Torsten Friis

Lieutenant General Torsten Friis (1 August 1882 – 21 April 1967) was a Swedish Air Force officer. Friis was initially a fortification officer and was commanding officer of the Field Telegraph Corps from 1928 to 1932 and chief of the Military Office of the Land Defence from 1932 to 1934. In 1934 he was commissioned to build the Swedish Air Force and was appointed Chief of the Air Force, a position he held until 1942 when he retired.

Early life Friis was born on 1 August 1882 in Malmö, Sweden, the son of vice consul Ernst Friis and his wife Sophie (née Thomée) and brother of rear admiral Helge Friis (1883–1956). He passed studentexamen in 1900. In April 1934, the then Chief of the Air Force major general Eric Virgin applied for a year's leave of absence, after Virgin and the Abyssinia government entered an agreements to which Virgin would function as chief adviser of the reorganization of the country's army. Friis took over as Chief of the Air Force and was promoted to lieutenant general in 1936. Nordenskiöld often expressed opinions and criticism in an arrogant and hurtful way. He was often on matters of fact superior to his subordinates and opponents, but he found it difficult to acknowledge others work and listen to their arguments. Thereby he sometimes counteracted the Air Force interests, and he compromised at times that particular work satisfaction and the cohesion he sought. This prompted the defense minister Per Edvin Sköld and the Supreme Commander Olof Thörnell in 1942 to appeal to Friis to remain as Chief of the Air Force. Although Friis shared Sköld's and Thörnell's opinion on Nordenskiöld, Friis felt that Nordenskiöld had to succeed him if the Air Force would be able to keep up with the ever-accelerating development. and head of the Royal Djurgården Administration (Kungliga Djurgårdens Förvaltning) from 1949 to 1962.

Dates of rank 1902 – Underlöjtnant 1907 – Lieutenant 1913 – Captain 1922 – Major 1926 – Lieutenant colonel 1932 – Colonel 1934 – Major general 1936 – Lieutenant general

Awards and decorations

Swedish

Finnish Air Force's Aviation Badge (1938)

Polish Air Force's Aviation Badge (1936)