As Sweden has remained neutral since 1816, Boden Fortress was never put to the test. Nonetheless, there are a few indications on how Boden, the garrison, the fortress and its crew would have come through a wartime attack. Already in 1904, Lars Tingsten—commander of Norrbotten Regiment, later Minister for War and first commander of Boden Fortress—expressed worries over the low number of soldiers that were planned to garrison the town. The 1892 army war plans had two infantry battalions stationed in the area, and allowed for three or four more to be transferred there, while Tingsten reported that the battalions should number at least 24 and perhaps even 33. The lack of personnel, and even more the lack of organisation, was shown when the fortress was tested against a coup de main during a military exercise in April 1913. Led by its commander Bror Munck, the cavalry regiment Crown Prince's Hussar Regiment managed to seize control of the railway station, the railway bridge, the ordnance depot, the electric works and the waterworks in the matter of a day. When the unit reached the headquarters building, Tingsten, now commandant of the fortress, saw his earlier worries come true. Despite this, the wartime infantry garrison was no more than four battalions in 1937. But as the Second World War came to its end, the fortress had been given a new role. From 1943 on it was no longer meant to stand on its own against a besieging enemy, and instead became only one piece in a larger network of fortifications. The wartime strength was never more than 12,000–13,000 men, while calculations talked about at least 25,000 men, up to 40,000 men, were needed to withstand a siege.