Nils Waltersen Aasen

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Nils Waltersen Aasen (born March 29, 1877 in Stadsbygd parish, Rissa, died December 1925 in Wisconsin, USA) was a Norwegian arms inventor; he is credited with having created the modern hand grenade and land mine just prior to the first World War^[1].

[edit] Life

Aasen graduated from Festningsartilleriets underoffiserskole (non-commissioned officer school) in 1903. He started his experiments developing a hand grenade while serving as a sergeant at Oscarsborg fortress. He was encouraged in his work by the commander at Oscarsborg, former defense minister Georg Stang, who was a strong supporter in the reinforcement and modernization of the military, especially with the threat of a possible conflict with Sweden. Surprisingly the Norwegian department of defense showed little interest in Aasen's prototype. He then formed Det Aasenske Granatkompani (Aasen's Grenade Company) in Denmark, which towards World War I produced and exported large numbers of his grenade all over Europe. Apart from new types of explosives, trench mortars, airplane bombs and land mines he also created several inventions for civil use, but it was the development and production of arms that would bring him his greatest honors.

Just prior to World War I Aasen developed a powerful anti-personnel mine, "the automatic soldier," meant as a weapon of deterrence. The invention caused great enthusiasm within the French military but didn't see production before the war. During World War I Aasen was given the task of producing hand grenades for the French army. He would have 13 factories with 13,000 employees working throughout the war.

In 1917 his hand grenade was finally adopted by the Norwegian army, who later promoted him to premier-lieutenant for his efforts. Throughout his life he would receive a number of honorary degrees and awards, as well as medals, for his inventions. Most notably he was made an honorary colonel in the French army, and a Knight of the légion d'honneur in 1915.

Aasen's fortune was however greatly reduced as a result of bad financial speculations, and because he had never patented the rights to several of his inventions. He died from tuberculosis at the age of 48, while visiting the United States seeking finance.