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{{Infobox military person
|name= Charles Granville Bruce
|image=General Charles Granville Bruce.jpg
|caption=Bruce as leader of the 1922 Everest expedition
|rank=[[Brigadier-General]]
|branch={{army|British India|23px}}
|commands=1st Bn the [[6th Gurkha Rifles]]
|unit=
|battles=[[World War I]]
|awards= [[Companion of the Order of the Bath]]<br>[[Member of the Royal Victorian Order]]
|family=
|nickname=
|allegiance= {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[United Kingdom]]
|birth_date={{birth-date|7 April 1866}}
|death_date={{death-date and age|12 July 1939|7 April 1866}}
|birth_place= London, England
|death_place= London, England
|placeofburial=
|serviceyears=
|other work=
| signature = Charles-Cranville-Bruce-signature.gif
}}
[[Brigadier-General]] [[The Honourable]] '''Charles Granville Bruce''', [[Order of the Bath|CB]], [[Royal Victorian Order|MVO]] (7 April 1866 – 12 July 1939) was a veteran [[Himalayas|Himalayan]] mountaineer and leader of the [[1922 British Mount Everest expedition|second]] and [[1924 British Mount Everest expedition|third]] British expeditions to [[Mount Everest]] in 1922 and 1924. In recognition of the former he was awarded a special prize at the conclusion of the first ever Winter Olympics.

==Background and early life==
Charles Granville Bruce was the youngest of the fourteen children of [[Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare]] (1815–1895) and Norah Napier (1827–1897). His father was born at [[Duffryn]], [[Aberdare]], attended [[Swansea Grammar School]], and trained as a [[barrister]]. In the 1830s, coal was discovered beneath the family's land, and with the development of the industry they became rich. Henry Bruce was stipendiary magistrate for [[Merthyr Tydfil]], 1847 to 1854, [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] [[member of parliament]] for [[Merthyr Tydfil (UK Parliament constituency)|Merthyr Tydfil]], 1852 to 1869, and [[Home Secretary]] in [[William Ewart Gladstone|Gladstone]]'s government, 1868 to 1873. He was created first [[Baron Aberdare]], of Duffryn, in 1873. His mother was youngest daughter of General Sir [[William Francis Patrick Napier]].

Bruce was educated at [[Harrow School|Harrow]] and [[Repton School|Repton]]. His early life alternated between the 'pompous formality' of [[Queen's Gate]], [[London]], the family home in [[Aberdare]], and a Scottish estate.

In [[Wales]], his mentor was a local farmer and inn-keeper, who in his youth had worked as a hunter in [[California]] and [[British Columbia]]. He taught the young Bruce how to hunt, find his way around the local hills, and drink. One of Bruce's most notable achievements was running down a "rough crew" of local poachers. Half a century later he was proud to list their names in his memoirs; "Bill the Butcher, Shoni Kick-O-Top, Billie Blaen Llechau, Dick Shon Edwards & Dai Brass-Knocker".
Bruce and the local game-keepers chased one poacher to the narrow alleyways and courts of Georgetown. The poacher was only caught when a furious husband found him snoring in his wife's bed and threw him out on the street. The gang were duly punished, but gained revenge by returning to Bruce's house and stealing all the weapons from his father's gun-room.

After leaving school, Bruce entered military college. He had huge physical strength, was an enthusiastic boxer and 300-yard runner, and in the 1880s represented England against France in an international running meeting.

In 1894 he married Finetta Madelina Julia Campbell, daughter of [[Sir Edward Campbell, 2nd Baronet]]

==Career==
In 1888, Bruce joined the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]] and became a career soldier serving with the [[5th Gurkha Rifles]] from 1889 to 1920, rising to the rank of [[Brigadier-General]]. As a young lieutenant he was posted to [[Abbotabad]], a British [[hill station]] in the [[Punjab (British India)|Panjab]], where he developed a passion for the locality, wrestling and climbing. Bruce had an akhara (wrestling pit) dug near his residence, where he practised on most days. Both the British and the [[Raja]]hs wagered thousands of rupees on professional wrestling matches and took pride in having the strongest sides. In the 1910s, Bruce was patron of the wrestler Rahim Sulaniwala, who went on to become a renowned champion (Summers 2000).

Bruce took a special interest in his Gurkha soldiers and became fluent in [[Nepali language|Nepali]]. He introduced hill racing to his Gurkha regiment and in 1891 took his champion runner Pabir Thapa to [[Zermatt]], in [[Switzerland]], to learn ice-climbing. On the way there, the two stayed at Aberdare, where Thapa enjoyed "running down" poachers. Despite his poor English, he was very popular with the locals. He disappeared for the last three days of his visit and was found living it up with some coal miners in [[Tonypandy]]. Bruce went on to train the Gurkhas in mountain-warfare. In 1897 he equipped his troops on the Northern Frontier with shorts, and is widely credited with their introduction to the British Army.

Bruce's climbing experience was impressive. He spent ten climbing seasons in the European Alps and took part in three of the earliest climbing expeditions to the [[Himalaya]]. In 1892, with a troop of Gurkha soldiers he accompanied Conway in his exploration of the [[Baltoro Muztagh|Baltoro]] region of the [[Karakorum]], visiting [[Muztagh Tower]], [[Broad Peak]] and [[K2]]. In 1893 he was with [[Francis Younghusband]] on a mission to the [[Hindu Kush]] to bestow recognition on Nizam-uk-Mulk as [[Chitral (princely state)|Mehtar]]. He and Younghusband were probably the first to discuss mounting an expedition to climb Everest. In ''Himalayan Wanderer'', Bruce says that it was Younghusband's idea. Younghusband says that it was Bruce's.<ref>Younghusband, ''Epic of Mount Everest'', 1926</ref> In 1895, Bruce joined [[Albert F. Mummery]] and Collie in their attempt on [[Nanga Parbat]], but he had to leave early because his army leave was up. In 1906–1907, he and Longstaff took another troop of Gurkhas to the [[Nanda Devi]] group, visiting [[Dunagiri (mountain)|Dunagiri]] and [[Kanchenjunga]], and climbing [[Trisul]].
{{quote|It is impossible to enumerate all the peaks seen, but when I state that in a country no greater than Carmarthenshire and Glamorgan, there are some 80 peaks all in the neighbourhood of 20,000 ft… it will give an idea… of that mighty range.}}

In 1915, Bruce went to [[Gallipoli]], in command of the 1st Battalion the [[6th Gurkha Rifles]]. After two months in the front line he was severely wounded and was transferred back to India.<br />
He had perpetual good humour, enthusiasm, and love of alcohol, coupled with competence and shrewdness. He was a superb raconteur, and a fount of bawdy stories. [[Francis Younghusband|Younghusband]] described him as "an extraordinary mixture of man and boy..... you never know which of them you are talking to".

Between 1923 and 1925 Bruce was president of the [[Alpine Club (UK)|Alpine Club]]. Because of his experience in the [[Himalaya]] he was appointed leader of the [[1922 British Mount Everest Expedition]], the first attempt to summit Everest. He was skilful in bridging the cultural divide between Sahib and Sherpa, and had long advocated training Indians in mountain techniques, with a view to forming a body of porters and guides like those in the European Alps. He called his men porters rather than coolies. He was particularly liked by the local peoples, and for the 1922 expedition collected a cohort of local men, and enthused them with an esprit de corps. He later christened an elite group of high altitude porters the ''"Tigers".'' He was universally admired by the expedition team; [[George Mallory]] in particular, liked and trusted him. Bruce was wary of oxygen apparatus, nevertheless, [[George Finch (chemist)|George Finch]] and [[Geoffrey Bruce (Indian Army officer)|Geoffrey Bruce]] (Charles's cousin<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Blakeney |first1=T.S. |title=In Memoriam: John Geoffrey Bruce 1896-1972 |journal=Alpine Journal |year=1973 |page=283 |url=http://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_1973_files/AJ%201973%20280-295%20In%20Memoriam.pdf}}</ref>) used oxygen to set a new altitude record of 27,300 feet on Everest, via the [[North Col]].

Bruce was appointed leader of the next effort to summit Everest, the [[1924 British Mount Everest expedition]]. Several stories of him survive the trip. On the trek to Tibet, two of his muleteers got drunk and bit a local Tibetan woman. As punishment he fined them, and made them carry the {{convert|36|kg|lb|-1|adj=on}} ''"treasury"'' (double the normal load carried) on a three-day march. Arthur Hinks, the rather mean-spirited secretary of the expedition committee seated in London, was exasperated by the official correspondence reaching London from the Himalayas.
{{quote|Captain Noel will be arriving in [[Darjeeling]] with a box forty foot long and I am currently scouring the country for an adequate mule.}}
{{quote|Please note that I am doing my best for this expedition. I have interviewed the Viceroy, I have preached to Boy Scouts, and I have emptied the poes in a [[dak bungalow|Dak Bungalow]]. This is the meaning of the term General. They are cheap at home, they are more expensive out here. Hurry up with that thousand [pounds] please.}}

Bruce contracted malaria while tiger shooting in India before the expedition, and had to be stretchered out of Tibet. [[Edward Felix Norton]] took on leadership, and would set a new height record of {{convert|8570|m|ft|abbr=on}} on the mountain, less than {{convert|280|m|ft|abbr=on}} below the summit. Two days later [[George Mallory|Mallory]] and [[Andrew Irvine (mountaineer)|Andrew Irvine]] disappeared on their summit attempt, and it is still argued  that they may have succeeded in completing Bruce's goal of having an expedition member reach the summit.

Bruce did not return to Everest. Between 1931 and 1936 he was Honorary Colonel of the 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles of the Indian Army. He died of a stroke in 1939.

==Expeditions==
[[File:Charles Granville Bruce.jpg|thumb|Charles Granville Bruce in 1910]]
* 1892: [[Karakoram]], with [[William Martin Conway]]
* 1895: [[Nanga Parbat]], with [[Albert F. Mummery]]
* 1907: [[Trisul]], with [[Tom George Longstaff]]
* 1922: [[1922 British Mount Everest expedition]], with [[Edward Lisle Strutt]]
* 1924: [[1924 British Mount Everest expedition]]

==Works by Bruce==
* ''[[s:Twenty Years in the Himalaya|Twenty Years in the Himalaya]]''. London: Edward Arnold, 1910
* ''Kulu and Lahoul. An account of my latest climbing journeys in the Himalaya''. London: Edward Arnold, 1914
* ''The Assault on Mount Everest 1922''. London: Longmans, Green & Co, 1922
* ''Himalayan Wanderer''. London: Alexander Maclehose & Co, 1934
* {{cite journal |last=Bruce |first=C.G. |date=16 October 1922 |title=Darjeeling to the Rongbuk Glacier Base Camp |journal=The Geographical Journal |volume=60 |issue=6 |pages=385–394 |doi= 10.2307/1781075|title-link=s:Darjeeling to the Rongbuk Glacier Base Camp |jstor=1781075 |ref=none}}

==See also==
* [[Timeline of climbing Mount Everest]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
* Summers, J., ''Fearless on Everest'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2000)
* [[Francis Younghusband|Younghusband, F.]], ''The Epic of Mount Everest'' (London: Arnold, 1926)

==External links==
{{commons category}}
{{Wikisource author}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=51247 |name=Charles Granville Bruce}}
* {{Librivox author |id=14684}}
* [[Kenneth Mason (geographer)|Kenneth Mason]], 'Bruce, Charles Granville (1866–1939)’, rev. Peter H. Hansen, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/32130 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography], Oxford University Press, 2004
* [http://www.thepeerage.com/p4317.htm The Peerage of Britain: Charles Granville Bruce]
* {{cite web |url=http://wbo.llgc.org.uk/en/s3-BRUC-GRA-1866.html |title=Bruce, Charles Granville |last1=Rees |first1=Ioan Bowen |website=Welsh Biography Online |publisher=[[The Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion]] |accessdate=2014-07-11|ref=none}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, Charles Granville}}
[[Category:1866 births]]
[[Category:1939 deaths]]
[[Category:Military personnel from London]]
[[Category:English explorers]]
[[Category:English mountain climbers]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Victorian Order]]
[[Category:People educated at Harrow School]]
[[Category:People educated at Bishop Gore School]]
[[Category:People educated at Repton School]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Alpine Club (UK)]]
[[Category:British Indian Army generals]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Younger sons of barons]]

Charles Granville Bruce - Revision history

Bot at 22:10, 10 April 2022