Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank 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 battlefield, who was norma ...

Gösta Odqvist (9 January 1913 – 15 February 2005) was a

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( or just ) is the air force Military branch, 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 escalatin ...

officer. His senior commands include commanding officer of the

Västmanland Wing Västmanland Wing (), also F 1 Hässlö, or simply F 1, is a former Swedish Air Force wing with the main base located at Hässlö Airport in Västerås in central Sweden. History The 1st Flying Corps was set up near Västerås City on 1 July 192 ...

(F 1), Commanding General of the 4th Air Command (E 4), the Chief of the Air Staff and Commanding General of the 1st Air Command.

Early life

Odqvist was born on 9 January 1913 in

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

, Sweden, the son of lieutenant colonel Hjalmar Odqvist and his wife Ella (née Nordlöf). He grew up in

Strängnäs Strängnäs is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Strängnäs Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 15,363 inhabitants in 2020. It is located by Lake Mälaren and is the episcopal see of the Diocese of Strängnäs, one of t ...

where his father was an officer in the Södermanland Regiment (I 10). 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, ...

'' in 1932 and trained as an officer at the

Military Academy Karlberg Military Academy Karlberg (, MHS K) is a Swedish military academy, since its inauguration in 1792 in operation in the Karlberg Palace in Solna, just north of central Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urb ...

Career

Odqvist became an officer in 1935 and was commissioned as second lieutenant and assigned to Södermanland Regiment (I 10). The

was now under strong construction, which attracted him. He joined the Air Force, underwent pilot training at the

Swedish Air Force Flying School Swedish Air Force Flying School (), also F 5 Ljungbyhed, or simply F 5, is a former Swedish Air Force training wing with the main base located in Ljungbyhed in southern Sweden. History The moor at Ljungby was adopted for military use in 1658 by t ...

, finishing in 1937. He became lieutenant in the Air Force in 1939 and captain in 1942. Odqvist completed the staff course of the

Royal Swedish Air Force Staff College __NOTOC__ Royal Swedish Air Force Staff College (, FKHS) was established in 1939 and located in Stockholm. It was under the command of the Chief of the Swedish Air Force. From the start, one-year higher courses in staff service or technical staff ...

from 1944 to 1945 and then served in the Air Staff. He was teacher at the Royal Swedish Air Force Staff College and the

Artillery and Engineering College Artillery and Engineering College (, AIHS) was a Swedish Army training establishment active between 1878 and 1992, providing courses for artillery officers. It was located within the Stockholm Garrison in Stockholm, Sweden. History The Higher Art ...

from 1944 to 1949 when he was promoted to major. Odqvist then served as chief of staff in the 1st Air Command from 1949 to 1951 and then as commanding officer of the Swedish Air Force Squadron Leader School (''Flygvapnets bomb- och skjutskola'', FBS) from 1951 to 1952 when he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. Odqvist was commanding officer of the ''Flygvapnets krigsskola'' (F 20) from 1952 to 1954 and the

(F 1) from 1954 to 1959. In 1955, Oqvist was promoted to colonel and from 1959 to 1961 he was Vice Chief of the Air Staff. He was appointed Commanding General of the 4th Air Command (''Fjärde flygeskadern'', E 4) in 1961 and the year after he was promoted to major general. In 1964, Odqvist was appointed Chief of the Air Staff and in 1966 he was appointed Commanding General of the 1st Air Command. He left the position in 1973 and retired from active service and was then also promoted to lieutenant general. After retirement,

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 158,653, over 100,000 mo ...

became his home town. He was unanimously elected to chairman of the ''F 1 Kamratförening'', a position he held until 1990, when he became honorary chairman of the association. Odqvist was chairman of the Swedish Aviation Historical Society (''Svensk flyghistorisk förening'', SFF) from 1974 to 1978 and governor of the

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and p ...

's district 234 from 1979 to 1980. He became honorary member of the Swedish Aviation Historical Society in 1982.

Personal life

In 1938, Odqvist married Märta Sundell (1911–2003), the daughter of the Ernst Sundell and Elin (née Olsson). He was the father of Eva (born 1941), Kerstin (born 1944), Ulla (born 1946) and Inger (born 1947). His daughter Ulla, a diplomat, was one of the hostages of the 1975 AIA building hostage crisis in

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

. The farm Kalfsund in Överenhörna

socken Socken ( or ) is the name used for a part of a counties of Sweden, county in Sweden. In Denmark, similar areas are known as , in Norway or and in Finland or . A is a rural area formed around a church, typically in the Middle Ages. A socken ...

was acquired by the Odqvist's in 1941.

Death

His wife Märta died on 13 August 2003 and he on 15 February 2005 in Västerås. They are buried at Överenhörna Church, a few kilometers from Kalfsund.

Dates of rank

*1935 – Second lieutenant (Swedish Army) *1939 –

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

(Swedish Air Force) *1942 –

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

*1949 –

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

*1952 – Lieutenant colonel *1955 –

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), 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 colon ...

*1962 – Major general *1973 –

Lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank 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 battlefield, who was norma ...

Awards and decorations

Swedish

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 23 February 1748, together with the Or ...

(5 June 1971) * Royal_Order_of_the_Sword_-_Commander_1st_Class_BAR

Commander 1st Class of the

(6 June 1962) * SWE_Order_of_Vasa_-_Knight_2nd_Class_BAR

Knight of the

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

* Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Organization Royal Medal of Merit in silver

Foreign

* Commander of the

Order of the Crown of Thailand The Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand (; ) is a Thai order, established in 1869 by King Rama V of The Kingdom of Siam (now Thailand) for Thais, the royal family, governmental employees, and foreign dignitaries for their outstanding serv ...

Honours

*Member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences () 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 military (army and air force) and de ...

(1960)

Bibliography

* * * *

References

External links

Webpage about the Odqvist family
{{DEFAULTSORT:Odqvist, Gosta 1913 births 2005 deaths Swedish Air Force lieutenant generals People from Uppsala Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword Knights of the Order of Vasa Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences