GRA

Me, being a man who travelled around the world back in the day, has actually been to The Man's office! It is reputed to be just south of the Arctic Circle and a tad bit north of Rovaniemi in Finland. Being clever, I visited Santa's place in the summer, avoiding that nasty white stuff covering the whole of Scandinavia at times (and Canada too, you're not forgotten!)... /Jonas

John, you might also find "And They Rode On" by Michael Mann of interest. Published back in 1984, so it may be easier to find at the Queen's Dragoon Guards museum shop than at Amazon: http://www.qdg.org.uk/shop/qdg.php/products_id/236 /Jonas

Don't forget that the fat guy with the beard wearing a red suit was (reputedly) drawn by a Swede, probably thinking of the wee gnomes with red caps who tended to the farmsteads of Sweden! Cursed be the farmer who forgot to give the gnome a plate of rice porridge - bad things would happen to his farm and his animals... By the way, what's the origin of the rice porridge? /Jonas

Hello John! You might be interested in reading "The Cavalry that Broke Napoleon", a recently published book by Richard Goldsbrough about Levitt's regiment in the battle of Waterloo. It gives a very good picture of a British heavy cavalry regiment during the Napoleonic Wars in general and of the 1st Dragoon Guards at Waterloo in particular. /Jonas

I'd like to see the charge of The Light Brigade as an interesting case of leadership (and not!) - "The Four Riders of the Apocalypse" (Raglan, Lucan, Cardigan and Nolan) and their actions are indeed very interesting to study. Let's not forget the far more successful charge of The Heavy Brigade as well as the actions of the 93rd Highlanders. The Turks, who took the brunt of the early fighting are also rarely mentioned. /Jonas

Nice painting, Pieter! Nunnerley had left the 17th Lancers by the time the document was issued - he left in 1857 and joined the Lancashire Hussars a couple of years later, becoming Troop Sergeant Major. Here's a link to Trumpeter Lanfried of the same regiment sounding the charge in a recording from 1890: https://archive.org/details/EDIS-SWDPC-01-04 /Jonas

A blazer badge sourced from the Old Comrades Association, I'm in fact not sure if this blazer badge originates from the regiment or the OCA. Three-pin fastening on the backside. The OCA is still active even though the regiment disbanded in 1998. /Jonas

Ah, my usual bad luck then, Michael. I participated 1986-1988 (70th, 71st and 72nd 4-daagse) and got interrupted by national service and life in general... This former Air Cadet has nice memories from Camp Heumensoord! I believe those anniversary pins are official and worn on the medal ribbon, even with the standard pin for multiple participations? /Jonas

Nice! Did my first 4-daagse 30 years ago, but no anniversary pins back then. Time flies... /Jonas

Sweden uses NATO 7.62X51 rounds. The blank round is (was?, it may have changed now) a wooden bullet of similar measures as the live rounds, I've never seen anything like a short round used in 7.62 in the Swedish armed forces. The Swedish Mauser rifle (6.5X55) had practising ammunition with a very short round, but it doesn't look like 6.5mm on your picture. Let's hope someone with more knowledge than me can help you more. /Jonas

Hello Michael! Is that 7.62X51 cases? That 027 stamp rings a bell from my army days, the green seal is also something I've seen on Swedish army cases. It looks like Swedish army cases though the links doesn't remind me of what we used with the ksp 58 MG (GPMG). According to this website, http://www.amkat.se/index.php?Env=Text&Menu_A=20&Menu_B=30&Menu_C=0&Menu_Value_A=Headstamp&Menu_Value_B=, it would have been manufactured by Norma Projektilfabrik in Åmotsfors if it is Swedish ammunition. /Jonas

Hello Carl, and welcome to the forum! Let's see if we can ID some of the patches... Some squadrons were recently re-activated (they were last active in the 1830s!), and patches were produced for wear on bags and civvy jackets: 6. Valla sqn (31st Bn) 7. Sanna sqn (32nd Bn) 8. Arboga sqn (31st Bn) 9. Parachute Ranger Coy (323rd Coy / 32nd Bn) 12th Ranger Bn, as stated above, all squadrons of the battalion had their own colour of the inner border. This and the red border squadron were trained in the mid-90s. Mortar Platoon patch. A similar design was in use by the Norrland Dragoons too. I wouldn't be surprised at all if this patch was an "award" after completing some sort of test (as in taking the mortars for a wee walk!). /Jonas

As you say Andy, the key to solving the ID of the patch is probably in the numbers. Should it be read 15th/63rd, 15th+63rd or 1563? Is it even a military patch? Any other geographic inclination except "probably not German or Swedish"?

Hello! It's not Kalmar Regiment, or for that matter any of the regiments of Småland, they would use a lion rampant with a crossbow somewhere in the design. Kalmar Regiment used it in their buttons, while the Kronoberg Regiment used it as shoulder insignia. All the regiments of Småland except the Jönköping Regiment, who used a castle, would use the lion on their colours/standards. As Andy says, the patch bears resemblance to the arms of Östergötland, but I'd like to see the roses on the patch too. It has the wrong colours for the coat of arms of Södermanland (black griffin on yellow). In fact, the design of the patch doesn't make me think of Sweden at all, the shape and the abundance of twin pin stripes doesn't feel Swedish. What's the embellishment on the griffin? A flower? A collar? /Jonas

Motto of Fallskärmsjägarskolan: "Vilja, Mod, Uthållighet" - "Will, Courage, Endurance". The eagle being the badge of qualified parachute rangers and the cap badge with a parachute within a wreath. Wall plaque and photo albums.

Tracksuit top, dating from 1965. FJS - Fallskärmsjägarskolan, Parachute Ranger School, red colour denotes serving with 1st Platoon "Red Devils". /Jonas Statuette awarded for organising the 20th anniversary for the conscripts serving 1965-66. M/59 uniform, Ak4 assault rifle with collapsible stock (essentially a H&K G3), m/68 single-shot AT weapon and 70-litre bergen.

Matej, it could well be a case of these officers having completed their national service in the commandos. The paratroopers and the commandos were considered the absolute elite of every year's conscript intake, followed by other ranger units. That these individuals would be attracted by a career in the Swedish armed forces is quite probable - they would often be considered as being of potential officer material even before showing up for basic training. Wearing the Golden Eagle of the paratroopers or the Neptune's trident (thanks Matej, it's commonly called the pitchfork when no commandos are within sight!) is pretty much like wearing the US Ranger tab - you don't really need to wear anything else! 922F: I think the St:Lazarus are permitted, but this man wears a lot of medals that requires a considerable amount of paperwork to be allowed to wear (some would be rejected too, if I'm not wrong). Do however keep in mind that these officers belong to a unit which are very much involved in state visits and other ceremonial events where orders and medals are being distributed to ADCs and guards of honour. /Jonas

http://www.ballderoffiziere.at/wp-content/themes/BallderOffiziere/images/galerie/2014/vollbild/_MG_4302_bg.png Here's a better picture from the 2014 ball. I see at least a NATO medal for Former Yugoslavia, a 2nd year Nijmegen Int 4-days Marches and there should also be a "För Internationella Insatser"-medal (blue ribbon) to go with the NATO medal. I think there may also be a commemorative medal in silver from Lapplands jägarregemente on a green ribbon with yellow stripes somewhere in the middle, but I'm not 100% sure. /Jonas

Hello Matej! The uniforms worn in the pictures are Swedish and from the cavalry part of the Life Guards (the Life Guards Dragoons and the foot guards of the Svea Life Guards merged in 2000). The Neptune's fork shows that these officers has served with the amphibious forces as commandos, the fork on the lower picture looks like its points are bent inward which means that its wearer was trained as a combat diver with the amphibious commandos. It looks like the officer on the lower picture wears a medal from Kungliga Patriotiska Sällskapet - Royal Patriotic Society - on a yellow-green ribbon. I'm a little surprised that these officers aren't wearing the Military Police qualification badge, which would be a common badge for the cavalry of the Life Guards. /Jonas

The Order of the Sword was a military order and swords are an integrated part of the design. To my knowledge, you had to serve in the armed forces to be awarded the Order of the Sword. The Order of the Polar Star and the Order of Vasa was sometimes awarded to officers, but in these cases it had to be on civilian merits, not military. As to attachés, a civilian attaché would probably receive the Order of the Polar Star while the military attaché would receive the Order of the Sword. /Jonas

Hello Tom and Paul! In this thread http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/59369-order-of-seraphim-to-an-italian-officer/ is a discussion as to how an Italian officer was awarded an RSO - Knight of the Order of the Sword - which might be of some interest in this thread too. Royal visits could be quite rewarding not only for senior officers but also for ADCs... /Jonas

This link might be of interest... http://www.armeemuseum.ch/uploads/media/Seite_15_16_17_18_19_20_Kragenpatten_Ord_14_26_49_-_04.pdf /Jonas

Hello Mike! Aren't 3, 4 and 5 Swiss? I've got a vague memory having seen that kind of patches on Swiss uniforms in Nijmegen 25+ years ago... /Jonas

Hello Mike! 5: 501e Regiment de Chars de Combat (or something very close to their badge - another incarnation of the unit or a variant comes to mind) 6: 1er Régiment de Chasseurs /Jonas