Elmer bendiner biography for kids
Elmer Bendiner (February 11, – September 16, ) was an American writer and journalist.!
Elmer Bendiner was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in Following the death of his father his family moved to New York City, where he spent much of his.
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 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, 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 parted” for us