Major General Jenö H. Bor

SOME OF THE PRISONERS HELD AT
SPECIAL CAMP 11

This profile and photo is courtesy of Glenn Jewison, host of the excellent web site "Austro-Hungarian Land Forces 1914-1918" at http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/

NAME: altábornagy Jenö nemes halmaji Bor (Hungarian Army)

Major General noble Jeno Bor de Halmaji

See bottom of this page for note concerning "altábornagy"[1]

PW NO: 560265
RANK: altábornagy (Major General)
CAPTURED: 10th May 1945
DATE: Lueneburg

PERSONAL
D.O.B: 8 September 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH:
DIED: 30 November 1979
PLACE OF DEATH:
NATIONALITY:
RELIGION:
OCCUPATION:
HEIGHT:
WEIGHT:
NEXT OF KIN:

Commands and Assignments:

1939-1941: Chief of Section 17, Hungarian Ministry of Defence.
1941-16 May 1942: Deputy Chief of Supply Bureau, Hungarian Ministry of Defence (HM/III).
1 April 1942: Promoted to Major-General.
16 May 1942-1 June 1943: Chief of War Industry, Hungarian Ministry of Defence
(HM/IX).
1 June 1943-10 August 1943: Commander, 4th Light Infantry Division.
10 August 1943-December 1943: Commander, 12th Light Infantry Division.
December 1943-10 January 1944: Commanding General, VIII Army Corps.
10 January 1944-5 April 1944: Commander, 12th Reserve Division.
5 April 1944-15 July 1944: Commanding General, II Reserve Army Corps order back to Budapest.[2]
September 1944-November 1944: Chief of Main Supply Bureau, Hungarian Ministry of Defence.[3]
1 November 1944: Promoted to Lieutenant-Field Marshal.
November 1944-3 May 1945: Inspector of Hungarian Forces, Germany; Chief Commissioner for Supplies, Germany.[4]
General Bor was initially a prisoner of war (POW) in Windermere before being transferred to Bridgend in late December 1945.
4th June 46 Repatriated
He later lived in Germany, then moved to the United States in 1951, where he spent the remainder of his life.

Special thanks to Christopher/Kristóf Szabó for the following information:

[1] Note concerning "altábornagy"

In Hungarian, ranks are never written using capital letters.
If translated literally, the word would mean "Under-Field Marshall" however, it does not mean this. It is, in fact, Major-General.
In English:
- Colonel
- Brigadier General
- Major General
- Lieutenant General
- Field Marshall
In Hungarian:
- ezredes - "thousand-er"
- vezérornagy - "leader-major"
- altábornagy - "Vice or Under Field Marshall"
- vezérezredes - "leader-colonel"
- tábornagy - "field marshall"

In the Hungarian military in WWII, there was only one Field Marshall, but he was a former Imperial and Royal (joint army) Field Marshall, and very old by this time. His name was "vitéz Habsburg József kir.hg.tábornagy." Translated, this is: His Royal Highness, Field Marshall Sir Joseph of Hapsburg. His position was essentially honourary, and he had nothing to do with the actual command of the army.

In Hungarian names are written backwards, family name first. "nemes" means "noble." So, the whole name and rank works out as: "nemes halmaji Bor Jeno altábornagy." This would translate as: "Major General noble Jeno Bor de Halmaji" to be very exact. It is still correct if the word "noble" is left out, as the style "de Halmaji" (Of Halma") would be sufficient to show he was a noble. Also, Jeno is often translated "Eugene", but not advised, because it is not really the equivalent. Jeno is an old Magyar tribal name. The other side of that argument is that when Hungarians translate western forms of "Eugen, Eugene", they call the people "Jeno!" A good example would be Prince Eugene of Savoy, the famous 18th century general, whom they call "szavojai Jeno". [1]

[2] After 1 May 1944, the VIII Corps was no longer in existence, and after the re-named II.Reserve Corps was brought home to Hungary it was disbanded and its units reassigned or returned to unit, as the "Occupation Forces" no longer existed.

Source: Gosztonyi. Peter. A Magyar Honvédség a Második Világháborúban.Európa Könyvkiadó, Budapest, 1995. (The Hungarian Military in the Second World War) page 162

[3] Source: Veress. Dálnoki .L. Magyarország honvédelme a II világháború elott és alatt. (1920-1945)Danubia Drückerei. München 1974. (The Defence of Hungary Before and During the Second World War. 1920-1945. Volume I. page 13

[4] Bor's own biography confirms that from "November 1944" he was the "Supply Representative" of the Hungarian soldiers in Germany until the end of the war.