Boden-Karlsborg Artillery Regiment ( Swedish : Boden-Karlsborgs artilleriregemente ), designation A 8 , was a Swedish Army artillery unit which operated between 1893 and 1919. The unit was based in Boden Garrison in Boden , Sweden.
23-570: The corps was raised on 10 October 1893 by the 1st and 2nd Fortress Company being separated from the 1st Göta Artillery Regiment and formed an independent unit. In 1882, the Karlsborg Fortress was added to the 1st Fortress Company from the Varberg Fortress , after Varberg Fortress expired in 1830 from the Swedish war organization. The 1st Fortress Company was formed in 1811 from the rubble from
46-501: A colour or standard, but was only identified by the service branch insignia and its colors (yellow and black). When the regiment was disbanded, its colors, designation and the march were taken over by the newly formed Boden Artillery Regiment. Karlsborg Fortress Karlsborg Fortress ( Swedish : Karlsborgs fästning ) is situated on the Vanäs peninsula in Karlsborg by lake Vättern ,
69-468: A national central bank , intended mainly as a guarantee to redeem promises to pay depositors , note holders (e.g. paper money ), or trading peers, during the eras of the gold standard , and also as a store of value , or to support the value of the national currency . The World Gold Council estimates that all the gold ever mined, and that is accounted for, totalled 190,040 metric tons in 2019 but other independent estimates vary by as much as 20%. At
92-425: A price of US$ 1,250 per troy ounce ($ 40 per gram ) reached on 16 August 2017, one metric ton of gold has a value of approximately $ 40.2 million. The total value of all gold ever mined, and that is accounted for, would exceed $ 7.5 trillion at that valuation and using WGC 2017 estimates. During most of history, a nation's gold reserves were considered its key financial asset and a major prize of war. A typical view
115-517: Is especially worth visiting. The church is housed in the central building of the fortress, "the last stand", on the second floor above the Fortress Museum. The church was once intended as an assembly hall for the Riksdag in times of troubles. A chandelier composed of 276 bayonets instead of crystal prisms hangs from the ceiling. Official gold reserves A gold reserve is the gold held by
138-407: Is highly confidential should in no circumstances be divulged. The total weight of this bullion amounts to about 1800 tons and its evacuation would be a matter of the utmost importance would present a considerable problem if it had to be undertaken in a hurry when transport facilities were disorganized. At present this gold is believed to be stored at Brussels and The Hague respectively, neither of which
161-726: Is very well placed for its rapid evacuation in an emergency. The Belgian government transferred remainder to southern France. Following the outbreak of war, the gold held in France was sent to Dakar , the capital of Senegal , then part of the French colonial empire . This was against the Belgian Government's wishes, with the Belgians having directed the French to transfer it to the United States. After
184-755: The Finnish Artillery Regiment , which had been incorporated into the First Göta Artillery Regiment in connection with the loss of Finland in 1809. In 1882, the Karlsborg Fortress was added to the 2nd Fortress Company from the Karlsten Fortress , after Karlsten Fortress expired in 1882 from the Swedish war organization. Through the 1901 Defense Reform, it was decided that Karlsborg Artillery Corps from 1 January 1902 would be organized as Boden-Karlsborg Artillery Regiment. The regiment
207-605: The Foreign Office , to examine the possible means of getting the bullion and negotiable securities into the same place of safety. The transport of many hundreds of tons of bullion presents a difficult problem and the loading would take a long time. The ideal would of course be to have the gold transferred to this country or to the United States of America. [...] The gold reserves of Belgium and Holland amount to about £70 million and £110 million respectively. [Foot]Note: H. M. Treasury has particularly requested that this information, which
230-744: The Germans occupied Belgium and France in 1940, they demanded the Belgian gold reserve held in Senegal. In 1941, Vichy French officials arranged the transport of 4,944 boxes with 198 tonnes of gold to officials of the German Reichsbank and the German Government used it to purchase commodities and munitions from neutral countries. The Banque de France fully compensated the Belgian National Bank for
253-439: The event of an attack against the kingdom, pull back and ensconce themselves in this fortress in the middle of the country. Even the gold reserves of the central bank of Sweden were to be safeguarded in the fortress in times of trouble. The fortress is one of northern Europe's largest buildings and consists primarily of limestone from Omberg . Construction was begun in 1819 on 100 hectares (250 acres) of land. The fortress
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#1733115393189276-707: The first time in six years. In July 2015, the State Bank of Vietnam stated that gold reserves totalled 10 tonnes. However, it was not ranked below due to the current absence of any published data. In 2019, the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) extended the gold allocation limit from 5% to 10%, in accordance with the amendments made to the Investment Policy of the Fund for diversification purposes. However,
299-463: The late autumn of 1919, the regiment was divided into two independent units; Bodens Artillery Regiment (A 8) and Karlsborg Artillery Corps (A 10). From 10 September 1919, only the battalion in Karlsborg remained, and on 31 December 1919 the regiment was disbanded. On 1 January 1920, the battalion in Karlsborg formed Karlsborg Artillery Corps. When the regiment was raised as Karlsborg Artillery Corps, it
322-657: The loss of its gold after the war. Since early 2011, the gold holdings of the IMF have been constant at 2,814.1 tonnes (90.5 million troy ounces). The IMF regularly maintains statistics of national assets as reported by various countries. This data is used by the World Gold Council to periodically rank and report the gold holdings of countries and official organizations. On 17 July 2015, China announced that it increased its gold reserves by about 57 percent from 1,054 to 1,658 tonnes, while disclosing its official gold reserves for
345-634: The province of Västergötland , Sweden . Construction on the fortress began 1819 to realize the so-called central defense idea adopted by the Swedish military after the Finnish and Napoleonic Wars . The site was chosen by Baltzar von Platen in connection with the construction of the Göta Canal . The intent of the central defense idea was that the King , the Council , the Riksdag and central command functions would, in
368-424: The rapidly evolving technology of artillery during this time, Vaberget Fortress was built in the early 1900s five kilometers west of Karlsborg to provide additional protection to the main fortress. The town of Karlsborg has sprung up next to the fortress. It was initially mostly living quarters for personnel employed at the fortress, but grew to a sizable community, in part due to Göta Canal which passes through
391-594: The town. Ever since the fortress lost its intended central defensive role in 1918 it has been used as a garrison for Göta Signal Regiment (S 2), and since 1984 Life Regiment Hussars (K 3) are also based there. The Swedish Parachute Ranger School and the Swedish Operations Group are also housed in the fortress. Next to the fortress is a munitions factory. Karlsborg has been a Swedish listed building in Sweden ( byggnadsminne ) since 1935. The garrison church
414-750: Was expressed in a secret memorandum by the British Chief of the Imperial General Staff from October 1939, at the beginning of World War II . The British Military and the British Secret Service laid out "measures to be taken in the event of an invasion of Holland and Belgium by Germany" and presented them to the War Cabinet : It will be for the Treasury in collaboration with the Bank of England , and
437-482: Was formed on 1 September 1906, and was placed in a newly built barracks area along the Åbergsleden. Karlsborg was until 1912 the regiment's main garrison, but from 1 November 1912 the regimental staff was relocated to Boden. Boden Artillery Battalion was separated from the regiment, forming an independent unit on 10 September 1919, the Boden Artillery Regiment (A 8). In Karlsborg, the regiment's 2nd Battalion
460-540: Was organized in two battalions, the 1st Battalion in Karlsborg and 2nd Battalion in Boden. In 1914, all order numbers within the Swedish Army were adjusted. For Boden-Karlsborg Artillery Regiment, this meant that the regiment was assigned the designation A 8. The adjustment of the designation made it possible to distinguish the regiments between the service branches and from their possible reserve and duplication regiments. During
483-540: Was placed to Karlsborg Fortress. When the corps was reorganized into a regiment, the 1st Battalion was placed to Karlsborg and the 2nd Battalion to Boden. During the years 1902–1912, the regimental staff was located in Karlsborg Garrison, and in the years 1912–1919 in Boden Garrison . In Boden, the regiment's 2nd Battalion was placed, which also went under the name of Boden Artillery Battalion (A 8 B). The battalion
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#1733115393189506-485: Was placed, which also went under the name of Karlsborg Artillery Battalion (A 8 K). Until 30 October 1912, Karlsborg was the main town for the regiment, but from 1 November 1912 when the regimental staff was placed in Boden, Karlsborg became a detachment. Karlsborg Artillery Battalion was disbanded on 31 December 1919, and on 1 January 1920, formed Karlsborg Artillery Corps (A 10). A 10 was later reorganized into Karlsborg Anti-Aircraft Regiment (Lv 1). The regiment never had
529-548: Was to house a garrison of 6,000 enlisted men and an additional 8,000-10,000 people. The walls were mostly complete in 1830. After comprehensive visits to other fortresses in Europe, fortress architect Johan av Klen presented plans similar in style to Fort Winiary in Posen (present-day Poznań ). Due to its great expense and reduced funding, the fortress wasn't in operation until 1870, and wasn't fully completed until 1909. To compensate for
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