Bengt Nordenskiöld


Bengt Gustafsson Nordenskiöld was a Swedish Air Force officer who served as Chief of the Air Force from 1942 to 1954. In 1910 Nordenskiöld started his military career as a volunteer in the Svea Life Guards, later attending the Royal Swedish Army Staff College. In 1928, he was made a captain in the General Staff. During 1931 he went through aircraft recognition training at the Swedish Air Force Flying School, after which he was trained as a pilot. In 1936, Nordenskiöld started to serve in the recently created Air Staff under general Torsten Friis, later becoming a lieutenant general. He was appointed in Chief of the Swedish Air Force in 1942 as the first Chief of Air Force with pilot training. Nordenskiöld was promoted general and retired from active service in 1954.

Career

Nordenskiöld was born on 6 September 1891 in Sundsvall, Sweden, the son of managing director, baron Gustaf Henrik Nordenskiöld and his wife Ester Laura. He was a sea cadet from 1907 to 1908 and passed mogenhetsexamen at Lunds privata elementarskola on 10 June 1910 before enlisting as a volunteer at the Svea Life Guards the day after. He enrolled at the Royal Military Academy on 19 October 1911 and graduated and became an officer of 19 December 1912. Nordenskiöld became an became underlöjtnant at the Svea Life Guards on 31 December 1912 and löjtnant there on 28 November 1916. He was then educated at the Royal Swedish Army Staff College from 1922 to 1924, where he graduated first in his class in the staff course. He wan an aspirant at the General Staff from 15 April 1925 to 1927 and was promoted to captain at the Sve Life Guards on 9 December 1927. Nordenskiöld served at the General Staff from 1 January 1928 and was educated in aerial reconnaissance in 1931 and served as a General Staff Officer at the Eastern Military Division from 9 October 1931 to 1933. He was a teacher of tactics at the Royal Swedish Army Staff College from 28 December 1933 to 1934 and major at the General Staff from 27 April 1934 and underwent sergeant pilot training from 1934 to 1936. Nordenskiöld was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Swedish Air Force and was appointed Chief of the Air Staff on 1 July 1936.
Nordenskiöld was promoted to colonel on 1 July 1937 and was head of the Royal Swedish Air Force Staff College from 1 October 1939 to 30 September 1941 and commanding officer of the Air Group from 1939 to 1942. He was promoted to major general on 6 June 1941 - as the youngest officer in modern Swedish history - which received great attention in the media. Nordenskiöld was promoted to lieutenant general and appointed Chief of the Air Force on 1 July 1942. He was the first pilot trained Chief of the Air Force and during the air wing visits, he flew a J 9 aircraft no. 19, which was to become his "personal" aircraft. It was with this aircraft he crashed during a start from the Swedish Air Force Flying School, and was badly injured but survived. When the post of Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces would be appointed in 1951, Nordenskiöld was one of the candidates that were considered by the government. According to Tage Erlander's diaries, his name was dropped because of his impetuous temper and his propensity to make own foreign policy statements. Instead the army general Nils Swedlund became the new Supreme Commander. Air Vice Marshal Ralph Cochrane visited Nordenskiöld and the Swedish Air Force 8–13 June 1952. What was discussed during the visit are not known. Cochrane left Svea Air Force Wing north of Stockholm in an English Electric Canberra on the morning of 13 June, the same day as a Swedish radio and radar signals intelligence-gathering DC-3 aircraft was shot down by Soviet Air Force fighter jets. Nordenskiöld was promoted to general on 30 April 1954, two months before his retirement on 30 June 1954.

Other work

Nordenskiöld was vice chairman of the Royal Swedish Aero Club from 1937 to 1944 and board member of Skånska cement AB and AB Iföverken from 1939 to 1966. He was also chairman of the board of AB Salén & Wicander and Wiklunds bil AB from 1954 to 1972 and AB Godslagring from 1960 to 1972. Nordenskiöld was vice chairman of the board of AB Ekensbergs varv from 1955 to 1972. He became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences in 1936 and became honorary member of the Royal Swedish Society of Naval Sciences in 1954.

Personal life

On 16 October 1916, Nordenskiöld married Dagmar Werner, the daughter of the wholesaler Carl Linus Werner and Severina Natalia. They had two children, Claës-Henrik Nordenskiöld, who also became an air force general, and Brita Christina who was married 1940–1948 to Prince Ferdinand Aloys Andreas Joseph Anton Maria of Liechtenstein.
Nordenskiöld and Dagmar Werner divorced on 12 September 1934 and on 31 October 1934, he married Marie-Louise Elsa Eva Hanna Augusta Lambert-Meuller, the daughter of managing director August Fredrik Lambert Meuller and Elsa. The marriage was childless. He was the grandfather of Louise Nordenskiöld and grandfather of Prince Hanno von Liechtenstein.
Nordenskiöld died on 28 January 1983 in Österhaninge and was buried in Southern Cemetery next to Kalmar Castle accompanied by his parents and later his two children.

Dates of rank

Nordenskiöld's dates of rank:
RankDate
Volunteer11 June 1910
Underlöjtnant31 December 1912
Lieutenant28 November 1916
Captain9 December 1927
Major27 April 1934
Lieutenant Colonel1 July 1936
Major General6 June 1941
Lieutenant General1 July 1942
General30 April 1954

Awards and decorations

Nordenskiöld's awards: