Gilbert Hamilton

Greve (Swedish: Count) David Gustaf Gilbert John Wilhelm Hamilton (1869–1947) was a highly decorated Swedish noble, holding Swedish, Finnish and German military honours.

He volunteered and fought as a commander of the Prussian cuirassier regiment "Graf Wrangel" for Germany in World War I and found himself stranded in the Ukraine following the Peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. With his regiment he fought his way through revolutionary Russia to a hero's welcome in Königsberg in 1919.

In the 1920s he became a regimental commander in the Swedish Army. During his time in the Swedish army he also served as adjutant to the former Kaiser Wilhelm in Doorn for several weeks each year.

On the 25th of August, 1939, he was appointed an honorary Generalmajor (German: General-Major) of the German army by Adolf Hitler. He remained fond and supportive of Germany until his death in 1947.

Count Gilbert in popular culture

• The popular brand of Swedish pipe tobacco, manufactured since 1924 in Denmark by Swedish Match called "Greve Gilbert Hamiltons Blandning" is named after him.

References

• "Svenskar i Krig 1914-1945", Gyllenhaal, L., Westberg, L. (2004)