Armoured Troops The Swedish Armoured Troops ( sv, Pansartrupperna, P) is the armoured branch of the Swedish Army. Since 2005, the Armoured Troops include the South Scanian Regiment (P 7) in Revingehed, Skaraborg Regiment (P 4) in Skövde, Norrbotten Armoured Bat ...

in 1949 and served in the Defence Staff. In 1951 he was appointed commander of the

Gotland Infantry Regiment The Gotland Infantry Regiment ( sv, Gotlands infanteriregemente), designations I 27 and I 18, was a Swedish Army infantry regiment that traced its origins back to the 19th century. It was reorganized into an Gotland_Regiment, armoured regiment in ...

but before he took command, he was instead appointed executive commander of Göta Life Guards - a post he came to hold from 1951 to 1955. Burman then served as Inspector of the Swedish Army Signal Troops in the Defence Staff from 1955 to 1959 when he was promoted to major general and appointed Commanding General of the VII Military District. He served in this position until 1963 when he was appointed Commanding General of the III Military District. From 1966 to 1968 Burman was at the

Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces The Supreme Commander ( sv, överbefälhavaren; acronym: ÖB) is the highest ranked professional military officer in the Swedish Armed Forces, and is by NATO terminology the Swedish chief of defence equivalent. The Supreme Commander is the agency ...

's disposal and in 1968 he retired from active service and was promoted to lieutenant general on the reserve list. Burman wrote articles for both military journals and the daily press. In a

obituary An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...

it says: "In speech and writing, he was happy to defend his views and there were often fights around him." In 1969 he published the memoir ''Born to be a soldier''. He was an inspector at the higher general educational institution in

Enköping Enköping is a locality and the seat of Enköping Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden with 30,000 inhabitants in 2018. Geography Enköping is situated near Lake Mälaren, about 78 km west of Stockholm. A comparably large number of Swedi ...

from 1951 to 1955 and chairman of the Gotland Shooting Association (''Gotlands skytteförbund'') from 1960 to 1963.

Personal life

In 1926, Burman married Birgit Westman (born 1905), the daughter of envoy Gustaf Westman and Ester Janse. In 1951 he married Ingrid Gudrun Murray (1905–1980), the daughter of major general Karl Amundson (1873–1938) and Blenda Millberg (1878–1953). He had three children: Hubert (born 1927), Madeleine (born 1930) and Jan (born 1936).

Death

Burman died on 6 September 1973 in Råsunda Parish,

Solna Municipality Solna Municipality ( sv, Solna kommun or , ) is a municipality in Stockholm County in Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockholm urban area. Solna is one of t ...

. He was interred at Solna Cemetery.

Dates of rank

*1922 –

Second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

*1924 – ''

Underlöjtnant ''Underlöjtnant'' (from the German word ''Unterleutnant'') was the lowest officer rank in the Swedish Army from 1835 to 1937 instead of the previous ranks of ''fänrik'' and cornet. was reintroduced in 1914 with the same position as , from 1926 ...

'' *1927 –

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

*1935 – ''Ryttmästare'' *1935 –

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

*1941 –

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 ...

*1944 –

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 ...

*1949 –

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 ...

*1959 –

Major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

*1968 –

Lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Awards and decorations

Royal_Order_of_the_Sword_-_Commander_Grand_Cross_BAR

Commander Grand Cross of the

Order of the Sword The Royal Order of the Sword (officially: ''Royal Order of the Sword''; Swedish: ''Kungliga Svärdsorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry and military decoration created by King Frederick I of Sweden on February 23, 1748, together with the Or ...

(6 June 1966) * Royal_Order_of_the_Sword_-_Commander_1st_Class_BAR

Commander 1st Class of the

(23 November 1955) * Royal_Order_of_the_Sword_-_Commander_BAR

Commander of the

(23 November 1953) * Order_of_the_Sword_-_Ribbon_bar

Knight of the

(1942) *

Knight of the

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. It was instituted on 29 May 1772 by King Gustav III. It was u ...

(1945) *

SWE_Home_Guard_Royal_Medal_of_Merit_ribbon

Home Guard Medal of Merit in gold * Försvarsutbildarnas_förtjänstmedalj

Swedish Central Federation for Voluntary Military Training Medal of Merit in silver * Uppsala Association for Volunteer Military Training's medal in gold * Gotland Shooting Association's medal in gold * Gotland Association for Volunteer Military Training's medal in gold * Army Shooting Medal (''Arméns skyttemedalj'') *

Swedish Red Cross The Swedish Red Cross (Swedish: ''Svenska Röda Korset'') is a Swedish humanitarian organisation and a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Founded in 1865, its purpose is to prevent and alleviate human suffering where ...

Badge of Honor * Norwegian Shooting Board Badge of Honor

Honours

*Member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Krigsvetenskapsakademien) is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden and was founded on 12 November 1796 by Gustaf Wilhelm af Tibell. The academy is an independent organization and a forum for m ...

(1958)

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burman, Fale 1903 births 1973 deaths Swedish Army lieutenant generals People from Malmö Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences Swedish military attachés Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword Knights of the Order of Vasa