Richard Tomberg (6 September 1897 Mõisamaa, Salla Parish – 25 May 1982

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

) was an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n military

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

. He was the only Estonian higher military personnel, who survived Soviet times in 1940s. In 1915 he entered voluntarily into Czarist Army. In 1916 he graduated from

Vilnius Military School Vilnius Military School (russian: Виленское военное училище) also known as the Vilnius Junker Infantry School (russian: Виленское пехотное юнкерское училище) was a military school for the non ...

. He participated on World War I in the Imperial Russian Army. In 1917 he joined with Estonian national regiments. He participated in the

Estonian War of Independence The Estonian War of Independence ( et, Vabadussõda, literally "Freedom War"), also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Bolshevik westw ...

. 1928-1930 he was the chief of staff of

Estonian Air Force The Estonian Air Force ( et, Õhuvägi, ) is the aviation branch of the Estonian Defence Forces. The air force traces its history to 1918, and was re-established in its current form in 1991. As of 2016, the Estonian Air Force has a strength of ...

. 1930-1940 he was the chief of Estonian Air Force. In 1940 he transferred to

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

. In 1944, he was arrested by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

, but in 1956 he was released and rehabilitated and retired.

Awards

* 1938:

Order of the Cross of the Eagle The Order of the Cross of the Eagle ( et, Kotkaristi teenetemärk; french: Ordre de la Croix de l'Aigle) was instituted in 1928 by the Estonian Defence League to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Estonian independence. It was adopted as a st ...

, II Class.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomberg, Richard 1897 births 1982 deaths 20th-century Estonian military personnel Estonian military personnel of World War I Estonian military personnel of the Estonian War of Independence Recipients of the Military Order of the Cross of the Eagle, Class II Gulag detainees Prisoners and detainees of the Soviet Union People from Väike-Maarja Parish