The Göta Life Guards (), designated P 1, was a

Swedish Army The Swedish Army () is the army, land force of the Swedish Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. Beginning with its service in 1521, the Swedish Army has been active for more than 500 years. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1 ...

armoured Armour (Commonwealth English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

that was active in various forms 1944–1980. The unit was based in the Enköping Garrison 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 S ...

and belonged to the King's Life and Household Troops (''Kungl. Maj:ts Liv- och Hustrupper'') until 1974.

Units

Blue Brigade

The Blue Brigade (PB 6) was raised in 1949 and was organized following the ''Pansarbrigad 49'' ("Armoured Brigade 49") unit type. According to the Defence Act of 1972, the brigade was disbanded on 30 June 1980. In connection with the Defence Act of 1942, infantry regiments came to be raised as "field regiments" and "duplication regiments". The

Svea Life Guards The Svea Life Guards (), also I 1, was a Swedish Army infantry regiment that was active in various forms 1521–2000. The unit was based in the Stockholm Garrison in Stockholm and belonged to the King's Life and Household Troops (''Kungl. Maj: ...

raised the war-time units Svea Life Guards (I 1) and Stockholm Infantry Regiment (''Stockholms infanteriregemente'', I 31). After the Defence Act of 1948, brigades throughout the entire army were introduced, which led the army to be renamed into two brigade types, infantry brigades and armoured brigades. Stockholm Infantry Regiment (I 31) was reorganized and was responsible for the armoured part of the Blue Brigade (PB 6) and the

Södermanland Brigade Södermanland Brigade (), also PB 10 or MekB 10, was a Swedish Army armoured brigade located in the province of Södermanland. Most of the brigade was trained at Södermanland regiment. The brigade was decommissioned in 2000 History In 1963, t ...

(PB 10).

Swedish Armoured Troops Cadet and Officer Candidate School

The Swedish Armoured Troops Cadet and Officer Candidate School (PKAS) was co-localized with the regiment. However, the school was directly subordinate to the Inspector of the Swedish Armoured Troops, but was commanded in a barracks point of view by the regiment's executive officer. The school was tasked with training officers candidates from all units within the

Swedish Armoured Troops The Swedish Armoured Troops (, P) is the Armoured warfare, armoured branch of the Swedish Army. Since 2005, the Armoured Troops include the South Scanian Regiment (P 7) in Revingehed, Skaraborg Regiment (armoured), Skaraborg Regiment (P 4) in Sk� ...

. These underwent two-stage training, first candidate school and second candidate school, then completed their education 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 ...

Solna Solna ( or , ), also known as Solna Municipality, is a municipality in central Stockholm County, 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 i ...

. The school was placed to Enköping on 3 April 1946, and was transferred to barracks of the

Life company A Life Company (, but usually written in its definite form; ''Livkompaniet'') is a Swedish military term of several centuries' standing. It is the first company of a regiment in the Swedish Army The Swedish Army () is the army, land force of th ...

. On 1 March 1967, the school was able to move into a newly built school building within the barracks area. The Life company thus returned to a school company at the Göta Life Guards. Although Göta Life Guards was not provided with the

Stridsvagn 103 The Stridsvagn 103 (Strv 103), also known as the Alternative S and S-tank, is a Sweden, Swedish Cold War, Cold War-era main battle tank, designed and manufactured in Sweden. "Strv" is the Swedish military abbreviation of ''stridsvagn'', Swedish f ...

, training of it was still conducted at the school. This was because the school was provided with all types of combat vehicles within the armoured branch. When the regiment was disbanded, the school came to be relocated to Skövde on 1 June 1980, where it was amalgamated with the Swedish Armoured Troops School (PS), who adopted the new name, the Swedish Armoured Troops Combat School (''Pansartruppernas stridsskola'', PS).

Training companies

The regiment trained eight companies, tank crews, of which two

tank destroyer A tank destroyer, tank hunter or tank killer is a type of armoured fighting vehicle, predominantly intended for anti-tank duties. They are typically armed with a direct fire anti-tank gun, artillery gun, also known as a self-propelled anti-ta ...

platoons (with Infanterikanonvagn 102 and Infanterikanonvagn 103), a signal company and an assault pioneer company. Future

platoon leader A platoon leader (NATO) or platoon commander (more common in Commonwealth militaries and the US Marine Corps) is the officer in charge of a platoon. This person is usually a junior officer – a second or first lieutenant or an equivalent rank ...

s were trained at the 3rd Company, which was a student company. Furthermore, PKAS trained four companies. *

– command training company, tank and mechanized infantry *2nd Company – tross company *3rd Company – command training company, assault gun och mechanized infantry *4th Company – tank company *5th Company – reconnaissance company *6th Company – mechanized infantry company *7th Company – signal company *8th Company – depot company

Barracks and training areas

Barracks

When the regiment was re-raised, its staff was placed to Karlavägen 78 and later to Linnégatan 89 in Stockholm. On 18 January 1944, the staff was relocated to Enköping, where it was placed in temporary premises. On 15 September 1945, the regiment officially moved to the newly built barracks area in Enköping which was celebrated by a ceremony on 16 September 1945.

Detachments

Strängnäs/Skövde

When the regiment was re-raised, training of conscripts was conducted at Södermanland Regiment (P 3) 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 ...

Garnison from 18 January 1944, and at Skaraborg Regiment (P 4) in

Skövde Skövde () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and urban centre in Skövde Municipality and Västra Götaland County, in the Västergötland, Västergötland (Western Gothland region) in central southern Sweden. Skövde is situated around 150 k ...

Garrison. On 15 September 1945, these detachments were disbanded when the training was transferred to Enköping.

Visby

On 1 October 1944, the regiment placed a company to

Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

, which became known as

Göta Armoured Life Guards' Company in Gotland Göta Armoured Life Guards' Company in Gotland ( or ''P 1 Gotland''), designated P 1 G, was a Swedish Army armoured unit that was active in various forms 1944–1963. The unit was based in Visby Garrison in Visby, Gotland. It was part of Göta Ar ...

(P 1 G). The detachment was placed to the barracks at

Gotland Infantry Regiment The Gotland Infantry Regiment (), 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 1963. The regiment's soldiers we ...

(I 18). From 1946, the detachment moved into the newly built barracks, Barracks IV (from the 1960s known as the barracks ''Havde''), at Gotland Infantry Regiment. On 30 March 1963, the detachment was disbanded and on 1 April 1963 it was amalgamated with

Gotland Regiment The Gotland Regiment (, P 18) is a Swedish Army armoured warfare, armoured regiment which has been active in various forms between 1963–1994 and 2000–2005, when it was disbanded. The regiment was re-established on 1 January 2018. The regiment ...

(P 18).

Training areas

From 1944 the regiment began training at

Utö Uto, UTO, Utö, or Utō may refer to: People Given name * Uto Ughi (born 1944), Italian violinist and conductor * Uto Wunderlich (born 1946), German sports shooter Surname * Datu Uto (died c. 1900), 18th Sultan of Buayan, Mindanao * Fumiaki ...

proving ground, and from 1945 the regiment's proving ground was supplemented with the Veckholm proving ground. The detachment on Gotland was using Hällarna in

Visby Visby () is an urban areas in Sweden, urban area in Sweden and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County on the island of Gotland with 24,330 inhabitants . Visby is also the episcopal see for the Diocese of Visby. The Hanseatic League, ...

and Tofta proving ground.

Heraldry and traditions

Colours, standards and guidons

On 16 September 1945, the regiment was presented with two colour by the acting military commander of the IV Military District, major general Arvid Moberg. The colours had previously been presented by the 1st and 2nd Battalions of Göta Life Guards (I 2), who received the colours by His Majesty the King

Oscar II Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905. Oscar was the son of King Oscar I and Queen Josephine. He inherited the Swedish and Norweg ...

on 6 August 1894. The colours themselves had been paid personally by Oscar II, and were presented by the regiment until it was disbanded in 1939. In 1972, a new colour was presented, which was handed over on 11 May 1974 by His Majesty the King

Carl XVI Gustaf Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. Having reigned since 1973, he is the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history. Carl Gustaf was born during the reign of his paternal great-grandfather, K ...

. The new colour replaced the two previous ones. At the disbandment of the regiment in 1980, the colour was handed over to the

Swedish Army Museum The Swedish Army Museum () 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. Its displays il ...

. File:AM.010708.jpg, The 1844 colour of Göta Life Guards' 1st Battalion. File:AM.005609.jpg, The 1945 colour of Göta Life Guards' 2nd Battalion.

Uniforms

The regiment differed in clothing compared to other armoured units, wearing black beret for uniform m/60. The Göta Life Guards instead carried

side cap A side cap is a military cap that can be folded flat when not being worn. It is also known as a garrison cap or flight cap in the United States, wedge cap in Canada, or field service cap in the United Kingdom. In form the side cap is comparable ...

with red collar to uniform m/60. Buttons, branch insignias and rank insignia were in silver. On

peaked cap A peaked cap, peaked hat, service cap, barracks cover, or combination cap is a form of headgear worn by the armed forces of many nations, as well as many uniformed civilian organisations such as law enforcement agencies and fire departments. It d ...

s rank insignias in silver was worn and with collar in silver. That the regiment's insignias was in silver, was to mark that it was a

guards unit Guards units () were elite units and formations in the Soviet Armed Forces that continue to exist in the Russian Armed Forces and other post-Soviet states. These units were awarded Guards status after distinguishing themselves in wartime service ...

. File:AM.090984a.jpg, Unit insignia M7675-138000 m/1950-60 for Göta Life Guards (P 1). File:AM.090984b.jpg, Unit insignia M7675-138000 m/1950-60 for Göta Life Guards (P 1). File:AM.094499 (02).jpg, Unit insignia m/1960. File:AM.094499 (01).jpg, Unit insignia m/1960. File:AM.005038.jpg, Branch insignia m/1963. Only used for Göta Life Guards (P 1).

Coat of arms

The coat of the arms of the Göta Life Guards (P 1) 1977–1980.

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 an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

: "Azure, the lesser

coat of arms of Sweden The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Sweden () is the arms of dominion of the Monarchy of Sweden, King of Sweden. It has a greater and a lesser version. The shield displays the "Three Crowns of Sweden" quartering the "Lion of Bjälbo", with an ine ...

, three open crowns or. The shield surmounted two arms in fess, embowed and vambraced, the hands holding swords in saltire, argent".

Heritage

When the regiment was disbanded, the Chief of the Army, Lieutenant General Nils Sköld decided, on the recommendation of executive officer Sven Björck, that no other unit or regiment would carry on the traditions of the Göta Life Guards but that the memory of the regiment should be preserved at

Uppland Regiment The Uppland Regiment (), designation I 8, was a Swedish Army infantry regiment that traced its origins back to the 16th century. It was disbanded in 1957. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruited from the province of Uppland, and it was ...

(S 1/Fo 47/48). Since 1 January 2006, this memory has been passed on to the Command and Control Regiment.

Commanding officers

Regimental commanders and

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer ...

s (''Sekundchef'') active at the regiment. ''Sekundchef'' was a title which was used until 31 December 1974 at the regiments that were part of the King's Life and Household Troops (''Kungl. Maj:ts Liv- och Hustrupper'').

Regimental commanders

*1944–1950:

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 Luxe ...

*1950–1973:

Gustaf VI Adolf Gustaf VI Adolf (Oscar Fredrik Wilhelm Olaf Gustaf Adolf; 11 November 1882 – 15 September 1973) was King of Sweden from 29 October 1950 until his death in 1973. He was the eldest son of Gustaf V and his wife, Victoria of Baden. Before Gustaf ...

*1973–1974:

*1975–1980: ''Sven'' G:son Björck

Executive officers

*1944–1951: Nils ''Gustaf'' D:son Aschan *1951–1955:

Fale Burman Lieutenant General Fale Faleson Burman (12 January 19036 September 1973) was a Swedish Army officer. Burman served as commander of Göta Life Guards (1951–1955), as Inspector of the Army Signal Troops (1955–1959) and as Commanding General o ...

*1955–1966: Åke Wikland *1966–1973: Nils Östlund *1973–1974: ''Sven'' G:son Björck