Evening star., 1943-07-03
Flashes Of Lightning
Help Kensington Pilot
Land Fortress
BY THOMAS X. HENRY,
Star Staff Correspondent.

Star Staff correspondent.
UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
BASE, North Africa (By MaiD.-
A forced landing in trackless
desert by the light of intermittent
lightning flashes after the Flying
Fortress of which he was the pilot
had grazed a hillside in enemy terri
tory is the narrowing experience of
1t. Sidney C. Buck, 109 Saul road,
Kensington, Md.
It happened just before the close
of the African campaign on a bomb
ing mission over Bizerte. AS the
bomber squadron came over the
target the roofs of the city and the
ship-fllled harbor were hidden by
low clouds.
There was one little hole in the
cloud cover through which the whole
group tried to make its way. 1t.
Buck, whose plane was one OF the
last in formation, bumped into =
flying cloud and the hillside at
about the same time. The horizon
tai stabilizer of the bomber was
knocked out of commission, making
1t necessary for the pilot to hold
the wheel with his knees In order
to keep the craft under the control.
Finds Field.
1t. Buck was without maps. The
rest of the formation had disap-
reared in the clouds. He turned
south toward the desert, hoping to
run into clear weather. The skies
shook with thunder and flashed
with lightning.
Through one hole in the clouds
he saw what looked like lighted
town. When he descended toward
it hoping for a chance to unload his
bombs it turned out to be a field
covered with the campflres of nomad
Arabs.
BY this time gas was down to the
last few drops Above the clouds 1t
was clear starlight, below a pitch
black night The landing lights
would not work The plane was
over rough mountains. The crew
decided that 1t would be better to
take a chance on a crash landing
than pale OUT.
In the brief instant of lightning
flash 1t. Buck spotted a dry river
bed. AS he came down another
lightning flash showed that he was
headed straight into the side of a
mountain. He made quick turn
to avoid smash. The bomber hit
the ground hard, bounced, hit again
and skidded to a stop against a
sand dune.
Bombs Wreck Plane.
Two of the engines we're blaz-
ing after the first bump. Pilot
and crew ran for safety. They had
reached the shelter of dune about
300 wards away when five of the II
bombs in the bomb bay exploded,
blowing the plane to bits and scat
tering the fragments like shower
of flax. The tail gunner got a
fractured shoulder, 1t. Buck a
broken nose.
They were lost and shelterless in
the desert. Reconnaissance, however,
brought them to some nomad Arab
tents where they were able to get
food, water and directions to the
nearest town where there was a
French garrison. An Arab mes
senger was employed. The French
brought truck as far in to the
desert as possible-tWo hours walk
from the scene of the crash landing.
A stretcher was rigged up on an
Arab camel for the wounded tail
gunner. The rest walked over the
blazing sands to the truck which
carried them to the town.
Chevy Chase High Graduate.
1t. Buck, the son of Mr. and Mrs.
Philip E Buck, joined the Air Corps
In September, 1o4l He was grad
uated from Bethesda Chevy Chase
High School in June 1888, and at
tended the University of Maryland
for three years.
He went overseas last fall.
An officer of the bomber group OF
which 1t. Buck is one of the ablest
pilots is Maj. Frank Dunnington,
4517 Ridge street, Chevy Chase.
A native Of the District, Maj. Dun
nineton was a civilian employe of
the War Department for % years
before being commissioned in the
Army Air Forces on April 13, 1912.
He received his training at Hirris-
burg, Pa. and later was stationed
at posts in Utah. Washington, New
jersey and Pennsylvania. He was
assigned to foreign service shortly
after Easter of this year.
Son Also in Army.
Mai Dunnington's wife and two
daughters. Doris and Carolyn, live
at the Chevy Chase address, and a
con, Donald. is an Army lieutenant
now stationed in Tennessee.
T. Other Washingtonians at this same
North African airfeld are Radio
Mechanic James w. Bennett, for
merly of the Soil Conservation
Service at Beltsville; Grew Chief
Alvin B. Crawford, TOO block of New
Jersey avenue; Airplane Mechanic
Edward Godfrey, National Univer-
Oily Id" ~ duudtC wiz was Shit1iOS ~
at the General Accounting Office:
1t. Emory D. Toresdahl, former clerk
In the Adjutant Generals Office;
James B. Kemphfer, TOO block OF
Georgetown road, Bethesda; Sergt.
irving w. Palmer. Takoma Park:
Corpl. Lloyd G. Loudermilk, $3.50
Illinois avenue, and Louis E. Hall,
1900 block of N street NV.
. Sergt. Palmer joined the Army
IN March. 1912. and has been over
seas for two months Prior to his
Induction. he was employed by
Western Union.
a Mother Lives at Denton.
He lived with his father, Clarence
E. Palmer, at 405 Ethan Allen ave-
nue. in Takoma Park He has two
sisters, Mrs. Helen Belt and Miss
Adele Palmer, and two brothers,
William E. and Robert. who will be
tnducted into the Army Tuesday.
Mrs. Ruth Palmer, his mother, lives
at Denton, Md.
Corpl. Loudermilk was born in
Huntington, w. Va, but lived in
Washington at the Illinois avenue
oddress and was an emDl0ye of the