Helge Jung

Helge Jung
Birth name	Helge Victor Jung
Born	(1886-03-23)23 March 1886 Malmö, Sweden
Died	3 January 1978(1978-01-03) (aged 91) Stockholm, Sweden
Buried	Djursholm cemetery
Allegiance	Sweden
Service/branch	Swedish Army
Years of service	1906–1951
Rank	General
Commands held	North Scanian Infantry Regiment Life Regiment Grenadiers Army Staff II. Army Division II. Military Area IV. Military Area Supreme Commander
Relations	Bengt Liljestrand (son-in-law)

Helge Victor Jung (23 March 1886 – 3 January 1978) was a Swedish Army general. He was the Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces from 1944 to 1951.

Career

Jung was born in Malmö, Sweden, the son of the headmaster Victor Jung and hife wife Maria (née Levan). He was commissioned into the army as second lieutenant in the Southern Scanian Infantry Regiment (I 25) in 1906 and was a cadet officer at the Royal Military Academy from 1919 to 1922. Jung was a teacher of military history together with strategy at the Royal Swedish Army Staff College from 1926 to 1928. He was the head of the Military History Department of the General Staff in 1928 and was the Head of Department in 1929.^[1] Jung became a major in the General Staff in 1928, lieutenant colonel in 1933 and became colonel and commanding officer of the North Scanian Infantry Regiment (I 6) in 1936.^[2]

Jung was chief of the Military Office of the Land Defense (Lantförsvarets kommandoexpedition) from 1936 to 1937, colonel and executive officer of the Life Regiment Grenadiers (I 3) in 1936 and colonel and chief of Army Staff from 1937 to 1940. He became major general of the army in 1938 and was commanding officer of the II. Army Division from 1940 to 1942. Jung was then the military commander of II. Military Area in 1942 and commanding officer of the IV. Military Area and was the commandant of Stockholm garrison in 1943. He was appointed lieutenant general in 1944 and general in 1944. Jung was the Supreme Commander from 1944 to 1951.^[2]

Other works

He was the founder and editor of the New Military Journal (Ny militär tidskrift) from 1927 to 1930. Jung participated in or was the leader of several research trips for archival studies and battleground studies in Eastern and Central Europe for the General Staff Gustav-Adolfs-verk from 1922 to 1930.^[1] He was the Secretary of the Army in the 1930 Defence Commission and in the 1936 Defence Committee. Jung became a member of the Royal Society for the Publication of Manuscripts concerning Scandinavian History in 1929, of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences in 1931 and honorary member of the Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences in 1946.^[2]

Personal life

Jung's grave in Djursholm cemetery.

In 1913 he married Ruth Wehtje (1893–1951), the daughter of the deputy district judge Ernst Wehtje and Mimmi Ahnfelt. In 1952 he married Dagmar Bager (1897–1955), the daughter of vice consul John Jeansson and Sigrid Maijström. He was the father of Stig (born 1915), Karin (born 1917) and Elisabet (born 1919–1994).^[2] Jung died in 1978 and was buried in Djursholm cemetery.^[3]

Opinion

Helge Jung was largely a composite nature. His personality had traits of cunning and tactical calculation, even cynicism, but at the same time there were also clear hint of idealism and unselfish work for the Swedish military strengthening.^[4]

Dates of rank

• 1906 – Underlöjtnant
• 19?? – Lieutenant
• 19?? – Captain
• 1929 – Major
• 1933 – Lieutenant Colonel
• 1936 – Colonel
• 1938 – Major General
• 1944 – Lieutenant General
• 1944 – General

Awards and decorations

Jung's awards:^[2]

References

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