William Pershing Benedict (July 20, 1918 – Aug 31, 1974) was an American pilot who was born in

Ruth Ruth (or its variants) may refer to: Places France * Château de Ruthie, castle in the commune of Aussurucq in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France Switzerland * Ruth, a hamlet in Cologny United States * Ruth, Alabama * Ruth, Arka ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

and raised in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He was a highly decorated World War II

fighter pilot A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and ...

who served in both the

RCAF The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environme ...

and the

U.S. Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. 18 months after joining the U.S. Army Air Forces, at 26 years of age, Benedict achieved the rank of

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

and was made Squadron Commander. He is best known for being the first American man to land an aircraft on the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...

Early life

Benedict joined the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

in July 1940. After training, he was sent to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

where he flew Spitfires, and was later transferred to

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

. In March 1942 he was assigned to 127 Squadron RAF. He was shot down on July 16, 1942, while flying a

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

, but parachuted to safety. On December 14, 1942, Benedict transferred to the U.S. Army Air Corps, where he flew

Curtiss P-40 The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and ...

s and later

P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

s. He returned to the U.S. on leave and married his Canadian fiancée on January 7, 1945. He then returned to Europe for the remainder of the war.

Landing at North Pole

The Soviet Union had already accomplished this task unbeknownst to the U.S. Government at the time.https://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/resources/infosheets/polarapproaches.pdf Wanting the Air Force to get credit for the first landing on the North Pole, General Old, Commander of the Alaskan Air Command, asked Major Benedict to take what he needed and command the first flight to land on the North Pole. The historic landing was accomplished on May 3, 1952, in a U.S. Air Force

C-47 The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (Royal Air Force, RAF, Royal Australian Air Force, RAAF, Royal Canadian Air Force, RCAF, Royal New Zealand Air Force, RNZAF, and South African Air Force, SAAF designation) is a airlift, military transport ai ...

modified with skis. Readings taken by the scientists accompanying Benedict and his crew verified that they were the first American men to set foot on the exact geographical North Pole.

Post-Air Force years

Benedict retired from the Air Force in 1962 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He then worked as a

firefighting Firefighting is the act of extinguishing or preventing the spread of unwanted fires from threatening human lives and destroying property and the environment. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter. Firefighters typically ...

pilot in California where he was killed in a plane crash on August 31, 1974, while flying a

Grumman F7F Tigercat The Grumman F7F Tigercat is a heavy fighter aircraft that served with the United States Navy (USN) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) from late in World War II until 1954. It was the first twin-engine fighter to be deployed by the USN. While ...

dropping fire retardant in the Ukiah area.

Literature

*Common, Charles A.: ''Born to Fly: Some Life Sketches of Lieutenant Colonel William H. Benedict'', self-published in 2002; revised in 2006. *Smith, E.A.W.: ''Benedict's Wars'', Red Leader Press, 2005. . *Thruelsen, Major Richard and Arnold, Lieutenant Elliot: ''Mediterranean Sweep'', chapter titled, ''The Scroungers'', pg. 63–79, Duell, Sloan, and Pearce, 1944.
Review
of Compton's book. (In Italian)
Transcript
of a 1997 interview with Fletcher, mentioning Benedict and the flight to the North Pole.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benedict, William Pershing 1918 births 1974 deaths Explorers of the Arctic American firefighters United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II United States Air Force officers Royal Canadian Air Force officers