News of Norway, issue 5, 1999
Norwegian Bernt Balchen, born in Tveit on October 23, 1899, was America's greatest Arctic expert of modern times. Most notably he was the first pilot to fly across the South Pole. Somewhere in between his aviation and Arctic exploration, Balchen made a major impact during World War II. From a base in Greenland, Balchen flew many spectacular rescue missions, saving the lives of numerous U.S. flyers whose planes had gone down on the icecap. There he found his life's challenge - to solve the problems of flying in the polar regions.
Official "Bernt Balchen Day"
The Sons of Norway have declared October 23, 1999, the centenary of the birth of Bernt Balchen, to be "Bernt Balchen Day". Several events are planned in order to recognize Balchen's achievements. The Sons of Norway also has three lodges named after Balchen.
"Virtually every Norwegian has followed Fridtjof Nansen and Roald Amundsen's accomplishments, but ,strangely, very few know about Bernt Balchen," comments Carl Jacobsen, President of Sons of Norway's Washington Lodge.
Bernt Balchen's list of achievements goes on and on. He served as a cavalryman in the Finnish Army, which fought against the Russians in World War I. During battle Balchen nearly died after being severely wounded by an enemy bayonet. In 1921, he became a pilot in the Norwegian Naval Air Force. While working as a pilot/engineer in Spitsbergen, Norway in 1925, he acquired his first experience in polar flying as Commander of aerial missions for Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen (first to the South Pole on skis) and American explorer Lincoln Ellsworth.
War hero
Amundsen was also a friend of Balchen's parents. In his biography Balchen writes that, when Amundsen asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, he answered: "I want to be an explorer and go on an expedition with you." As history shows - he realized both of these dreams.
After emigrating to the United States in 1926, Balchen was the hero of Richard E. Byrd's 1927 transatlantic flight in the Fokker trimotor monoplane "America," when then plane was forced to circle fog-covered Paris for three hours with fuel tanks nearly empty. He then flew back to the coast and successfully ditched the plane in the Atlantic, thereby saving all aboard. From 1928 to 1930, he served as Chief Pilot of the Byrd Antarctic Expedition, piloting the first flight from the Bay of Whales to the South Pole and back on November 29, 1929.
When Germany invaded Norway at the beginning of the World War II, Balchen joined the British Royal Air Force ferrying bombers to England. Transferred to the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1941, he spent the next two years building air bases in Greenland so that aircraft being ferried from the United States to Great Britain would have airports to refuel. Aiding the Norwegian underground, he led air operations that helped drive the Germans out of northern Norway.
With his diplomatic and persuasion skills, Balchen established a covert air transportation system among England, the Scandinavian countries, and Russia. Not one of the aircrafts flying these missions was lost in action, and the number of evacuees exceeded 4,300 peoples.
Aviation Hall of Famer
After the war Balchen played a major role in the development of the Scandinavian Airlines System. When he was recalled to active duty in 1948, Colonel Balchen took command of U.S. Air Force (USAF) rescue operations in Alaska. In 1949 he piloted the first flight from Alaska across the North Pole to Norway, which made him the first to pilot an aircraft over both the North and South Poles.
After retiring from the USAF in 1956, Balchen continued to serve the Air Force on special assignments and aviation and energy industries as a consultant until his death on October 17, 1973.
Bernt Balchen was awarded the Harmon Trophy for his arctic achievements. He is a knight of the Order of St. Olav, and in 1976 he was inducted into the International Aerospace Hall of Fame.
Facts
Events to recognize Bernt Balchen's birth, organized by Sons of Norway's Washington Lodge:
- Friday, October 22, 7:00 p.m.: Slide presentation and panel discussion on the life of Bernt Balchen, followed by a reception, Caucus room of the Cannon House Office Building.
- Saturday, October 23, 11:30 a.m.: Graveside memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery.
- Saturday, October 23, 6:30 p.m.: Testimonial dinner, Bethesda Naval Center Officers' Club.
"Today goes fast and tomorrow is almost here. Maybe I have helped a little in the change. So I go on to the next adventure looking to the future but always remembering my teammates and the lonely places I have seen that no other man saw before." (inscription on Bernt Balchen's headstone)