Balchen, Bernt, 1899-1973

Bernt Balchen (23 October 1899 – 17 October 1973) was a Norwegian pioneer polar aviator, navigator, aircraft mechanical engineer and military leader. A Norwegian native, he later became a U.S. citizen, and was a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross. His service in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II made use of his Arctic exploration expertise to help the Allies over Scandinavia and Northern Europe. After the war, Balchen continued to be an influential leader with the U.S. Air Force, as well as a highly regarded private consultant in projects involving the Arctic and aviation. Balchen was born at the farm Myren in Tveit, just outside Kristiansand, Norway. After having finished Norwegian middle school in 1916, he attended a Forestry School from 1917–1918.[2] Next he enrolled in the French Foreign Legion, and his unit was assigned to the Verdun front in World War I.[3] In 1918, before seeing action, Balchen was recalled to Norway. He transferred to the Norwegian Army, and was sent to an artillery school, where he graduated shortly after. Balchen continued to work in consultancy until his death. In his final year, he was diagnosed with bone cancer, and he died at Mount Kisco, New York in 1973.[30] Balchen was buried at the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. He is buried in Section 2, Grave 4969, next to Admiral Richard E. Byrd.

Bernt Balchen papers ... Diaries; logbooks; autobiographical notes; research file of Balchen's wife, Audrey S. Balchen; scrapbooks; photographs; and other papers relating to Balchen's career in aviation and exploration. Documents his service as pilot on Richard Evelyn Byrd's 1927 transatlantic flight and on Antarctic expeditions with Byrd (1928-1930) and Lincoln Ellsworth (1933-1935); his World War II service with the U.S. Army Air Corps (later the Army Air Forces) including construction of an air base on Greenland and support for the Norwegian underground resistance movement; and his work with Norske luftfartselskap (Norwegian Airlines) in the 1930s and 1940s. Includes Balchen's log (1926) for the trimotor Josephine Ford; drafts of his autobiography, Come North with Me : An Autobiography (1958); and an interview with Balchen by Ben Kocivar.