General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Olof Gerhard Thörnell (19 October 1877 – 25 July 1977) was a Swedish Army officer. He was Sweden's first Supreme Commander from 8 December 1939 until 1944. Before 1939 that had been the role of the King.

Early life

Thörnell was born on 19 October 1877 in Trönö,

Söderhamn Municipality Söderhamn Municipality (''Söderhamns kommun'') is a municipality in Gävleborg County, in east central Sweden. The seat is located in Söderhamn. The present municipality was created in 1971 when the former ''City of Söderhamn'' was amalgamate ...

, Sweden, the son of Per Thörnell, a vicar, and his wife Gerhardina "Dine" Margareta (née Lindgren). He was the brother of professor Gösta Thörnell. Thörnell grew up in a priest's home with close contact with the academic world. He was born in the same room as

Nathan Söderblom Lars Olof Jonathan Söderblom (; 15 January 1866 – 12 July 1931) was a Swedish clergyman. He was the Church of Sweden Archbishop of Uppsala between 1914 and 1931, and recipient of the 1930 Nobel Peace Prize. He is commemorated in the Cale ...

and also came to be strongly influenced by this friend in the choice of life path. After passing ''

studentexamen Studentexamen (Swedish for "students' examination" or "students' degree"), earlier also ''mogenhetsexamen'' ("maturity examination") was the name of the university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and r ...

'' on 17 May 1895 at

Norra Latin Norra Latin is the familiar Swedish name of a historic Stockholm school more properly known as ''Högre allmänna läroverket för gossar å Norrmalm'' ("public senior secondary school for boys at Norrmalm"). Completed in 1880, for over a hun ...

in Stockholm he was commissioned as an officer in the

Uppland Regiment The Uppland Regiment ( sv, Upplands regemente), designation I 8, was a Swedish Army infantry regiment that traced its origins back to the 16th century. It was disbanded in 1957. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruited from the province ...

(I 8) in 1897. The choice of regiment gave him time to lay the groundwork for solid language knowledge at the

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance during ...

during vacant periods, including in Russian. In future commissions to foreign units in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, he had additional opportunities to improve his language skills alongside the professional studies.

Career

Thörnell was promoted to lieutenant on 7 December 1900 in Uppland Regiment (I 8). On 7 July 1906 Thörnell graduated from the Royal Swedish Army Staff College and was commissioned as an officer cadet at the General Staff. He was promoted to captain of the General Staff on 10 June 1910. From 1911 to 1915 Thörnell was a teacher at the Royal Swedish Army Staff College. In 1915 he left the General Staff and served as captain in the

Älvsborg Regiment The Älvsborg Regiment ( sv, Älvsborgs regemente), designation I 15 and I 15/Fo 34, was a Swedish Army infantry regiment that traces its origins back 1624. It was disbanded in 1998. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruited from the prov ...

(I 15). After a few years in the field, he returned to the General Staff, where he quickly rose through the ranks. On 27 November 1917, he was promoted to major and on 19 August lieutenant colonel. He was promoted to major of the General Staff in 1917 and became head of the Central Department of the General Staff in 1918. In 1921 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the General Staff. Thörnell was after that serving in the Upplands Infantry Regiment (I 8) in 1924 and was promoted to lieutenant colonel and acting commanding officer of

Gotland Infantry Regiment The Gotland Infantry Regiment ( sv, Gotlands infanteriregemente), designations I 27 and I 18, was a Swedish Army infantry regiment that traced its origins back to the 19th century. It was reorganized into an armoured regiment in 1963. The regimen ...

(I 27) in 1926. On 24 August 1926 Thörnell was promoted to colonel and became commanding officer of

Vaxholm Grenadier Regiment Vaxholm Grenadier Regiment ( sv, Vaxholms grenadjärregemente), also I 26, was a Swedish Army infantry regiment that was active in various forms 1902–1927. The unit was based on Rindö in Vaxholm. History The Vaxholm Grenadier Regiment was fo ...

(I 26). On 1 January 1928 he was appointed military commander of Gotland and commanding officer of Gotland Infantry Regiment (I 27) and in 1931 he was appointed Inspector of the

Swedish Army Service Troops The Swedish Army Service Troops ( sv, Trängtrupperna, T or ''Underhållstrupperna'', before 1942 called ''Trängen'') is the military logistics (or train) branch of the Swedish Army. The task of the troops is to train personnel for maintenance un ...

. On 28 December 1933 he was promoted to major general and was appointed Inspector of the Swedish Infantry. On 1 July 1936, Thörnell, was promoted to Lieutenant General and at the same time appointed Chief of the Defence Staff. He now began the organization work. On 1 July 1937, the new staff gathered and the Chief of the Defense Staff took command of the new staff. Thörnell had a harsh and sarcastic appearance, and were generally called LM (The lust murderer) among the younger officers in the Defence Staff. He was considered an aged, stiff and unimaginable bureaucrat. The circle around Helge Jung had no respect for Thörnell, they saw him as a "chair warmer", a temporary solution until someone from their own ranks had enough years of service to take over his post. But from the government's point of view, Thörnell had an advantage. He was a loyal bureaucrat. On 8 December 1939 he was appointed Supreme Commander and on 1 January he was promoted to general. Thörnell's time as the Supreme Commander was marked by several major concessions to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and Thörnell himself was generally considered pro-German. Thörnell was criticized by Torgny Segerstedt among other, because he, on 7 October 1940, received the Grand Cross of the

Order of the German Eagle The Order of Merit of the German Eagle (german: Verdienstorden vom Deutschen Adler) was an award of the German Nazi regime, predominantly to foreign diplomats. The Order was instituted on 1 May 1937 by Adolf Hitler. It ceased to be awarded follo ...

by the hands of the Prince of Wied with a letter signed by

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

. Thörnell was a skilled organizer who put high demands on his staff. He was also a politically cautious general, overcautious some thought, who took active part in the intricate game about the

Swedish neutrality Swedish neutrality refers to Sweden's former policy of neutrality in armed conflicts, which was in effect from the early 19th century to 2009, when Sweden entered into various mutual defence treaties with the European Union (EU), and other Nordi ...

during the first dangerous war years. He tried to safeguard the country for as many possible chain of events as possible. Thörnell left office as Supreme Commander on 1 April 1944 and was succeeded by Helge Jung. Thörnell was chief of

His Majesty's Military Staff His Majesty's Military Staff ( sv, H.M. Konungens stab) is the military staff of the Swedish monarch and functions as a unit of the Royal Court. It is led by the chief of staff and supports the King and the Royal Family at official ceremonies, mil ...

until the king died on 29 October 1950.

Duties

* Member of the 1918 Military Payroll Experts (''1918 års militära avlöningssakkunniga'') 1920-1921 * Member of the 1921 Pension Committee (''1921 års pensionskommittée'') * Member of the Swedish Armed Forces Salaries and Wages Board (''Försvarsväsendets lönenämnd'') 1921-1924 * Vice Chancellor of the Orders of His Majesty the King (''Kungl. Maj:ts Orden'') in 1947

Personal life

On 1 October 1904 he married Anna Henrika Halling (1883–1972) in Skållerud, the daughter of factory manager Alex Halling and Henrika Gustafva (née Collén). They had four children: Gerhard (1905–1940), Barbro (1908–1992), Ulla (1914–2011) and Per (1918–1990).

Death

Thörnell died on 25 July 1977 in

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Located north of the c ...

and was buried in Uppsala old cemetery.

Dates of rank

Awards and decorations

Swedish

Knight and Commander of the Orders of His Majesty (6 June 1942) * Order of the Seraphim - Ribbon bar

King Gustaf V's Jubilee Commemorative Medal (1948) * Order of the Polar Star - Ribbon bar, pre 1975

King Gustaf V's Commemorative Medal (1951) * Order of the Seraphim - Ribbon bar

King Gustaf VI Adolf's Commemorative Medal (1967) * Royal Order of the Sword - Commander Grand Cross BAR

Commander Grand Cross of the

Order of the Sword The Royal Order of the Sword (officially: ''Royal Order of the Sword''; Swedish: ''Kungliga Svärdsorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry and military decoration created by King Frederick I of Sweden on February 23, 1748, together with the ...

(5 June 1937) * Royal Order of the Sword - Commander 1st Class BAR

Commander First Class of the

(28 November 1929) * Order of the Sword - Ribbon bar

Knight of the

(1918) *

Knight of the

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. It was instituted on 29 May 1772 by King Gustav III. It was u ...

(1945) *

National Aerial-Protection Association's Medal of Merit in silver (1943) * Swedish Voluntary Motor Transport Corps Merit Badge (1940) * Medal of Merit for the Voluntary Motorboat Corps (''Förtjänstmedalj för Frivilliga motorbåtskåren'') 1929 * Landstorm Officer's Society Medal of Merit (''Landstormsofficerssällskaps förtjänstmedalj'') (1930) * National Federation of Swedish Women’s Auxiliary Defence Services' Medal of Merit (''Svenska lottakårens förtjänstmedalj'') (1930) * Swedish Landstorm Association Medal of Merit (''Sveriges Landstormsförenings förtjänstmedalj'') (1930) * Gotland Shooting Association Medal of Merit (''Gotlands skytteförbunds förtjänstmedalj'') (1932) * Swedish Red Star Medal of Merit (''Svenska Röda Stjärnans förtjänstmedalj'') (1938)

Foreign

Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog * FIN Order of the White Rose Grand Cross BAR

Grand Cross of the

Order of the White Rose of Finland The Order of the White Rose of Finland ( fi, Suomen Valkoisen Ruusun ritarikunta; sv, Finlands Vita Ros’ orden) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, and the Order of the Lion of Finland. ...

(26 October 1938) * DEU Deutsche Adlerorden 1 BAR

Grand Cross of the

(1940) *

Order of Orange-Nassau ribbon - Commander

Commander of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

with swords * FIN Winter War 1939-40 Comm Medal BAR

Winter War Commemorative Medal for Foreigners

Honours

* Member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Krigsvetenskapsakademien) is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden and was founded on 12 November 1796 by Gustaf Wilhelm af Tibell. The academy is an independent organization and a forum for m ...

(1923) * Honorary Member of the

Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences The Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Örlogsmannasällskapet, KÖMS), founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden. The Society is an independent organization and a forum for navy and defence i ...

(1939)

References

Notes

Print

* * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thornell, Olof 1877 births 1977 deaths People from Söderhamn Municipality Swedish Army generals Swedish people of World War II Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword Knights of the Order of Vasa Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences Burials at Uppsala old cemetery Chiefs of the Defence Staff (Sweden)