Helmuth Ternberg

The parents met in Sevastopol in the Crimea where his father worked to build up the Imperial Russian Navy.

Robert Ternberg was employed by the Swedish Navy and participated in the construction of coastal defence ships and torpedo cruisers.

Back in Sweden, Ternberg became sales manager at Marabou (he became close friends with the owner Henning Throne-Holst) and then came to work for the newspaper tycoon Torsten Kreuger.

It is said that during this time Ternberg met Admiral Wilhelm Canaris (later head of the Abwehr) and built up a large network of contacts in business and politics.

In early December 1939, Ternberg was called up for duty as an intelligence officer and head of Department 1B, VI Army Division in Norrbotten near the Finland–Sweden border.

During the time hostilities occurred in Norway (until May/June 1940), Ternberg and his associates made several "excursions" to various war zones and were able to map German troop movements and also visit Norwegian combat units.

One of the reasons for the enrollment was that Ternberg mastered both the German and Russian languages and had a large network of contacts, especially in Germany.

The Swedish security service searched for a long time for the possibility of getting an "agent in place" at the German legation in Stockholm.

Through wiretapping of the Abwehr employees at the German legation, it was concluded that the 24-year-old secretary Erika Wendt was anti-Nazi and a possible "agent in place".

After the end of the war, Ternberg was promoted to major in the Swedish Army in 1946, and participated in the dismantling of the C-byrån and the creation of the successor T-kontoret.

Jan Rydström, a lawyer at C-byrån, became very good friends with Ternberg and when Rydström became head of the East Economic Office (Öst Ekonomiska Byrån) after the war (part of the intelligence service), Ternberg was given the task of being knowledgeable through extensive traveling in Europe.

[2] The journalist Bobo Scheutz has described Ternberg as "experienced, articulate, a ladies' man and something of a charming playboy, qualities that came in handy for someone who would rub shoulders in the salons and embassies of Stockholm and Berlin".

[1] He was at the time of his death living in a cabin on the small island of Stora Horskär in Gryt Parish [sv] in Valdemarsvik Municipality, Östergötland County.