Helmuth Ternberg

Ernst Axel Hellmuth "Teddy" Ternberg (13 September 1893 – 24 May 1971) was a Swedish Army major and intelligence officer who led, together with Carl Petersén, the intelligence service C-byrån during World War II. One of the most spectacular intelligence operations under Ternberg's leadership was the recruitment of the German Erika Wendt, also known as Erika Schwarze, as an agent of C-byrån. Wendt was active, as a secretary, within the German intelligence service Abwehr in Stockholm and provided Ternberg with information about, among other things, Gestapo activities in Sweden. He was also good friends with German spymaster Wilhelm Canaris, the head of Abwehr in Berlin. Ternberg continued his intelligence activities under a cover name after the war at T-kontoret, the successor organization to C-byrån.

Early life Ternberg was born on 13 September 1893 in Stockholm, the second son of Robert Ternberg, a naval engineer, and his wife Augusta Ottilia (née Limberg). The mother had German-Russian parents and grew up on the Marienhof estate in Livonia. The parents met in Sevastopol in the Crimea where his father worked to build up the Imperial Russian Navy. In 1889 they married and settled in Sweden. Robert Ternberg was employed by the Swedish Navy and participated in the construction of coastal defence ships and torpedo cruisers. The mother was educated at Dorpat University and worked as a teacher. Through his parents, he and his older brother (Egon, later a commander in the navy) became both German and Russian speakers. Ternberg's family socialized regularly with the family of Olof Palme, Sweden's future prime minister.

Career Ternberg was commissioned as an officer in 1915 and was assigned to Dalarna Regiment in Falun as a second lieutenant. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1918. Ternberg left the army in 1920 and lived a bohemian life in Berlin. During the 1920s, Ternberg probably made many valuable contacts in Germany in politics and in the military. He re-entered service in 1922 with, among other things, probationary service at the aerial reconnaissance school and service with the Norrbotten Regiment. Back at the Dalarna Regiment, he became a captain in 1930 and then began civilian activities.

Personal life For a few years in the 1930s, Ternberg was married to fashion designer Brita Dahl, but the couple divorced in 1938. After the divorce, Ternberg met Ebba Ridderstad (née Pauli) and together with her he built a home on in the in Östergötland. Ternberg was interred on 18 April 1972 at Galärvarvskyrkogården in Stockholm. The epitaph of his gravestone reads: "Major Hellmuth Ternberg, born 13/9 1893, died 25/5 1971. The fatherland's eye and ear 1940-1945".