Västmanland Air Force Wing

Västmanland Air Force Wing (Västmanlands flygflottilj), also F 1 Hässlö, or simply F 1, is a former Swedish Air Force wing with the main base located at Hässlö Airport in Västerås in central Sweden.

History
The 1st Flying Corps was set up near Västerås City on 1 July 1929 on the grounds of the recently disbanded Västmanland Regiment (I 18). The airfield at Hässlö was brought in use in 1931. In 1936, the 1st Flying Corps was redesignated F 1 as the 1st Air Wing and received B 3 bombers. These were later supplemented with B 4 dive bombers.

In 1949, F 1 was reorganized as a night fighter wing with 60 surplus J 30 De Havilland Mosquitos from England. They were in turn replaced by 60 J 33 Venoms in 1952. All of the J 30 and J 33 in Sweden were based at F 1.

In 1959, the night fighter squadrons were converted to regular fighter squadrons of J 32B. These were in service until 1968 when they were in turn replaced with J 35F until the decommissioning of the wing in 1983.

Current use
The airfield is known today as Stockholm-Västerås Airport with daily flights to England and charter to Mediterranean destinations.

Commanding officers
From 1929 to 1936, the commanding officers was referred to as kårchef ("corps commander") and had the rank of major. When the wing organization was introduced in 1936, the commanding officer was referred to as flottiljchef ("wing commander"), and had the rank of lieutenant colonel. At the end of the 1940s, the wing commander got the rank of colonel. From 1975 to 1981, the wing commander was referred to as sektorflottiljchef ("sector wing commander") and had the rank of colonel 1st class. From 1981 to 1983, the commanding officer was again referred to as flottiljchef ("wing commander"), and had the rank of colonel.

Corps, wing and sector wing commanders

 * 1929–1934: Harald Enell
 * 1934–1937: Egmont Tornberg
 * 1937–1938: Gustav Ström
 * 1938–1942: Axel Ljungdahl
 * 1942–1945: Gustaf Adolf Westring
 * 1945–1950: Arthur Falk
 * 1950–1954: Ingvar Berg
 * 1954–1959: Gösta Odqvist
 * 1959–1964: Henrik Nordström
 * 1964–1966: Rolf Svartengren
 * 1966–1968: Nils Palmgren
 * 1968–1975: Tore Persson
 * 1975–1980: Stig Bruse
 * 1980–1983: Börje Björkholm

Deputy sector wing commanders
In order to relieve the sector wing commander, a deputy sector wing commander position was added in 1975. Its task was to lead the unit procurement, a task largely similar to the old wing commander position. Hence he was also referred to as flottiljchef ("wing commander"). The deputy sector wing commander had the rank of colonel. On 30 June 1981, the deputy sector wing commander position was terminated.


 * 1975–1979: Börje Björkholm
 * 1980–1981: Knut Osmund

Web

 * Webpage listing all air force squadrons in Sweden (in Swedish)