Elmer bendiner biography of michael
The author, Elmer Bendiner, was a Jewish U.S. Army Air Corps navigator who flew in the nose of B flying fortresses during World War Two and this is his..
It's by following the latter course that Bendiner created his memoir, and in this, three particular missions stand out: A mission to Kassel.
WHEN MY DADDY WENT TO WAR...: Mystery of unexploded shells
By CAROLYN BOWDEN
SOMETIMES, IT’S NOT REALLY JUST LUCK: Elmer Bendiner was a navigator in a B-17 during WWll.
He tells the following story of a World War II bombing run over Kassel, Germany, and the unexpected result of a direct hit on their gas tanks.
“Our B-17, the Tondelayo, was barraged by flak from Nazi antiaircraft guns.
That was not unusual, but on this particular occasion our gas tanks were hit.
Later, as I reflected on the miracle of a 20 millimeter shell piercing the fuel tank without touching off an explosion, our pilot Bohn Fawkes, told me it was not quite that simple.
On the morning following the raid, Bohn had gone down to ask our crew chief for that shell as a souvenir of unbelievable luck.
The crew chief told Bohn that, not just one shell but 11, had been found in the gas tanks. 11 unexploded shells where only one was sufficient to blast us out of the sky. It was as if the “sea had been part
