Bo Ehnbom

Bo Karl Georg Ehnbom (28 March 1899 – 13 February 1985) was a Swedish engineer. From 1947, Ehnbom served as the head of the special technical section at the Weapons Office within the Royal Swedish Army Materiel Administration's Ordnance Department. In 1948, with the formation of the Swedish Army Corps of Engineers, he became a first-grade army director, holding the rank of lieutenant colonel. Ehnbom was a prominent anti-aircraft defence theorist, particularly focusing on the Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/70 and the 12 cm gun's fire-control system. In 1958, he became the Chief of the Swedish Army Electrical and Mechanical Engineers' Corps and worked to modernize the training and salaries of army technicians. He retired in 1964, holding the title of civilian military major general in the reserve.

Early life Ehnbom was born on 28 March 1899 in Örtofta församling, Malmöhus County, Sweden, the son of Harald Ehnbom, an engineer, and his wife Lilli (née Simmons). He had four siblings, two brothers (Nils and Kjell) and three sisters (Inga,Gun and Viveka). Ehnbom obtained a bachelor's degree at Lund University in Lund in 1921, then pursued university studies in Hanover, Germany, and earned a civil engineering degree at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm in 1925.

Career Ehnbom worked as a laboratory engineer at Platen-Munters' Refrigerating Company from 1926 to 1941 and during this time, he made several inventions related to refrigeration units and gas burners. In 1932, he established Electrolux refrigeration production in Berlin and in 1935 in Paris. In England, he conducted negotiations on refrigeration patents and gas burners.

In 1941, he became a contract-employed army engineer at the Stockholm Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment. From 1 April 1947, Ehnbom was attached to the Royal Swedish Army Materiel Administration's Ordnance Department as the head of the special technical section at the Weapons Office. He was then titled as first army engineer. When the Swedish Army Corps of Engineers (Arméingenjörkåren) was formed in 1948, he immediately became a first-grade army director (armédirektör av 1. graden) with the rank of lieutenant colonel. On 7 July 1947, he married Margit Hilton (1904–1998), the daughter of wholesaler Karl Hilton and Agnes (née Andersson).

Death Ehnbom died on 13 February 1985 in , in Lidingö, Stockholm County, Sweden.

Awards and decorations

Stockholm Air Defence Association Gold Medal Landstorm Sports Badge in silver (Landstormens idrottsmärke) (4 June 1937) Finnish War Commemorative Medal

Honours Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences (1949)