Anders Kjellgren

Lars Anders Thorsten Kjellgren (19 October 1913 – 4 February 2006) was a Swedish Army officer.

Anders Kjellgren
Birth nameLars Anders Thorsten Kjellgren
Born(1913-10-10)10 October 1913
Karlstad, Sweden
Died4 February 2006(2006-02-04) (aged 92)
Sandhult, Sweden
AllegianceSweden
Service/branchSwedish Army
Years of service1934–1974
RankColonel
Commands heldBattalion X K in Congo
UN chief for South Katanga
Västernorrland Regiment
Battles/warsCongo Crisis

Career

Kjellgren was born on 19 October 1913 in Karlstad, Sweden, the son of Swedish National Bank director Torsten Kjellgren and his wife Elsa (née Sandwall). He was an officer cadet in Uppland Regiment (I 8)[1] and became a second lieutenant in Älvsborg Regiment (I 15) in 1934 and lieutenant in 1936.[2] Kjellgren attended the Royal Swedish Army Staff College from 1941 to 1943, was promoted to captain in 1942 and served at the General Staff in 1945. Kjellgren was section chief at the Defence Staff from 1945 to 1948, section chief at the Army Staff in 1948 and attended Staff College, Camberley in 1949.[2]

He served in the Life Regiment Grenadiers (I 3) in 1950 and was section chief at the Army Staff from 1950 to 1951 and became major at the General Staff in 1952 and attended the Swedish National Defence College in 1952. Kjellgren was head of department at the Army Staff from 1952 to 1958 and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1957. He served in Norrbotten Regiment (I 19) in 1958.[2]

Kjellgren served in Congo during the Congo Crisis from 1960 to 1961.[2] He was commander of the Swedish Battalion X K from November 1960 to June 1961.[3] In January 1961 he succeeded the Irish Colonel Byrnes as commander of the UN troops in southern Katanga.[4] He then commanded the Swedish battalion, one Irish and two Moroccan battalions, one Indian signals company and one Italian field hospital.[1] Kjellgren was also for some time at the UN's disposal for the reorganization of the Congolese Army.[1]

Back in Sweden he was promoted to colonel in 1963 and was regimental commander of Västernorrland Regiment (I 21) from 1963 to 1974.[5] Kjellgren participated in the elaboration of the Army Regulation in 1951 and the Infantry Regulation in 1954.[2] Kjellgren was a member of the municipal council in Borås from 1979 to 1985.[5]

Personal life

In 1939 he married Ann-Marie Fröberg (born 1915), the daughter of the district land-surveyor Herman Fröberg and Hilda (née Resare). Kjellgren was the father of Anders (born 1940), Göran (born 1943) and Claes (born 1947).[2]

Kjellgren was a supporter of equestrianism. Another of his interests was painting. Upon his retirement, he donated, as per tradition, his portrait to the officer corps. The portrait had been painted by himself, which are known not to have happened before.[1]

Awards and decorations

Kjellgren's awards:[2]

Swedish
  • Commander of the Order of the Sword
  • Central Board of the National Swedish Rifle Association's silver medal (Sveriges skytteförbunds överstyrelses silvermedalj)

Foreign

Bibliography
  • Kjellgren, Anders (1959). Sverige och ytkriget: randstatens försvarsproblem i atomåldern. Militärlitteraturföreningen, 99-0119708-2 ; 226 (in Swedish). Karlskrona: [Militärlitteraturfören.] SELIBR 1460956.
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References
  1. Sjöberg, Bengt; Rönnberg, Lennart (1 March 2006). "Överste Anders Kjellgren har avlidit" [Colonel Anders Kjellgren has died]. Örnsköldsviks Allehanda (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  2. Davidsson, Åke, ed. (1968). Vem är vem?. 5, Norrland : supplement, register [Who is Who?. 5, Norrland : supplements, directory] (in Swedish) (2nd ed.). Stockholm: Vem är vem. p. 215.
  3. Tullberg, Andreas (2012). "We are in the Congo now": Sweden and the trinity of peacekeeping during the Congo crisis 1960-1964 (PDF). [Studia historica Lundensia], 1650-755X. Lund: Lund University. p. 92. ISBN 978-91-7473-364-8. SELIBR 13520443.
  4. "Svensk chef för FN-styrkor i södra Katanga" [Swedish head of UN forces in southern Katanga]. Vestkusten (in Swedish) (3). San Francisco & Oakland, Cal. 19 January 1961. p. 3. SELIBR 4085814. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  5. Uddling, Hans; Paabo, Katrin, eds. (1992). Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1993 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1993] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. p. 593. ISBN 91-1-914072-X.
Military offices
Preceded by
Bernt Juhlin		 Battalion Commander in the Congo
November 1960 – June 1961		 Succeeded by
Gösta Frykman
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