Harald Hjalmarson

Harald Ossian Hjalmarson (14 July 1868 – 15 December 1919) was a Swedish military officer and mercenary. During the First World War, he fought on the side of Qajar Iran in the Persian campaign, serving in the Iranian Gendarmerie. Following the end of the First World War, Hjalmarson went to Finland and joined the White Guard during the Finnish Civil War, serving as the commander of the Crenatorial Division. His actions during the Finnish Civil War were unsatisfactory, and he was unpopular among the ranks.

Biography Career before the Finnish Civil War Hjalmarson's father, Major Hjalmar Andersson, had volunteered for the American Civil War. He was also the grandson of the theater director Oscar Andersson. Hjalmarson began his military career by enlisting in the North Scanian Infantry Regiment in 1887. He graduated as an officer in 1889, attended the Royal Swedish Army Staff College from 1892 to 1894, was a candidate in the Swedish General Staff for some time in 1895, and then served as a lieutenant in his old regiment. In 1905 he was promoted to captain. However, he did not find positions in the Swedish Army that matched his ambition and therefore sought to join the French Army and spent a year in Russia. He was a locomotive driver on the Swedish State Railways for up to a year.

Finnish Civil War In February 1918, Hjalmarson, along with some other Swedish officers, resigned from the Swedish army to volunteer for the Finnish White Forces, as the Swedish government did not want to send official Swedish troops to take part in the Finnish Civil War. About thirty Swedish active officers and fifty reserve officers went to Finland. Upon arriving in Vaasa, Hjalmarson was immediately recruited as a colonel in the Finnish White Army, and he was tasked with leading a 650-man special unit, which was to proceed through the red lines and go to help the embargoed Eastern Uusimaa protection municipalities. However, the attempt failed, as the Uusimaa whites had already dispersed and Hjalmarson's men were beaten back in the Battle of Heinola at the end of February.

After the battle at Kuru, Hjalmarson's troops marched across the ice of Lake Näsijärvi from Teisko and went to help the Satakunta group commanded by Ernst Linder. They took part in the end of the Battle of Tampere by occupying Viljakkala on 23 March and biting into on 26 March in the west edge of Epilään, where they remained until the surrender of the city. After the battle of Tampere, Hjalmarson took command of the Lempäälä front and the Swedish Brigade, but the focus of the war had already shifted elsewhere. When the Reds seceded from the Lempäälä front on 25 April, Hjalmarson again chased late. Hjalmarson had suffered from a chronic illness since his Persian years and had to use strong medication. He then committed suicide in Uppsala in December 1919.

Awards

China: Order of the Golden Harvest, earliest 1915 and latest 1918 Legion of Honour, Knight, 1908 Persia: Order of the Lion and the Sun, Second Class, earliest 1910 and latest 1915 Persia: Persian Officer of Public Instruction Order of the Polar Star, Knight, 1914