Colonel ''Friherre'' Axel Walfrid Carl Gyllenkrok (9 August 1888 – 8 August 1946) was a Swedish officer and sports shooter. Gyllenkrok commanded the 3rd Flying Corps (1932–1934) and Halland Regiment (1937–1938).

Early life

Gyllenkrok was born on 9 August 1888 in

Karlskrona Karlskrona (, , ) is a locality and the seat of Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with a population of 66,675 in 2018. It is also the capital of Blekinge County. Karlskrona is known as Sweden's only baroque city and is host to Swed ...

, the son of naval captain, ''Friherre'' Axel Thure Christian Gyllenkrok and his wife Elin Emma Ulrika Frick.

Career

Military career

Gyllenkrok was commissioned as a ''

underlöjtnant ''Underlöjtnant'' (from the German word ''Unterleutnant'') was the lowest officer rank in the Swedish Army from 1835 to 1937 instead of the previous ranks of ''fänrik'' and cornet. was reintroduced in 1914 with the same position as , from 1926 ...

'' and was assigned to Svea Life Guards in 1908 and attended the

Royal Swedish Army Staff College The Royal Swedish Army Staff College ( sv, Kungliga Krigshögskolan, KHS) was a Swedish Army training establishment between 1866 and 1961, providing courses for army officers. It was the home of the Swedish Army's staff college, which provided adv ...

from 1913 to 1915 and was appointed captain of the

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

in 1920 after aspirant service. He was an expert in the uniform committee and in the committee for experiments with helmets between 1920 and 1922. In the

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( sv, Svenska flygvapnet or just ) is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the es ...

, Gyllenkrok was, among other things, head of the Air Force's first course for reserve officers in 1927 and for the flight course for General Staff officers in 1928. He served in the Air Staff between 1927 and 1932 and was promoted to captain in the Air Force in 1928. Gyllenkrok served as a teacher at the Infantry Officer School (''Infanteriofficersskolan'', IOS) from 1928 to 1931 and he was an expert in the committee for arranging Sweden's defense against air strikes between 1928 and 1930. Gyllenkrok was promoted to major in the Army in 1929 and served as a teacher at the Royal Swedish Army Staff College from 1929 to 1930. He became a member of the 1930 Defense Commission (''1930 års försvarskommission'') but received, upon request, dismissal from the 1934 appointment. Gyllenkrok was promoted to major in the Air Force in 1932 and from 1932 to 1934 he was commander of the 3rd Flying Corps. He became a major in the

Life Regiment Grenadiers Life Regiment Grenadiers ( sv, Livregementets grenadjärer), also I 3, was a Swedish Army infantry unit that was active in various forms 1815–2000. The unit was based in Örebro Garrison in Örebro and belonged to the King's Life and Household T ...

in 1934. In the years 1934-1935 he served in the Italian Army. In 1936 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and from 1936 to 1937 he served as acting executive commander of the Life Regiment Grenadiers. He was appointed colonel in 1937 and was from 1937 to 1938 commander of Halland Regiment. His way of criticizing his officers with extremely harsh language led to his suspension in 1938. He transferred as colonel to the reserve and later had various commands and other military assignments and, among other things, since 1925 prepared various regulations and instructions for the army, navy, coastal artillery and air force. Gyllenkrok was commanded to and made military study trips in England in 1930, in the Soviet Union in 1937 and in Germany etc in 1941. He belonged to the circle of officers, who with ''Ny militär tidskrift'' ("New Military Journal") as body worked on a renewal of the Swedish defence after 1925 disarmament, and he was one of the leading forces and most active collaborators in the creation of the book ''Antingen – eller'' ("Either – Or") (1930), together with, for example,

Helge Jung General (Sweden), General Helge Victor Jung (23 March 1886 – 3 January 1978) was a Swedish Army officer. Jung's senior commands include the post of Chief of the Army Staff (Sweden), Chief of the Army Staff and the General Staff Corps, commander ...

. Gyllenkrok had in magazines and a large number of newspapers as well as in special magazines with great perseverance defended his views on various defence issues, thereby usually adopting a strongly critical attitude to prevailing conditions. Among other things, he has published ''Exempel på ett reglemente för infanteriets stridsutbildning'' (together with Martin Hanngren, 1923), ''Arméns krigsberedskap'' (1938), ''Tysk krigföring'' (1940), ''Synpunkter rörande utbildning'' (1942), ''Partisankrig'' (1943), ''Partisankrig i snö, skog och berg'' (1945) as well as ''Utan uppdrag i Moskva'' (1945).

Sports career

Gyllenkrok has also been active as an active athlete and sport shooter and has done a lot of work for military sports. He competed in two events at the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, be ...

Personal life

Gyllenkrok was never married.

Dates of rank

*1908 – ''

Underlöjtnant ''Underlöjtnant'' (from the German word ''Unterleutnant'') was the lowest officer rank in the Swedish Army from 1835 to 1937 instead of the previous ranks of ''fänrik'' and cornet. was reintroduced in 1914 with the same position as , from 1926 ...

'' *1911 – Lieutenant *1920 –

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

(Army) *1928 –

(Air Force) *1929 –

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

(Army) *1932 –

(Air Force) *1936 –

Lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

*1937 – Colonel

Honours

*Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences (1943)

References

External links

Article
at ''

Svenskt biografiskt lexikon ''Svenskt biografiskt lexikon'' () is a Swedish biographical dictionary, started in 1917. The first volume, covering names ''Abelin'' to ''Anjou'', was published in 1918. As of 2017, names from A to S are covered. Volumes # ABELIN – ANJOU (1 ...

'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gyllenkrok, Axel 1888 births 1946 deaths Swedish Army colonels Swedish Air Force officers Swedish male sport shooters Olympic shooters for Sweden Shooters at the 1912 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Karlskrona Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences