Axel Gyllenkrok

Axel Gyllenkrok became a sub-lieutenant of the Svea Life Guards in 1908. In 1925 he underwent training at the Air Scout School at Malmen and was transferred to the Air Force two years later. Until 1932 he was trained in the air service and at the same time was a lecturer at the Military Academy. Subsequently, he became commander of the Third Air Corps but returned to the Army in 1934.

In 1936 Gyllenkrok was promoted to lieutenant colonel and was appointed deputy commander of the Life Regiment’s grenadiers. In the following year, he was promoted to colonel and became commander of the Halland Regiment, a position that he held for just one year until his resignation in 1938. Although he was considered a capable officer, he often offended people with his complicated personality and unbalanced temperament. For his public provocations he was court-martialled several times. In 1937 after another trial for having “insulted, threatened and insulted subordinates and reprimanded commanders in front of troops” he was suspended and transferred to the reserve.

After his resignation he was still an avid military strategist and devoted his time to writing and preparing regulations and instructions for all branches of the Armed Forces. Gyllenkrok was part of a group of officers called the “Jungjuntan,” and also joined of the so-called “Either-Or group,” who advocated for isolationist neutralism and a rollback of the earlier disarmament. In 1943 he was elected as a member of the Swedish Academy of War Sciences. He was made a Knight of the Order of the Sword in 1929, and later a Commander of the Second Class of the Order.

He remained unmarried but was an active athlete and shooter and fostered military sports. At the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm he competed in duelling pistol and small-bore rifle events.