Helge Söderbom

Lieutenant General Johan Helge Fritiof Söderbom (21 May 1881 – 3 January 1975) was a senior Swedish Army officer. Söderbom began his military career in 1902 after graduating from the Military Academy Karlberg and was first assigned to the Hälsinge Regiment. He became a qualified quartermaster in 1907 and steadily advanced through roles within the Swedish Army Quartermaster Corps, gaining promotions up to colonel by 1928. In parallel with his military duties, he held key administrative roles, including expert positions in Swedish and Finnish defence reforms and taught at the Royal Swedish Army Staff College. In 1935, he was promoted to major general and appointed Quartermaster-General of the Swedish Army, a position he held until 1946. During World War II, he played a crucial role in overseeing the army’s logistical mobilization and rearmament. He also served as vice chief of the Royal Swedish Army Materiel Administration from 1944 to 1946. Upon retiring, he was promoted to lieutenant general in recognition of his outstanding organizational abilities.

Early life Söderbom was born on 21 May 1881 in in Lessebo Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden and was the son of Janne Söderbom and his wife Anna Ekström. Söderbom passed mogenhetsexamen in Gävle in 1900. His brother Erik Söderbom (1894–1998), was a well-known sports journalist in Scania and chairman of Malmö AIF sports club in Malmö from 1941 to 1943.

Military career Söderbom graduated from the Military Academy Karlberg in Stockholm in 1902 and was commissioned as an officer the same year, assigned to Hälsinge Regiment in Gävle as a underlöjtnant

In 1924 Söderbom was promoted to major, after which he was divisional paymaster (fördelningsintendent) in the VI Army Division (VI. arméfördelningen) from 1925 to 1926. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1926 and was head of the Maintenance Bureau at the Quartermaster Department (Intendenturdepartementet) in the Royal Swedish Army Materiel Administration from 1927 to 1928. In 1928 he was promoted to colonel, after which he was head of the Quartermaster Staff (Intendenturstaben) from 1928 to 1935. Söderbom retired in 1946 and was then promoted to lieutenant general. a Swedish Army colonel.

Death Söderbom died on 3 January 1975 in in Uppsala County.

Swedish Red Cross Silver Medal

Foreign

Honours Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences (1927)