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Lars-Eric Wahlgren

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Lars-Eric Wahlgren
Wahlgren as battalion commander during UNEF II (1974-75).
Birth nameLars-Eric Malcom Wahlgren
Nickname(s)Lappen[1]
Born(1929-05-14)14 May 1929
Åsele, Sweden
Died10 October 1999(1999-10-10) (aged 70)
Halmstad, Sweden
AllegianceSweden
Service / branchSwedish Army
Years of service1953–1993
RankLieutenant General
Commands
Battles / warsArab–Israeli conflict (1974–75)
Israeli–Lebanese conflict (1988–93)
Yugoslav Wars (1993)
AwardsIllis quorum

Lieutenant General Lars-Eric Malcom Wahlgren (14 May 1929 – 10 October 1999) was a Swedish Army officer.[2] Wahlgren served as commanding officer of Gotland Military Command, as Chief of Home Guard and as Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR)

Early life

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Wahlgren was born on 14 May 1929 in Åsele, Västerbotten, Sweden, the son of Eric Wahlgren, a forester, and his wife Ruth (née Ellung).[3] He moved to Halmstad where he passed studentexamen at Halmstads högre allmänna läroverk [sv] in 1950. He graduated from the Military Academy Karlberg in 1953.[4]

Career

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In 1953, Wahlgren was commissioned as an officer in the Swedish Armoured Troops and assigned to the Scanian Armoured Regiment (P 2) in Hässleholm with the rank of second lieutenant.[5] In 1961, he was allowed to serve in the British Army of the Rhine in West Germany as a scholarship holder.[4] Wahlgren completed the staff course at the Swedish Armed Forces Staff College from 1963 to 1965 and was appointed captain of the General Staff Corps. Over the next few years, he alternated between various staff and squad postings. During the years 1967–1968 he was educated at the United States Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth.[5] From 1970 to 1975 he served in the Southern Military District Staff and studied at the Swedish National Defence College.[6] Wahlgren received his first position in the United Nations in 1974–1975 as battalion commander of the Swedish Battalion 56M in the Middle East, which was part of the Second United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF II).[5] He was head of course for UN education from 1976 to 1979 and served in North Scanian Regiment (P 6) from 1975 to 1977.[3] Wahlgren was promoted to colonel in 1977 and served in the years 1977–1980 as a defence attaché in Oslo and during that same year also as head of the UN Staff Officers Course in Strängnäs.[5] In 1980, Wahlgren began an era as commanding officer of Gotland Regiment (P 18) and this for a longer period. In 1983 he was promoted to major general and commander of Gotland Military Command. Wahlgren established himself well in the Gotlandian environment and became an esteemed interpreter for Gotlandian defence and voluntary movement. He had at the same time gained a good international experience.[5]

In 1988, however, it was time to leave Gotland. Wahlgren served as Chief of Home Guard from 1 April 1988.[7] The posting was short-lived as he was promoted to lieutenant general, and appointed Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).[5] Wahlgren succeeded Lieutenant General Gustav Hägglund on 1 July 1988[8] and was promoted to lieutenant general on the same date.[9] He was succeeded as Chief of Home Guard on 1 July 1988 by Major General Reinhold Lahti.[10] However, Wahlgren remained as Chief of Home Guard and Lahti as Acting Chief of Home Guard until Wahlgren left the position and Lahti became regular chief in September 1991.[11] Wahlgren led UNIFIL at the time when the Lebanese Civil War finally ended after fifteen long years with a peace agreement signed in the Saudi Arabian city of Ta'if in August 1990.[5] In September 1991 was appointed new military commander in the Lower Norrland Military District in Östersund. He would have taken office in April 1992, as he continued to serve as Force Commander for UNIFIL for a while in 1992.[11] Wahlgren never took up this post as his appointment as Force Commander was extended to February 1993.

On 22 February 1993 he left his unit in Naqoura, Lebanon, after five years and eight months as commander. On 1 March 1993, he traveled to Zagreb[12] to succeed General Satish Nambiar as Force Commander of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) on 3 March 1993.[13] From the headquarters in Zagreb, he came to command one of the largest and most expensive and most complex UN missions ever. The force numbered about 14,000-23,000[5][12] men from 21 nations. He made a remarkable effort there in a worrying situation. A difficult job, he faced questions of political significance, which had to do with national considerations in the UN mission. On Wednesday, 23 June 1993, however, Wahlgren's time in Yugoslavia ended after a game at a high political level where he was replaced by the French general Jean Cot.[5] This was due to the fact that France in the United Nations demanded the leadership by virtue of having largest UN troop in the Balkans. The general exchange was handled clumsily and caused some diplomatic complications between Sweden and the UN, which forgot to inform the Swedish government before the officialisation. Wahlgren received an unreserved apology and praise from UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali for this and for his efforts in Yugoslavia.[4][5]

Wahlgren, who throughout his career carried with him a clear West Bothnian dialect, became one of Sweden's most internationally oriented officers. He reached the high positions and was involved in various assignments even after his retirement. From 1995, he was one of the eight senior officers from various countries who were members of the International Defence Advisory Board, created at the request of the Defence Ministers of the three Baltic states to provide independent expert advice on defence matters. He was also engaged by UNESCO on issues that had to do with the protection of cultural heritage in war situations, an issue that had been extensively raised during the Bosnian War. He presented his visions of the possibilities of the United Nations in his publication FN:s insatser för fred mot år 2000 (1994).[5]

Personal life

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Wahlgren got engage to Gunilla Margaretha Granlind (born 1933), the daughter of banker Harald Granlind and Hildur (née Anderfelt) in April 1956.[14][3] The banns of marriage were issued in February 1957[15] and the wedding was held on 1 March 1957 in St. Mary's Church [sv] in Helsingborg.[16] They had two daughters, Susanne and Monica.[1]

His interests consisted of skiing and hunting and his reading of Per Anders Fogelström.[17]

Dates of rank

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Awards and decorations

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Swedish

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Foreign

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Honours

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Bibliography

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  • Wahlgren, Lars-Eric (1994). FNs insatser för fred mot år 2000. TFF konfliktläkning ; [8] (in Swedish). Lund: Transnationella stift. för freds- och framtidsforskning (TFF). SELIBR 1925136.

References

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  1. ^ a b Welin, Gustaf; Jansson, Sven Åke (5 November 1999). "Lars-Eric Wahlgren". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). p. E1. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  2. ^ Olsson, Kjell (8 April 2011). "Lars-Erik Malcom Wahlgren". www.tjelvar.se (in Swedish). Gotlands försvarshistoria och Gotlands trupper. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Salander Mortensen, Jill, ed. (1996). Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1997 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1997] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. p. 1153. ISBN 91-1-960852-7. SELIBR 3681533.
  4. ^ a b c Lidén, Erik (14 May 1993). "Svensken i krigets Bosnien". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). p. 13. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lennartsson, Per (2013). "En general, väl värd att minnas..." (PDF). Fredsbaskern: Fredsbaskrarna Sveriges Medlemstidning (in Swedish) (2). Jönköping: Fredsbaskrarna Sverige: 26. SELIBR 10933227.
  6. ^ Åkerstedt, Therese, ed. (2015). "Ledning" (PDF). Hemvärnet: Folk och Försvar (in Swedish) (2). Stockholm: Centralkommittén för det frivilliga försvarsarbetet: 36. SELIBR 3413536.
  7. ^ Åkerstedt, Therese, ed. (2010). Hemvärnet 70 år (in Swedish). Stockholm: Balkong. p. 61. ISBN 9789185581412. SELIBR 11881232.
  8. ^ Chandra, Satish; Chandra, Mala (2006). Soldiers of Diplomacy: The United Nations, Peacekeeping, and the New World Order. New Delhi: Mittal Publications. pp. 107–108. ISBN 81-8324-166-2.
  9. ^ Hultman, Barbro, ed. (26 May 1988). "Lars-Eric Wahlgren". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). p. 17. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  10. ^ "Reinhold Lahti utsedd till rikshemvärnschef". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 15 June 1988. p. 6. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  11. ^ a b "Höga militärer". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 13 September 1991. p. 17. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  12. ^ a b "Nya svenska FN-chefen tvekade aldrig". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). TT. 26 February 1993. p. 7. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  13. ^ Coulon, Jocelyn (1998). International Conflicts and Peace Making Process: Role of the United Nations. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 159. ISBN 0-8020-0899-2.
  14. ^ "FÖRLOVADE:". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 11 March 1956. p. A11. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  15. ^ "LYSNING". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 11 February 1957. p. 2A. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  16. ^ "Vi har hört...". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 2 March 1957. p. 12A. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  17. ^ Selander, Johan (13 October 1993). "En balanserad och återhållsam man". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). p. 10. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  18. ^ Widman, Allan (8 November 2012). "Regeringens belöningsmedalj för särskilt berömvärda internationella insatser" (in Swedish). Riksdag. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  19. ^ "Politik". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 20 September 1993. p. 10. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  20. ^ "Ordensregnet extra stritt över Göteborg". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 6 June 1971. p. 14. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  21. ^ "Tildelinger av ordener og medaljer" [Awards of medals and medals]. www.kongehuset.no (in Norwegian). Royal Court of Norway. Retrieved 2021-12-15.
Military offices
Preceded by
Bengt Tamfeldt
 Gotland Military Command
1983–1988 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief of Home Guard
1988–1988 		Succeeded by
Preceded by UNIFIL
1988–1993 		Succeeded by
Trond Furuhovde
Preceded by UNPROFOR
1993–1993 		Succeeded by
Jean Cot
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