Uniforms of the Swedish-led Persian gendarmerie were a mix of Sweden and Persia.
The Iraqi city of Mosul is in the global news, but few are aware of the fact that a Swedish volunteer was once in command of the city. His name was Knut Killander and he was from Stockholm. He was part of the Swedish officer contingent serving in Persia between 1911 and 1916, who were split up by the outbreak of World War One.
Captain Knut Killander survived Mosul and other postings during WWI and joined an insurance business, to die peacefully in 1951. His fate is one of many strange and exotic ones in Swedes at War 1914-45, available in both English and Swedish. Some artifacts from the Swedish volunteers in Persia, such as the above headgear, can now be seen in the Army Museum in Stockholm.
Uniform and memorabilia of the Swedish officers and NCOs who volunteered for Persia (Iran). PHOTO: Leif Nilsson/SMHA
Swedes at War begins with the Swedes who volunteered to form a gendarmerie in Persia (Iran). What started in 1911 as an Afghanistan type security assistance mission evolved, for the Persians, into the genesis of the Iranian Army.
Thousands of Persians were trained by the Swedes, partly with Swedish equipment, and led by Swedes in security operations. Not only the largest British and German papers in 1913 and early 1914 praised the Persia Swedes, even in China one could read that the Swedes had been successful. For several of the forty participating Swedes, service in Persian Gendarmerie uniform (see above photo) was a springboard to entering German, British and Finnish service. After the outbreak of WWI some of them entered German service in Persia and on other fronts. Quite a few went on to fight in other wars, a handful even during WWII. For example the Swedish Persia veteran Martin Ekström in 1919 took Narva from the Red Army and during WWII was a battalion commander in the Finnish Army.
Together with some other persons with a special interest in Persia I some years ago suggested that the Swedes who volunteered to create the Persian Gendarmerie should be part of the permanent exhibition of the Swedish Army Museum in Stockholm. Last week this display became reality and you may now there study several original items from the Swedes in Persia.
A complete uniform, orders, medals, maps and photos are now on display in Stockholm. PHOTO: Leif Nilsson/SMHA
Jarl with his Lego version of Jake. The toothpick-thing is a desert bush/hiding-place for a treasure that Jake is supposed to find (or guard?).
It was great fun meeting several American relatives in their own country some years ago. Our son Jarl (4) is still a bit young for such major travel, but my father decided to unite the two Gyllenhaal family branches as a Christmas present.
Well, the way he did this was not that expensive, actually. He gave his grandson a Lego version of Jake as a Persian prince:
After a while Jarl asked the question: "but, how did our relative turn into a Lego figure?"
Those of you who already have a copy of Swedes at War know that the first Swedish war participants of the world war era were the Swedes in Persia. The new Disney action-adventure Prince of Persia opens, like Swedes at War, with a mini-lesson about the former size and might of Persia.
After that factual opening the movie enters into a spectacular tale (it has a touch of Star Wars) that has less to do with Persia´s (i.e. Iran´s) actual history. But, hey, Prince of Persia is not being touted as a documentary. Still, I reckon that if you love history you are extra likely to enjoy PoP. What´s more it contains some witty references to recent war history. My favourite is probably when the assassin squad hunting for my American relative is defined as a "secret government killing activity".
I hugely enjoyed watching Prince of Persia and thank Jake and Disney for making it easier to operate with a weird family name like ours:
Some years ago it was so bad that I would even call myself Larson, Ericson or whatever when ordering tables at restaurants. It was such a time-consuming ritual to try to communicate our family name. Thanks to Jake and Maggie life is a bit easier for us now.
Of course, outside Sweden the spelling, and even more the pronounciation, is still a challenge - as the above video demonstrates. Jake knows very well, though, that that is not the original pronounciation - I suppose he was inspired to say what he did from having watched the Swedish chef in the Muppet Show.
It seems film reviewers didn´t quite expect Jake to fit so well into the role of a warrior prince. Well, considering his Royal Swedish blood + blue British blood (could that explain the realistic British accent? Nah, just kidding) and the long connection between Gyllenhaals and various wars (Jake´s own grandfather survived at the tip of Patton´s spearhead) it is perhaps not that surprising. The first half of our name is actually a reward for service in the Thirty Years´ War.
P.S. Pretty ironic that the baddest bad guy of PoP, the leader of the Hassansins (the elite assassins, better known as Hashshashin) like Jake IRL is a Viking. In fact, he is more Viking than Jake, as he is from Iceland, the most Viking place there is nowadays. His name is Gisli Örn Gardarsson. And speaking of örn, which means eagle, Alamut, the fabulous fortress that is central to the movie, is Persian for "Eagle´s Nest".
