General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Lage Gustaf Harald Thunberg (22 March 1905 – 28 September 1997) was a

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( or just ) is the air force Military branch, 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 escalatin ...

officer. He was the Chief of the Air Force from 1961 to 1968.

Early life

Thunberg was born on 22 March 1905 in

Mörlunda Mörlunda is a locality situated in Hultsfred Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 838 inhabitants in 2010. It gave its name to a community in Greenbrier County, West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in t ...

, Sweden, the son of master builder August Andersson and his wife Adéle (née Thunberg).

Career

Thunberg was commissioned as an officer with the rank of second lieutenant and assigned to Kalmar Regiment (I 21) in 1927 and was transferred to the

in 1933. Thunberg won the Nordic flying competition ''Nordisk flygarpokal'' in 1934 and 1936. He was promoted to captain in 1937 and was head of the Royal Swedish Air Force College (''Flygvapnets kadettskola'') from 1939 to 1943. He was promoted to major in 1942 and to lieutenant colonel in 1944. Thunberg was commanding officer of the Bråvalla Wing (F 13) from 1944 to 1947 (acting in 1943) and was promoted to colonel in the

the same year. In 1947 he was transferred to the Royal Swedish Air Force Materiel Administration. There Thunberg was head of the Equipment Office from 1947 to 1949, of the Aircraft Office from 1949 to 1950, of the Materiel Department from 1950 to 1954 and of the Aircraft Department from 1954 to 1957. He was promoted to major general in 1957 and was then commanding officer of the Third Air Group (''Tredje flygeskadern'', E 3) from 1958 to 1960 and vice chief of the Royal Swedish Air Force Materiel Administration from 1960 to 1961. Thunberg was promoted to lieutenant general in 1961 and was appointed Chief of the Air Force. He retired from the military in 1968 and was promoted to full general. Thunberg then served as War Materials Inspector and head of the National Swedish War Materials Inspectorate from 1968 and 1977.

Personal life

In 1935 he married Birgit Bergström (born 1905), the daughter of factory manager Edvin Bergström and Fanny (née Gihl). Thunberg died on 28 September 1977 and was buried at

Galärvarvskyrkogården Galärvarvskyrkogården (literally Galley Shipyard Cemetery) is a cemetery on the island of Djurgården in Stockholm, Sweden. It has about 1,300 burial sites and an area of approximately 0.9 hectares. History Galärvarvskyrkogården in Djurgår ...

in Stockholm.

Dates of rank

*1926 – Second lieutenant *1929 –

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

*1937 –

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

*1942 –

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

*1944 – Lieutenant colonel *1947 –

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

*1957 – Major general *1961 –

Lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

*1968 –

Awards and decorations

Swedish

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 23 February 1748, together with the Or ...

(6 June 1963) * Knight of the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish language, Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden''), sometimes translated as the Royal Order of the North Star, is a Swedish order of chivalry created by Frederick I of Sweden, King Frederick I on 23 F ...

SWE Order of Vasa - Knight 2nd Class BAR

Knight of the

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

Foreign

1st Class / Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republi ...

(13 April 1966) * St Olavs Orden storkors stripe

Grand Cross of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

(1 July 1967) * Order of Orange-Nassau ribbon - Grand Officer

Grand Officer of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () 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 performed acts of special merits for ...

with Swords (18 May 1957) *

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

(6 April 1962)

Honours

*Member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences () 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 military (army and air force) and de ...

(1954) *President of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences (1965–1967)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thunberg, Lage 1905 births 1997 deaths Swedish Air Force generals People from Hultsfred Municipality Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword Knights of the Order of the Polar Star Knights of the Order of Vasa Foreign recipients of the Legion of Merit Burials at Galärvarvskyrkogården