Arne Austeen DFC (1 July 1911 – 4 May 1945) was a Norwegian flying ace who was killed during World War II. He was born in

Stokke Stokke is a town in Sandefjord municipality in Vestfold County, Norway. It lies in-between Sandefjord and Tønsberg, two of Vestfold's largest cities. It was a municipality from 1838 to 2016. The administrative centre of the municipality was the ...

in Vestfold, Norway to parents from

Brunlanes Brunlanes is a parish and former municipality within Larvik municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It was annexed by Larvik on January 1, 1988. The administrative centre of the municipality was located in the adjacent villages of Nevlunghavn an ...

and Ås. He took a degree in machine engineering at the

Norwegian Institute of Technology The Norwegian Institute of Technology (Norwegian: ''Norges tekniske høgskole'', NTH) was a science institute in Trondheim, Norway. It was established in 1910, and existed as an independent technical university for 58 years, after which it was m ...

, and pilot training in the Norwegian Army Air Service. He settled in

Gjøvik is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Toten. The administrative centre of the municipality is town of Gjøvik. Some of the villages in Gjøvik include Biri, Bybrua, and Hunndalen. The ...

where he worked for Øveraasen Motorfabrikk og Mekaniske Verksted. During the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany he fled the country during the winter of 1941. Austeen joined the Royal Norwegian Air Force training camp at Little Norway in southern Ontario. In the summer of 1942, Austeen was transferred to the United Kingdom to join the Allied aerial forces. On 14 October 1942, Austeen was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross. Promoted to Major, he took over leadership of the No. 331 Squadron RAF from 1 October 1943 to 15 March 1944. In the summer of 1944, Austeen was ordered to Yorkshire as chief engineer. In February 1945, Austeen returned to active service and took command of the British 126 squadron stationed at RAF Bentwaters. He was killed in action in the vicinity of

Flensburg Firth Flensburg Firth or Flensborg Fjord (german: Flensburger Förde; da, Flensborg Fjord) is the westernmost inlet of the Baltic Sea. It forms part of the border between Germany to the south and Denmark to the north, on the eastern side of Schleswig ...

during May 1945, shortly before the war's end. No trace was found of Arne Austeen or of his

P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...

. He was decorated with the St. Olav's Medal With Oak Branch, the

War Medal A war medal is a military decoration awarded in time of war, as opposed to a service medal. It may refer to, for example: *War Medal (Norway) *Campaign medal *Global War on Terrorism Service Medal *British War Medal, British Empire medal for servi ...

, the

Haakon VII 70th Anniversary Medal Haakon VII 70th Anniversary Medal is a Norwegian military award, which was instituted by King Haakon VII of Norway on 27 October 1942. It was awarded in recognition of military personnel who served in the Norwegian armed forces in Britain on the ...

and the Distinguished Flying Cross. The road ''Austeens veg'' in Gjøvik has been named after him.

References

Related reading

*Jefford, C.G (1988) ''RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912'' (Airlife Publishing) *Shores, Christopher F. & Clive Williams (1966) ''Aces High: The Fighter Aces of the British and Commonwealth Air Forces in World War II'' (Shores & Williams) {{DEFAULTSORT:Austeen, Arne 1911 births 1945 deaths Norwegian Institute of Technology alumni People from Gjøvik Norwegian Army Air Service personnel of World War II Norwegian World War II flying aces Norwegian expatriates in the United Kingdom Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Germany Aviators killed by being shot down Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal with Oak Branch Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Norwegian Air Force personnel of World War II Norwegian military personnel killed in World War II