The center of the grassy open area in the waterside park.

The statue is about 12 feet tall of Bernt Balchen in a Polar Expedition uniform standing on the wing of an aircraft; the statue has a shiny metal finish.

The statue remembers the Polar Explorer, Norwegian-American Bernt Balchen.  During World War 2 he was instrumental in many successful operations in Scandinavia. He established the  Bluie West-8 Base in Greenland and in 1944, Balchen became the commander of the Allied Air Transport Command for Scandinavia and the USSR, with a secret base in Leuchars, Scotland. This became part of the Carpetbagger Operation (OSS), involving the organization of an air route to Sweden using civilian plan markings and unmarked, black aircraft used for flights into Norway to supply underground forces and to carry out bombing missions. Close to 4,000 Norwegians were safely transported through the Sweden air route to England. His command supported Norwegian forces and helped in the evacuation of 70,000 Russians from slave labor camps in northern  Norway (This operations were named: Project Sonnie; Project Sepals; Operation Carpetbagger (Norway & Sweden); Operation Ball; Operation Where and When -see this website for memorials remembering this Operations) (Reference: 1999 US Congressional Record:  A Tribute to Brent Balchen)

Balchen accomplishments are many and the Aviation Hall of Fame best summarizes his incredible accomplishments:

Bernt Balchen  

Colonel O-6,  U.S. Air Force

Veteran of:

French Foreign Legion 1917

Finnish Army 1918

Royal Norwegian Naval Air Service 1921-1926

U.S. Army Air Forces 1941-1946

U.S. Air Force 1948-1956

World War I 1917-1918

Finnish Civil War 1918

World War II 1939-1945

Cold War 1945-1956

 Tribute:

Bernt Balchen was born on October 23, 1899, in Tveit, Norway. During World War I, he served in the French Foreign Legion, the Royal Norwegian Army, and was wounded while serving with the Finnish Army during the Finnish Civil War in 1918. Balchen joined the Royal Norwegian Naval Air Service in 1921 and was commissioned as a Naval Aviator in 1924, where he served as a test pilot and arctic explorer. He was the pilot on the trans-Atlantic flight in the America in 1927, and was the pilot for the first aircraft flight over the South Pole with the Byrd Antarctic Expedition in 1929. During the 1930's, Balchen became a U.S. Citizen, helped create the Norwegian Airlines and the Nordic Postal Union, and he helped negotiate an aviation treaty with the United States. He joined the British Royal Air Force at the outbreak of World War II, and was commissioned in the U.S. Army Air Forces on September 5, 1941. Col Balchen built, organized, and commanded Bluie West-8 base in Greenland from October 1941 to January 1943, and then operated a courier air transport service between Britain and Sweden, as well as other clandestine missions, from January 1943 until the end of the war. He left active duty on April 20, 1946, and then helped organize the Scandinavian Airlines System until returning to active duty with the U.S. Air Force on October 11, 1948. Col Balchen served as commander of the 10th Air Rescue Squadron at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, from November 1948 to July 1950, and then as a staff officer with Alaskan Air Command from July 1950 to January 1951.During this time, he flew an aircraft non-stop from Alaska to Norway in 1949 to become the first person to pilot an airplane over both poles. Col Balchen next served as advisor for the construction of the Air Force Base at Thule, Greenland, before serving as the Assistant for Arctic Activities at Headquarters U.S. Air Force in the Pentagon from August 1951 until his retirement from the Air Force on October 31, 1956. He was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1973 Bernt Balchen died on October 17, 1973, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

His quote on his grave at Arlington National Cemetery reads:

"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 thinking back to the past, remembering my teammates and the lonely places I have seen that no man ever saw before..."

 Special thanks to the OSS Gjefsjoen Group for assistance with this memorial.  

The text on the plaque at the base of the statue is written in Norwegian and reads in English:

Upper plaque:

1899-1999

The statue of the Flight Pioneer

COLONEL BERNT BALCHEN

Born in Tveit, Ocober 23, 1899

Died USA October 17, 1973

Buried in Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington, Virgina USA

Lower Plaque:

Monument donated by the Kristiansand City

Sons of Norway “ Bernt Balchen” Lodge

Dedicated by King Harald V

Kristiansand 23.10.1999