Lennart Ljung (general)

General Karl Hilmer Lennart Ljung (13 March 1921 – 19 November 1990) was a Swedish Army officer who served as Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces from 1978 to 1986. During Ljung's eight years as Supreme Commander many events of importance for Swedish security and defense policy occurred. Sweden had five different governments under four prime ministers from different political sides. Prime Minister Olof Palme was assassinated, the submarine incidents culminated with the Soviet submarine U 137 running aground in Karlskrona and the decision of developing a new fighter aircraft came through.[1]

Lennart Ljung
Ljung as major general.
Birth nameKarl Hilmer Lennart Ljung
Born(1921-03-13)13 March 1921
Sollefteå, Sweden
Died19 November 1990(1990-11-19) (aged 69)
Stockholm, Sweden
AllegianceSweden
Service/branchSwedish Army
Years of service1944–1986
RankGeneral
Commands held
Battles/warsSoviet submarine U 137
AwardsOrder of the Sword
Other workChief of His Majesty's Military Staff

Early life

Ljung was born on 13 March 1921 in Sollefteå, Sweden, the son of captain Hilmer Ljung and his wife Greta (née Gustafsson).[2] He passed his studentexamen in Gävle in 1941.[3]

Career

Ljung was commissioned as an officer 1944[3] and was assigned as a second lieutenant to the Swedish Army Signal Troops the same year.[2] He attended the Royal School of Signals in 1950 and the Royal Swedish Army Staff College from 1952 to 1954. Ljung was promoted to captain in the Swedish Army Signal Troops in 1953 and attended the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas from 1956 to 1957 when he became captain of the General Staff.[3]

Ljung served in North Scanian Infantry Regiment (I 6) from 1960 to 1961 when he became major of the General Staff. Ljung was teacher of strategy at the Royal Swedish Armed Forces Staff College from 1962 to 1963 and attended the Swedish National Defence College in 1963.[3] He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1964 and served in Gotland Regiment (P 18) from 1965 to 1966. He was promoted to colonel in 1966 and was head of the Operation Command 2 of the Defence Staff in 1966.[2] He was after that commanding officer of the Uppland Signal Regiment (S 1) from 1968 to 1971, section chief of the Military District Staff of the Eastern Military District (Milo Ö) from 1971 to 1972 and was promoted to major general in 1972. The same year he became Chief of the Army Staff and the General Staff Corps and acting military commander of the Western Military District (Milo V) in 1974.[2] On 1 October 1976. Ljung was promoted to lieutenant general assumed the position of Chief of the Defence Staff.[4]

In 1978 he was promoted to general and appointed Supreme Commander.[2] Ljung's time as Supreme Commander was marked by major transformations in the Swedish Armed Forces and by the constant financial pressure.[5] It also consisted of renewal of the war planning, major military equipment projects, such as the Saab JAS 39 Gripen, a new kind of armed forces training and reorganization of both the leadership and the command organization. The handling of the submarine incidents and the systematic continuing submarine incursions also caused great strain on him.[5]

Ljung was Supreme Commander during the submarine incident in Karlskrona when the Soviet submarine U 137 in October 1981 ran aground in Blekinge archipelago. By then he had a close collaboration with Prime Minister Thorbjörn Fälldin and was very prominent throughout the incident. His report on the whole situation excluded the possibility that the submarine accidentally ended up in Swedish territory, and he pursue in the coming years the issue of higher allocations to the military to fight the submarine intrusions which was considered coming from the Soviet Union.

According to Robert Dalsjö's doctoral thesis, Ljung was the last Supreme Commander who knew the secret peacetime cooperation with NATO, and also the one who discontinued the cooperation.[6] In 1986, Ljung left the position of Supreme Commander and retired from military service and became chief of His Majesty's Military Staff.[5]

Personal life

In 1947, Ljung married Gertrud Öhman (1922–2005), the daughter of furrier August Öhman and Anna (née Nilsson). They had two children, Lars (born 1948),[3] a retired colonel and senior adviser of the Folke Bernadotte Academy[7] and Ann-Marie (born 1953).[3]

Death

Lennart Ljung died on 19 November 1990 and was buried in Söderhamn cemetery.[8]

Dates of rank
Promotions
RankDate
Second lieutenant1944
Lieutenant1946
Captain1957
Major1961
Lieutenant colonel1964
Colonel1966
Major general1972
Lieutenant general1 October 1976
General1 October 1978

Awards and decorations

Swedish

Foreign

Honours

References
  1. Santesson, Olof (2010). "I huvudet på en ÖB. Ljungs tjänstedagböcker är en guldgruva" [In the mind of a Supreme Commander. Ljung's service diaries are a gold mine]. Kungl. Krigsvetenskapsakademiens Handlingar och Tidskrift (in Swedish). Stockholm: Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences (3): 154.
  2. Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1985 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1985] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. 1984. p. 701. ISBN 91-1-843222-0.
  3. Davidsson, Åke, ed. (1968). Vem är vem?. 5, Norrland : supplement, register [Who is Who?. 5, Norrland : supplements, directory] (in Swedish) (2nd ed.). Stockholm: Vem är vem. p. 790.
  4. "ÖB sitter kvar". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 1975-12-05. p. 11. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  5. Lindgren, Lennart (1991). "Minnesteckningar Lennart Ljung" [Memorandum Lennart Ljung] (PDF). Tidskrift I Sjöväsendet (in Swedish). Carlskrona: Kungl Örlogsmannasällskapet (4): 217.
  6. Dalsjö, Robert (24 July 2006). "Sveriges samarbete med Nato viktigare än hittills känt" [Sweden's cooperation with NATO more important than hitherto known]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 February 2007.
  7. "Crisis Information Management (CIM) Course" (PDF). International Peace Support Training Center. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  8. "Karl Hilmer Lennart Ljung". www.gravar.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  9. "Sök medaljförläning" (in Swedish). Royal Court of Sweden. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  10. Kungl. Hovstaterna: Kungl. Maj:ts Ordens arkiv, Matriklar (D 1), vol. 14 (1970–1979), p. 31, digital imageing.
  11. Sköldenberg, Bengt, ed. (1969). Sveriges statskalender 1969 (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. p. 128. SELIBR 3682754.
  12. "ÖB fick Storkorset". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 9 April 1981. p. 21. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  13. "ÖB på vift". Göteborgs-Tidningen (in Swedish). 20 January 1980. p. 11. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  14. Künker, Fritz Rudolf. "Künker Auktion 192 - Russische Münzen und Medaillen Orden und Ehrenzeichen mit interessanten Serien aus europäischem Privatbesitz" (in German). GmbH & Co. KG. pp. 343–344.
  15. Modigs, Ronny; Lindström, Magnus (2003). "Husarer i utlandstjänst" (PDF). Livhusaren (in Swedish). Skövde: 4. SELIBR 2289794. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-02-07. Retrieved 2019-02-06.

Further reading
  • Ljung, Lennart; Wallberg, Evabritta (2010). Överbefälhavare Lennart Ljungs tjänstedagböcker 1978-1983. Handlingar / Kungl. Samfundet för utgivande av handskrifter rörande Skandinaviens historia, 0347-8505 ; 31 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Kungl. Samfundet för utgivande av handskrifter rörande Skandinaviens historia. ISBN 9789185104352. SELIBR 11877034.
  • Ljung, Lennart; Wallberg, Evabritta (2010). Överbefälhavare Lennart Ljungs tjänstedagböcker 1984-1986. Handlingar / Kungl. Samfundet för utgivande av handskrifter rörande Skandinaviens historia, 0347-8505 ; 32 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Kungl. Samfundet för utgivande av handskrifter rörande Skandinaviens historia. ISBN 9789185104369. SELIBR 11877061.
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