Bror With (19 June 1900 – 9 December 1985) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

mechanical engineer, inventor and industrialist. Bror With is perhaps most associated with his invention of the ''

Rottefella Rottefella is a Norwegian manufacturing company of winter sports equipment, more specifically ski bindings. The name "Rottefella" refers to the three-pin binding invented by Bror With in 1927, inspired on a couple of rat traps he had seen in a ...

'' ("Rat Trap")

ski binding A ski binding is a device that connects a ski boot to the ski. Before the 1933 invention of ski lifts, skiers went uphill and down and cross-country on the same gear. As ski lifts became more prevalent, skis—and their bindings—became increasin ...

, which he developed in 1927. After victories at the

1928 Winter Olympics The 1928 Winter Olympics, officially known as the II Olympic Winter Games (french: IIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver; german: II. Olympische Winterspiele; it, II Giochi olimpici invernali; rm, II Gieus olimpics d'enviern) and commonly known as St. M ...

St. Moritz St. Moritz (also german: Sankt Moritz, rm, , it, San Maurizio, french: Saint-Moritz) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality ...

, this binding remained the standard for

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreatio ...

over the next 50–60 years. With was born and grew up in

Vestre Aker Vestre Aker (Western Aker) is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. It has a population of 50,157 as of 2020. The previous Aker Municipality was merged into the city of Oslo in 1948. The borough of Vestre Aker was organized as part of the 1 Ja ...

, Norway. He finished his secondary education at

Frogner School Frogner School ( no, Frogner Høiere Almenskole and subsequently ''Frogner Realskole og Gymnas'', commonly known as ''Frogner skole'') was a secondary school at Frogner in Oslo, Norway. The school was a continuation of the Gjertsen School, whic ...

in 1920 and graduated in 1925 from the

Norwegian Institute of Technology The Norwegian Institute of Technology (Norwegian: ''Norges tekniske høgskole'', NTH) was a science institute in Trondheim, Norway. It was established in 1910, and existed as an independent technical university for 58 years, after which it was m ...

. From the autumn of 1942, With served in ''

Milorg Milorg (abbreviation of militær organisasjon – military organization) was the main Norwegian resistance movement during World War II. Resistance work included intelligence gathering, sabotage, supply-missions, raids, espionage, transport of ...

'', the Norwegian resistance movement during the

Nazi occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the Norwegian Campaign, German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany control ...

. He served under the code name ''Granat-Larsen'' ("Grenade Larsen"). He was responsible for all

weapon A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, ...

s and their manufacture. During this time, he produced about 800 units of a local variant of the

Sten gun The STEN (or Sten gun) is a family of British submachine guns chambered in 9×19mm which were used extensively by British and Commonwealth forces throughout World War II and the Korean War. They had a simple design and very low production co ...

. He showed great ingenuity in camouflaging the real purpose of the manufacture of the various parts for the gun. He had to escape to Sweden towards the end of 1944. His later major inventions included the ''Dromedille'', a

dinghy A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...

that combines the advantages of a planing and a displacement hull. The name came from the concept being as difficult as making a cross between a

dromedary The dromedary (''Camelus dromedarius'' or ;), also known as the dromedary camel, Arabian camel, or one-humped camel, is a large even-toed ungulate, of the genus '' Camelus'', with one hump on its back. It is the tallest of the three species o ...

and a

crocodile Crocodiles (family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant ...

References

Other sources

* Kagge, Stein (1998). ''Fra Rottefella til Dromedillen: Bror With - et sant eventyr''. Oslo: Schibsted. 199 pp. . *
"Oppfinneren Bror With"
– Concise biography at the website of the

Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology ( no, Norsk Teknisk Museum) is located in Oslo, Norway. The museum is an anchor point on the European Route of Industrial Heritage. History The museum as an institution was founded in 1914 as a ...

*
"Bror With, aristokratiets Reodor Felgen: Bindinger, båter og bomber"
("Bindings, Boats, and Bombs") – Review of Kagge's book, printed in ''Båtmagasinet'' monthly

References

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