{{Short description|Norwegian resistance fighter and saboteur}} {{for|his grandfather, the Norwegian jurist and politician|Gregers Gram (1846–1929)}} {{EngvarB|date=November 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}} {{Infobox military person | name = Gregers Gram | image = Gregers Gram.jpg | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1917|12|15}} | birth_place = Vestre Aker, Oslo, Norway | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1944|11|13|1917|12|15}} | death_place = Plasskafeen, Oslo, Norway | nickname = | birth_name = Gregers Winther Wulfsberg Gram | allegiance = {{flag|Norway}} | branch = 20px Norwegian Army | service_years = 1940–1944 | rank = 20px Second Lieutenant | unit = Special Operations Executive * Norwegian Independent Company 1 | commands = | battles = | awards = 25px War Cross with sword<br />25px Military Cross<br />25px Military Medal | relations = Gregers Gram, Sr. (grandfather)<br>Harald Gram (father) }}
'''Gregers Winther Wulfsberg Gram''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|MC|MM}} (15 December 1917 – 13 November 1944) was a Norwegian resistance fighter and saboteur. A corporal and later second lieutenant in the Norwegian Independent Company 1 ({{langx|no|Kompani Linge}}) during the Second World War, he was killed in 1944.<ref name=kl>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Kraglund |first=Ivar |author-link=Ivar Kraglund |editor=Hans Fredrik Dahl |editor-link=Hans Fredrik Dahl |encyclopedia=Norsk krigsleksikon 1940-45 |title=Gram, Gregers |language=no |url=http://mediabase1.uib.no/krigslex/g/g2.html#gram-gregers |access-date=20 December 2008 |year=1995 |publisher=Cappelen |location=Oslo |isbn=82-02-14138-9 |pages=138 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090420173411/http://mediabase1.uib.no/krigslex/g/g2.html#gram-gregers |archive-date=20 April 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Early life== Gregers Gram was born in Vestre Aker in 1917<ref name=nrkgull>{{cite news|url=http://www.nrk.no/kanal/nrk_gull/1.6324148|title=Gregers Gram|last=Alkärr|first=Thomas|date=28 November 2008|publisher=NRK Gull|language=no|access-date=21 December 2008}}</ref> as the son of Harald Gram, later known as stipendiary magistrate of Oslo.<ref name=harald>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Moland |first=Arnfinn |author-link=Arnfinn Moland |editor=Hans Fredrik Dahl |encyclopedia=Norsk krigsleksikon 1940–45 |title=Gram, Harald |language=no |url=http://mediabase1.uib.no/krigslex/g/g2.html#gram-harald |access-date=21 December 2008 |year=1995 |publisher=Cappelen |location=Oslo |isbn=82-02-14138-9 |pages=? |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090420173411/http://mediabase1.uib.no/krigslex/g/g2.html#gram-harald |archive-date=20 April 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was named after his paternal grandfather Gregers Winther Wulfsberg Gram, who served as Norwegian Prime Minister in Stockholm and County Governor of Hedmark.
Gram did not pass his examen artium at the first try,<ref name=nrkgull/> but later enrolled at the University of Oslo to study law.
==Second World War== When German troops invaded Norway on 9 April 1940, Gregers Gram became active in the resistance movement. After serving as a soldier in the early battles following the German invasion, he soon became involved in propaganda activity and the illegal press, he had to flee from Norway in 1941.<ref name=kl/>
After arriving in Great Britain, he was recruited by the Special Operations Executive and received military training with Norwegian Independent Company 1.<ref name=kl-komplinge>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Nøkleby |first=Berit |author-link=Berit Nøkleby |editor=Hans Fredrik Dahl |encyclopedia=Norsk krigsleksikon 1940–45 |title=Kompani Linge |language=no |url=http://mediabase1.uib.no/krigslex/k/k3.html#kompani-linge |access-date=20 December 2008 |year=1995 |publisher=Cappelen |location=Oslo |isbn=82-02-14138-9 |pages=221 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811004631/http://mediabase1.uib.no/krigslex/k/k3.html#kompani-linge |archive-date=11 August 2011 }}</ref>
He was paradropped into Norway together with Max Manus on 12 March 1943, and the two carried out a successful sabotage mission, Operation Mardonius, which resulted in the sinking of two ships and damage to a third on 28 April, despite the fact it was a very light night, and water conditions were such that the canoes generated a very visible phosphorescence in their wake.<ref name=recommendations>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/details-result.asp?Edoc_Id=7695690|title=Recommendations for Honours and Awards (Army)—Image details—Gram, Gregers|work=DocumentsOnline|publisher=The National Archives|format=fee required to view full pdf of original recommendations|access-date=22 December 2008|archive-date=15 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210715072109/https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Bitter|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=kl/> Gram and Manus returned to the United Kingdom, where they stayed until October 1943. Gram was awarded the British Military Medal as a result of his participation in the operation, the recommendation for the award describes how Manus became ill with pneumonia shortly after they arrived in Norway, meaning that Gram had to undertake much of the organisation on the ground, and also nursing Manus during his recovery. Gram was also decorated with Norway's War Cross with sword in summer 1943, presented to him by King Haakon at a ceremony at the training school STS 26 in Scotland, near Nethy Bridge.<ref name=manus-mittliv>{{cite book |last=Manus |first=Max |author-link=Max Manus |title=Mitt liv |year=1995 |publisher=Damm |location=Oslo |isbn=82-04-09571-6 |language=no |pages=176–177 }}</ref> In addition to Gram, Manus, and Rønneberg and Poulsson from the Rjukan missions, also received the War Cross with sword at this ceremony.<ref name=manus-mittliv/> Present were Crown Prince Olav, Minister of Defence Oscar Torp, and Chief of Defence of Norway General von Tangen Hansteen.<ref name=manus-mittliv/>
In October 1943, Gram (along with Manus, Einar Juvén and C.F. Wiborg) returned to Norway to perform a second operation, known as Bundle, targeting German ships.<ref name=kl/> Other sabotage missions followed, coordinated within Oslogjengen, Milorg's sabotage group in Oslo led by Gunnar Sønsteby.<ref name=kl-oslogjeng>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Borgersrud |first=Lars |author-link=Lars Borgersrud |editor=Hans Fredrik Dahl |encyclopedia=Norsk krigsleksikon 1940–45 |title=Oslogjengen |language=no |url=http://mediabase1.uib.no/krigslex/o/o2.html#oslogjengen |access-date=20 December 2008 |year=1995 |publisher=Cappelen |location=Oslo |isbn=82-02-14138-9 |pages=319 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105235217/http://mediabase1.uib.no/krigslex/o/o2.html#oslogjengen |archive-date=5 January 2010 }}</ref> Parallel to his saboteur activity, Gram continued his involvement with propaganda, including the black propaganda Operation Derby directed towards German soldiers.<ref name=kl/> In particular he was involved in an attack organised by Sønsteby which destroyed German records about the Norwegian workforce, and his attack on an oil storage depot.<ref name=recommendations />
Gram was killed on 13 November 1944 in an ambush in the PlassKafeen café in Grünerløkka in Oslo.<ref name=kl/> Together with fellow resistance member Edvard Tallaksen, Gram went to a meeting with fake Nazi deserters.<ref name=kl/> Shooting ensued, and Gram was killed at the hands of Gestapo.<ref name=nrkgull/> His father Harald Gram, who was also involved in the resistance movement, survived the war.<ref name=harald/>
==Legacy== At the time of his death, the process of recommending Gram for the British Military Cross was already under way (this medal was not generally awarded posthumously at the time). The recommendation particularly mentions the successful sinking of a German patrol vessel in Oslo harbour in February 1944, and the daring, but unsuccessful, daylight attack on the troopship ''Monte Rosa''. His Military Medal was presented to his father on 7 February 1945 by Sir Victor Mallet, who was then head of the British Legation in Stockholm.<ref name=recommendations />
To commemorate Gram a bust was erected near Njårdhallen, in the Ullern borough of Oslo, in 1994.<ref name=kl/> The road ''Gregers Grams vei'' in Oslo has been named after him.
In 2008 he was portrayed in the Norwegian film ''Max Manus'' by actor Nicolai Cleve Broch.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/kultur/1.6359717|title=Hennie fryktet kritikk fra Tikken|agency=Norwegian News Agency|work=Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation|date=17 December 2008|language=no|access-date=21 December 2008}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == *[http://vestraat.net/TNG/getperson.php?personID=I108127&tree=IEA Family genealogy]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gram, Gregers}} Category:1917 births Category:1944 deaths Category:Norwegian Army personnel of World War II Category:Norwegian military personnel killed in World War II Category:Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany Category:Norwegian resistance members Category:Military personnel from Oslo Category:Norwegian Special Operations Executive personnel Category:World War II resistance press activists Category:Recipients of the War Cross with Sword (Norway) Category:Recipients of the Military Cross Category:Recipients of the Military Medal Category:Deaths by firearm in Norway