Balchen, Bernt, 1899-1973
Norwegians
Americans,
Norwegian,
English
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.
b. Born, Tviet, Norway
1916
Degree in forestry engineering, Forestry School, Moseby,
Norway
1920
1921
Trained as a pilot in the Norwegian Royal Naval Air Force,
Horten, Norway
1924
Commissioned flight lieutenant, Norwegian Royal Naval Air
Force
1926
Mechanic for Roald Amundson's dirigible flight over North
Pole
Assisted Richard Evelyn Byrd in preparations for flight over
North Pole in trimotor Fokker Josephine Ford
1927
Relief pilot, Richard Evelyn Byrd's transatlantic flight in
trimotor Fokker America; given control of the
plane when weather deteriorated and landed successfully in waters off the
French coast
1929
Piloted first flight over the South Pole for Richard Evelyn
Byrd
1930
Granted U.S. citizenship by special act of Congress
1933
1935
Chief pilot, Lincoln Ellsworth's antarctic expedition
1935
1940
Chief inspector, Norwegian Airlines (Norske
luftfartselskap)
1941
1943
Appointed captain in U.S. Army Air Corps and charged with
constructing an air base in Greenland to ferry bombers to England
1942
Promoted to colonel; awarded Distinguished Flying
Cross
1943
1945
Named chief of the Allied Air Transport Command for
Scandinavia and the Soviet Union; actively supported Norwegian underground
resistance movement
1946
1948
President, Norwegian Airlines
1948
Returned to active duty with U.S. Air Force; commanded the
Tenth Search and Rescue Squadron, Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska
1951
1956
Special assistant on Arctic affairs to the secretary of the
air force
1951
Project officer for construction of air base at Thule,
Greenland
1956
Retired from the U.S. Air Force
1958
Published autobiography
Come North with Me. New York: E. P. Dutton and
Co.
1959
Consultant, General Precision Laboratory, Pleasantville,
N.Y.
1966
Consultant, Engineering and Program Development Department,
General Dynamics, New York, N.Y.
1973, Oct. 17
Died, Westchester County, N.Y.
From the guide to the Bernt Balchen Papers, 1917-1998, (bulk 1928-1980), (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)
Biographical/Historical note
Links to collections
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Information
Subjects:
- 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
- Antarctica Discovery and exploration
- World War, 1939-1945
- World War, 1939-1945
- World War, 1939-1945
- World War, 1939-1945
Occupations:
- Airforce officers
- Air pilots
- Aviators
- Explorers
- Air pilots, Military
Places:
- Greenland, 00, GL
- Antarctica, 00, AQ
- Tveitane, 17, NO
- Arctic regions, ,
- Mount Kisco, NY, US
