Tryggve Gran 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 . Background . 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 . Career . 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 convinced him to take part in the Terra Nova Expedition as ski instructor to Scott ’ s men . Arriving in Antarctica in early January 1911 , Gran was one of the 13 expedition members involved in the laying of the supply depots needed for the attempt to reach the South Pole later that year . From November 1911 to February 1912 , while Scott and the rest of the Southern party were on their journey to the Pole , Gran accompanied the geological expedition to the western mountains led by Griffith Taylor . In November 1912 , Gran was part of the 11 - man search party that found the tent containing the bodies of the Polar party . After collecting the party ’ s personal belongings the tent was lowered over the bodies of Scott and his men and a 12 - foot snow cairn was built over it . A pair of skis were used to form a cross over their grave . Gran travelled back to the base at Cape Evans wearing Scott ' s skis , reasoning that at least Scott ' s skis would complete the journey . Before leaving Antarctica he made an ascent of Mount Erebus with Raymond Priestley and Frederick Hooper in December 1912 , an occasion which nearly ended in disaster when an unexpected eruption caused a shower of huge pumice blocks to fall around him . Gran was later awarded the Polar medal by King George V . On his return voyage , Gran met the Irish aviator Robert Loraine , and immediately took an interest in aviation . Gran became a skilled pilot at Louis Blériot ' s aviation school in Paris , and on 30 July 1914 , Gran became the first pilot to cross the North Sea . Taking off in his Blériot XI - 2 monoplane , " Ca Flotte " , from Cruden Bay , Scotland , Gran landed 4 hours 10 minutes later at Jæren , near Stavanger , Norway , after a flight of . Only five days later , the United Kingdom entered the First World War . Gran , now a first lieutenant in the Norwegian Army Air Service , volunteered for service with the Royal Flying Corps . He was rejected because of Norway ' s neutrality . However , the rejection did not stop Gran . Under the identity of " Captain Teddy Grant " of Canada , he was admitted to the RFC , serving in 1916 with No . 39 Squadron on Home defence , flying the Sopwith Camel on the Western Front with No . 70 Squadron during 1917 , and later commanding various Royal Air Force units in Arkhangelsk and North Russia during the Allied intervention in 1919 . Gran himself claimed to have shot down German ace Hermann Göring in a dogfight on 8 or 9 September 1917 . He discovered this when he became acquainted with Göring after the war , and compared his flight logs with Göring ' s . It could however not be verified that it was Gran who shot down Göring ' s plane . During the war , the RAF promoted Gran to the rank of Major , and awarded him the Military Cross for distinguished war service . After the war , Gran started holding lectures on aviation and his journeys to the polar areas , as well as writing books . In 1919 he was the first man to fly from London to Stockholm . In 1928 , he led a search party to find polar explorer Roald Amundsen , lost flying while trying to discover the fate of Umberto Nobile ' s North Pole expedition on board the " Airship Italia " . During the Second World War , Gran was reportedly a member of NS , Vidkun Quisling ' s Nationalist Party . The NS used Gran ' s hero - like status in their war propaganda , and in 1944 , a commemorative stamp was issued to mark the 30th anniversary of Gran ' s flight across the North Sea . It has been speculated Gran feared reprisals from the pro - German fascist party because of his commitment to the Royal Air Force in the First World War . Others have speculated that his friendship with Göring and bitterness over not being offered a full - time job in the Norwegian Army Air Service may have been reasons for Gran to support the NS during the Nazi occupation of Norway . After a trial in 1948 , Gran was found guilty of treason and sentenced to a prison term of 18 months . The remainder of his life was devoted principally to writing books . Personal life . Gran was married three times . First in 1917 with actress Lily St . John , marriage dissolved 1921 ; Secondly in 1923 with Ingeborg Meinich ( 1902 – 1997 ) with whom he had two daughters , the marriage dissolved , lastly in 1941 with Margaret Schønheyder , a renowned portrait painter . With his last wife , he had a son , Hermann who was born in 1944 . Gran was also a gifted football player , earning 1 cap for Norway in 1908 . This was Norway ' s first ever international match , and was played against Sweden in Gothenburg . Sweden beat Norway 11 - 3 . Tryggve Gran died in his home in Grimstad , Norway on 8 January 1980 aged 91 . A memorial was unveiled in Cruden Bay during 1971 .