Tryggve Gran
| Tryggve Gran | |
|---|---|
Major Tryggve Gran in 1923
|
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| Full name | Jens Tryggve Herman Gran |
| Born |
20 January 1888 Bergen, Norway |
| Died | 8 January 1980 (aged 91) Grimstad, Norway |
| Monuments | Memorial plaque at Cruden Bay, Scotland |
| Nationality | Norwegian |
| Spouse |
Lily St. John (m. 1918–21) (div.) Ingeborg Meinich (m. 1923) (div.) Margaret Schønheyder (m. 1941–80) |
| Aviation career | |
| Known for | Aviator, explorer and author |
| Famous flights | First heavier-than-air flight across the North Sea (Scotland to Norway, 30 July 1914) |
| Air force |
Norwegian Army Air Service Royal Flying Corps Royal Air Force |
| Battles |
Western Front (1917) North Russia Campaign (1919) |
| Rank | Major (Squadron Leader) |
| Awards |
Distinguished Service Cross Military Cross |
Jens Tryggve Herman Gran DSC, MC (20 January 1888 – 8 January 1980) was a Norwegian aviator, explorer and author. He was the skiing expert on the 1910–13 Scott Antarctic Expedition and was the first person to fly across the North Sea in a heavier than air aircraft. The first to cross the North Sea by air were two German balloonists, Distler and Joerdens, who took off from Munich. They were blown across the North Sea by strong winds, landing in Kirkwall, Orkney on 4th December 1910.
Tryggve Gran was born in Bergen, Norway, growing up in an affluent family dominant in the shipbuilding industry. His great-grandfather Jens Gran Berle (1758–1828), had founded a shipyard in the Laksevåg borough of the city of Bergen. His father, the shipyard owner, died when Tryggve was only five years old. In 1900, after school in Bergen and Lillehammer, Gran was sent to a school in Lausanne, Switzerland for a year, where he learned some German and French. Three years later, he met the German emperor, Wilhelm II, a common guest with the families of Tryggve's friends. Meeting the emperor made an impact on the then 14-year-old boy, who from that moment on wanted to become a naval officer. At this time, he had several years behind him as a member of the Nygaards Battalion, one of Bergen's buekorps. He entered naval college in 1907 and graduated in the spring of 1910.
Gran took an interest in science and exploration which in 1910 led to Fridtjof Nansen recommending his services to Robert Falcon Scott, who was in Norway at the time preparing for an expedition to the Antarctic and testing the motor tractor he intended to take with him. Scott was impressed with Gran, who was an expert skier, and Nansen convinced Scott to take Gran as ski instructor to Scott’s men for the Terra Nova Expedition.
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