Balderston, Robert Walter

Frederick “Fred” Emery Balderston (born August 15, 1923) and Robert “Bob” Walter Balderston (born November 10, 1924) grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in a prominent Quaker family.  The United States had been involved in World War II for almost two years when Fred, then a student at Deep Springs College in California, and Bob, enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, joined the war effort.  As Quakers, they objected to fighting in the conflict and received permission from the draft board to serve as volunteer ambulance drivers with the American Field Service (AFS).  On January 16, 1943 the brothers set sail from New York City with AFS unit ME 37 and arrived in Port Tewfik, Egypt on March 21, 1943.  As part of AFS C Platoon of 485 Company, the Balderston brothers traveled alongside the British Army to Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, Italy, and India between 1943 and 1945.  During their service they transported wounded Allied and Axis soldiers, and sometimes German prisoners of war and Italian civilians, in ambulances donated by Americans through AFS.

While volunteering with AFS, Bob worked as a clerk for his commanding officer, James R. Ullman, who described him as “charming and lovable” in a letter to his parents, C. Canby and Ida Balderston.  In 1944 he was put in charge of the canteen for C Platoon.  His responsibilities included purchasing, collecting, and securing food supplies, and he worked to supplement those supplies with fresh fruit and nuts available in the region.  He also delivered the supplies to each post with the help of a driver.  The canteen work required a lot of travel and could be difficult logistically, but it appealed to Bob because, by his own admission, there was always plenty to eat.

Both brothers were repatriated in 1945 upon the end of wartime hostilities. After the war, Bob attended the University of Colorado, Boulder, where he met Dorothea “Dode” Ellingson.  After marrying, the couple moved to Oregon in 1950 to help manage the Ellingson Lumber Company. 
Bob never had children but was described as a “favorite uncle” of Fred’s four children: Daniel, Jonathan, Sara, and Thomas Balderston.

Bob passed away at the age of 88 on October 1, 2012.  He was survived by Dode, his wife of 62 years, who passed away in 2013.

[Bio courtesy of AFS Archives, New York]

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Bob and Dode moved to Englewood, Colorado in 1958