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Hans Neij

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Hans Neij
Arvid Hans Magnus Neij.jpg
Birth nameArvid Hans Magnus Neij
Born(1921-06-22)22 June 1921
Jönköping, Sweden
Died24 April 1985(1985-04-24) (aged 63)
Fort Walton Beach, Florida, USA
AllegianceSweden
Service/branchSwedish Air Force
Years of service1939–1985
RankMajor General
Commands held

Major General Arvid Hans Magnus Neij (22 June 1921 – 24 April 1985) was a Swedish Air Force officer.

Early life

Neij was born on 22 June 1921 in Jönköping, Sweden, the son of Arvid Neij, an adjunct lecturer, and his wife Elsa (née Lund).[1] He passed studentexamen in 1939 and attended the Swedish Air Force Candidate and Cadet School (Flygvapnets aspirant- och kadettskola) from 1939 to 1942.[2]

Career

Neij was commissioned as an officer in the Swedish Air Force in 1942 and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1944. Neij attended the Royal Swedish Air Force Staff College from 1947 to 1948[2] and its Staff Course from 1948 to 1949.[1] He was promoted to Captain in 1949 and to Major in 1955. He attended the Swedish National Defence College in 1956[2] and then served as an Air Force Press Officer form 1955 to 1958.[1]

Neij, then a Captain of Södermanland Wing (F 11) at Nyköping, broke the world speed record with his S-29C on 23 March 1955. Scooting along a 1,000-kilometer closed circuit, Neij and his wingman Birger Eriksson averaged 559.6 miles per hour (900.6 km/h) to better the existing record of 510.8 miles per hour (822.1 km/h) set in 1950 by a Gloster Meteor Mk 8.[3][4] The distance was covered in 1 hour, 6 min, 37 sec.[5]

In 1959 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. Neij served as head of the Air Force program within the Swedish Armed Forces Staff College from 1961 to 1964 and he was promoted to Colonel in 1963.[1] Neij served as commander of Bråvalla Wing (F 13) from 1964 to 1966 and of Section 2 in the Air Staff from 1966 to 1970 when he was promoted to Major General and appointed Chief of Staff of the Eastern Military District. In 1973, Neij was appointed Chief of the Air Staff. After five years in this position, Neij was appointed defense and air attaché[6] in Washington, D.C. and Ottawa in 1978, serving until his death in 1985.[1]

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Swedish Air Force

Swedish Air Force

The Swedish Air Force is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces.

Royal Swedish Air Force Staff College

Royal Swedish Air Force Staff College

Royal Swedish Air Force Staff College was established in 1939 and located in Stockholm. It was under the command of the Chief of the Swedish Air Force.

Nyköping

Nyköping

Nyköping is a locality and the seat of Nyköping Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 32,759 inhabitants as of 2017. The city is also the capital of Södermanland County.

Flight airspeed record

Flight airspeed record

An air speed record is the highest airspeed attained by an aircraft of a particular class. The rules for all official aviation records are defined by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), which also ratifies any claims. Speed records are divided into multiple classes with sub-divisions. There are three classes of aircraft: landplanes, seaplanes, and amphibians; then within these classes, there are records for aircraft in a number of weight categories. There are still further subdivisions for piston-engined, turbojet, turboprop, and rocket-engined aircraft. Within each of these groups, records are defined for speed over a straight course and for closed circuits of various sizes carrying various payloads.

Saab 29 Tunnan

Saab 29 Tunnan

The Saab 29 Tunnan, colloquially Flygande tunnan or just Tunnan, is a Swedish fighter that was designed and manufactured by Saab in the late 1940s. It was the second turbojet-powered combat aircraft to be developed in Sweden, the first being the Saab 21R, and it was the first Western European fighter to be produced with a swept wing post World War II, only being preceded in Western Europe as a whole by the Me 262 built during the war. Despite its rotund appearance, from which its name is derived, the J 29 was fast and agile and served effectively in both fighter and fighter-bomber roles into the 1970s.

Gloster Meteor

Gloster Meteor

The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turbojet engines, pioneered by Frank Whittle and his company, Power Jets Ltd. Development of the aircraft began in 1940, although work on the engines had been under way since 1936. The Meteor first flew in 1943 and commenced operations on 27 July 1944 with No. 616 Squadron RAF. The Meteor was not a sophisticated aircraft in its aerodynamics, but proved to be a successful combat fighter. Gloster's 1946 civil Meteor F.4 demonstrator G-AIDC was the first civilian-registered jet aircraft in the world. Several major variants of the Meteor incorporated technological advances during the 1940s and 1950s. Thousands of Meteors were built to fly with the RAF and other air forces and remained in use for several decades.

Swedish Armed Forces Staff College

Swedish Armed Forces Staff College

The [Royal] Swedish Armed Forces Staff College was from 1961 to 1996 the Swedish Armed Forces highest institution for officers training, for staff and senior executive education and was located in Stockholm. In 1997 it was merged with the Swedish National Defence College and formed the "new" Swedish National Defence College.

Bråvalla Wing

Bråvalla Wing

Bråvalla Wing, also F 13 Norrköping, or simply F 13, is a former Swedish Air Force wing with the main base located near Norrköping in south-eastern Sweden.

Air Staff (Sweden)

Air Staff (Sweden)

Air Staff is the staff of the Chief of the Swedish Air Force. It was officially established in 1936 as a result of the Defence Act of 1936 and would handle matters of a general nature. The Air Staff's duties included, among other things to assist the Chief of the Air Force with leadership of the Air Force's mobilization, training, tactics, organization, equipment and personnel to the extent that such activity was not directly related to operational activities, which was then handled by the Defence Staff. In 1994, the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters took over the Air Staff's duties. In 2019, the Air Force Staff was re-established, now located in Uppsala Garrison.

Eastern Military District (Sweden)

Eastern Military District (Sweden)

Eastern Military District, originally IV Military District was a Swedish military district, a command of the Swedish Armed Forces that had operational control over Eastern Sweden, for most time of its existence corresponding to the area covered by the counties of Östergötland, Södermanland, Stockholm, Uppsala and Västmanland. The headquarters of Milo Ö were located in Strängnäs.

Chief of the Air Staff (Sweden)

Chief of the Air Staff (Sweden)

The Chief of the Air Staff is the professional head of the Swedish Air Staff. The post was created in 1936 with lieutenant colonel Bengt Nordenskiöld as the first incumbent. The post disappeared in 1994 and was reintroduced in 2019 when the new Air Staff was established.

Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core of the Ottawa–Gatineau census metropolitan area (CMA) and the National Capital Region (NCR). As of 2021, Ottawa had a city population of 1,017,449 and a metropolitan population of 1,488,307, making it the fourth-largest city and fourth-largest metropolitan area in Canada.

Personal life

Captain Neij in his S-29C after breaking the world speed record in 1955.
Captain Neij in his S-29C after breaking the world speed record in 1955.

In 1942, he married Kerstin Gyllenberg (born 1922), the daughter of station master Clæs Gyllenberg and Ellen (née Pettersson).[1]

Death

Neij died in a drowning accident during a holiday stay in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.[7] He was interred on 6 May 1985 at Västra Karup Church [sv] in Västra Karup.[8]

Dates of rank

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Fänrik

Fänrik

Fänrik is a company grade officer rank. In the army/airforce, it ranks above sergeant and below lieutenant. In the navy, it ranks above sergeant and below sub-lieutenant. It is equivalent to the specialist officers rank of översergeant. Fänrik means standard-bearer and has been used as a name for the lowest officer rank in the Swedish infantry since the 16th century, with the exception of the years 1835–1914.

Löjtnant

Löjtnant

Löjtnant is a company grade officer rank. In the army/airforce, it ranks above second lieutenant and below captain. In the navy, it ranks above acting sub-lieutenant and below lieutenant. It is equivalent to the specialist officers rank of förvaltare. The rank has been used in Sweden since the Middle Ages.

Kapten

Kapten

Kapten is a company grade officer rank. In the army/airforce, it ranks above lieutenant and below major. In the navy, it ranks above sub-lieutenant and below lieutenant commander. It is equivalent to the specialist officers rank of förvaltare. The rank has been used in Sweden since the Middle Ages.

Major (Sweden)

Major (Sweden)

Major (Maj) is a field grade military officer rank in the Swedish Armed Forces, above the rank of captain and below the rank of lieutenant colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of lieutenant commander in the Swedish Navy.

Överstelöjtnant

Överstelöjtnant

Lieutenant colonel (LtCol) is a field grade officer rank in the Swedish Armed Forces, just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the Swedish Navy.

Överste

Överste

Colonel (Col) (Swedish: Överste, Öv) is the most senior field grade military officer rank in the Swedish Army and the Swedish Air Force, immediately above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general. It is equivalent to the naval rank of captain in the Swedish Navy.

Generalmajor (Sweden)

Generalmajor (Sweden)

Major General (MajGen) is a two-star commissioned officer rank in the Swedish Army, Swedish Air Force and Swedish Amphibious Corps. Major general ranks immediately above brigadier general and below a lieutenant general. The rank is equivalent to rear admiral in the Swedish Navy.

Awards and decorations

Swedish

Foreign

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Sweden

Sweden

Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, Finland to the east, and is connected to Denmark in the southwest by a bridge–tunnel across the Öresund. At 447,425 square kilometres (172,752 sq mi), Sweden is the largest Nordic country, the third-largest country in the European Union, and the fifth-largest country in Europe. The capital and largest city is Stockholm. Sweden has a total population of 10.5 million, and a low population density of 25.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (66/sq mi), with around 87% of Swedes residing in urban areas, which cover 1.5% of the entire land area, in the central and southern half of the country.

Order of the Sword

Order of the Sword

The Royal Order of the Sword is a Swedish order of chivalry and military decoration created by King Frederick I of Sweden on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Seraphim and the Order of the Polar Star. The motto of the order is in Latin: Pro Patria.

Royal Swedish Aero Club

Royal Swedish Aero Club

Royal Swedish Aero Club, established in 1900, is today the national organization for Sweden's over 150 flying clubs and have by the Swedish Transport Agency been authorized to administer the ultralight aviation in Sweden. The Royal Swedish Aero Club has a wholly owned service company, located at Bromma Airport, which sells aeronautical maps and other aviation accessories.

United States

United States

The United States of America, commonly known as the United States or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories, nine Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations. The United States is also in free association with three Pacific Island sovereign states: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. It is the world's third-largest country by both land and total area. It shares land borders with Canada to its north and with Mexico to its south and has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations. With a population of over 333 million, it is the most populous country in the Americas and the third most populous in the world. The national capital of the United States is Washington, D.C. and its most populous city and principal financial center is New York City.

Legion of Merit

Legion of Merit

The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight uniformed services of the United States as well as to military and political figures of foreign governments.

Source: "Hans Neij", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 6th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Neij.

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References
  1. ^ a b c d e f Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1985 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1985] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. 1984. pp. 795–796. ISBN 91-1-843222-0. SELIBR 3681527.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harnesk, Paul, ed. (1962). Vem är vem? 1, Stor-Stockholm [Who's Who? 1, Greater Stockholm] (in Swedish) (2nd ed.). Stockholm: Vem är vem. p. 946. SELIBR 53509.
  3. ^ Karlström, Björn; Gladych, Michael (February 1956). "In NATO's Air Defense Chain, the Swedish Air Force Is... THE MISSING LINK". Air Force Magazine: 40.
  4. ^ Olson, Björn; Erichs, Rolf; Ahremark, C.G. (1987). The Saab-Scania story. Translated by Byrne, Tom; Lutz, Rony. Stockholm: Streiffert. p. 47. ISBN 9178860245. SELIBR 7672410.
  5. ^ "?". Aeronautics. 32–33: 61. 1955.
  6. ^ Diplomatic List. Department of State Publication 7894. February 1984. p. 68.
  7. ^ "Diplomat drunknade" [Diplomat drowned]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 25 April 1985. p. 1. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  8. ^ "Döda". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 30 April 1985. p. 16. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  9. ^ Sköldenberg, Bengt, ed. (1969). Sveriges statskalender. 1969 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. p. 100. SELIBR 3682754.
  10. ^ "Postum medalj till Hans Neij" [Posthumous medal to Hans Neij]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). 15 June 1985. p. 35. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
Military offices
Preceded by Chief of Staff of the Eastern Military District
1970–1973
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief of the Air Staff
1973–1978
Succeeded by
Erik Nygren

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