Balchen, Bernt, 1899-1973
Biographical notes:
Bernt Balchen (b. October 23, 1899, Tveit, Norway-d. October 17, 1973, Mount Kisco, New York), was an aviator, explorer, author, and Air Force officer. He participated in the Amundsen relief expedition in 1925, served as mechanic and stand-by crew member for the Amundsen-Ellsworth-Noble flight over the North Pole in the dirigible "Norge" in 1926, participated in the Byrd (1928-30) and Ellsworth (1934) Antarctic expeditions, and distinguished himself as a member of the OSS during World War II. He became a U.S. citizen in 1931 and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Alaska in 1954.
Bernt Balchen was born in Norway in 1899, became a pilot in 1921 and then served with the Royal Norwegian Naval Air Service. In 1929 he became famous as the first man to pilot a plane over the South Pole accompanied by Admiral Richard E. Byrd, the navigator and organizer of the Antarctic expedition. He was made a United States citizen in 1931, appointed a captain in the Army Air Corps in 1941, and placed in charge of constructing an air base in Greenland to ferry bombers to England during World War II. An expert in cold weather survival skills and rescue techniques, Balchen trained military personnel in those procedures to rescue downed airmen on the icecap of Greenland. Many of those practices are now universally used in cold weather search and rescue operations. After the war, Balchen worked with Norwegian Airlines, then returned to active duty with the U. S. Air Force where, in 1951, he was in charge of the construction of the air base in Thule, Greenland. Bernt Balchen retired from the Air Force in 1956 and worked as a consultant with engineering firms until his death in 1973. Colonel Balchen was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery and his grave is located next to that of Admiral Byrd.
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Information
Subjects:
- Antarctica Discovery and exploration
- Aeronautics
- Aeronautics
- Aeronautics, Military
- Air bases
- Air bases
- Air pilots
- Cold-weather aviation
- Explorers
- Norwegian Americans
- Scandanavian Airlines System
- Transatlantic flights
- World War, 1939-1945
- World War, 1939-1945
- World War, 1939-1945
- World War, 1939-1945
- World War, 1939-1945
- Aeronautics
- Air bases
- World War, 1939-1945
- World War, 1939-1945
- World War, 1939-1945
- World War, 1939-1945
Occupations:
- Air pilots, Military
- Airforce officers
- Air pilots
- Aviators
- Explorers
Places:
- Greenland, 00, GL
- Antarctica, 00, AQ
- Tveitane, 17, NO
- Arctic regions, ,
- Mount Kisco, NY, US
