Ulrich Steinhilper Ulrich Steinhilper ( 14 September 1918 – 20 October 2009 ) was a World War II Luftwaffe fighter ace who made numerous attempts to escape after he was shot down and captured . As a post - war IBM typewriter salesman , he was an early proponent of word processing , considered by some to have either coined the phrase or even originated the concept . Early life . Steinhilper was born in Stuttgart , Germany , during a World War I air raid . His father was a teacher . In 1936 , he was allowed to graduate early from high school after passing the test for Luftwaffe flight training . World War II . Luftwaffe ace . He earned his " Pilotenabzeichen " ( Pilot ' s Badge ) and in 1939 was assigned to " Jagdgeschwader " ( fighter wing ) 433 , where he was Adolf Galland ' s adjutant . As the youngest officer , he was also made the " Staffel " " Nachrichtenoffizier " ( communications officer ) , a job no one else wanted ( or even knew much about ) . Steinhilper learned that he was supposed to provide pilots with ground - to - ground and ground - to - air communications using two 1 . 5 kilowatt radio stations and two field telephone units . He tried hard to promote the use of radios , but most pilots were against the idea , among them Galland , considering the equipment an unnecessary additional weight and the concept a waste of their time . Steinhilper managed to demonstrate its advantages during a large training exercise commanded by General Hugo Sperrle involving a simulated bombing attack on Stuttgart , only to have the results dismissed by Galland and ignored by the rest . His unit , now redesignated I / JG 52 , was assigned to protect the Ruhr region in the west during the 1939 invasion of Poland in the east . Steinhilper saw sporadic combat in the Battle of France , flying a Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter . Beginning in August 1940 , he participated in the Battle of Britain . In two months , he flew over 150 sorties against England , seven in a single day . He became an ace . He destroyed two or three Spitfires on the ground at RAF Manston on 19 August , but it was not until 19 September that he got his first aerial victory , another Spitfire . According to one source , his other four aerial victims were two Spitfires on 24 September , another on 30 September , and a Bristol Blenheim on 4 October . He was shot down on 27 October over Canterbury , possibly by fellow ace Squadron Leader Archie McKellar or by Sergeant Bill Skinner of 74 Squadron , and made a prisoner of war after parachuting to safety . ( The " substantial remains " of Oberleutnant Steinhilper ' s Bf 109E were recovered in 1980 and are displayed in the Dowding Memorial Hangar of the Kent Battle of Britain Museum . ) Escape attempts . In January 1941 , he was sent across the Atlantic Ocean to Canada to be interned in Camp W in Neys , Ontario , or Camp 30 in Bowmanville , Ontario . He made his first escape on 23 November , remaining at large for two days before being recaptured at Niagara Falls , Ontario . He tried again several weeks later , managing to reach Montreal . On his third attempt , on 18 February 1942 , he and a friend made it to Watertown , New York , United States , before being caught . He was then transferred to Camp 20 in Gravenhurst , Ontario , where he made two further unsuccessful breakouts . After the end of the war in 1945 , he was returned to Germany and released in late 1946 . IBM and later life . Post - war , he worked at several jobs before being hired by IBM Germany . As an IBM typewriter salesman , he coined the word " " Textverarbeitung " " ( " word processing " ) in 1955 . A number of sources even credit him with originating the concept . However , Thomas Haig , an assistant professor in the University of Wisconsin — Milwaukee ' s School of Information Studies , wrote in the " IEEE Annals of the History of Computing " that the English term preceded the German , though he conceded that the latter " was the first to achieve any currency " . Steinhilper tried to get IBM Germany interested in the concept , but without much success . In 1971 , when the idea finally began to be accepted , IBM gave him an Outstanding Achievement Award and a trip around the world in recognition of " having authored and promoted it . " He wrote four autobiographical books . Four were published in English : " A Spitfire on My Tail " , " Ten Minutes to Buffalo " and " Full Circle " detail his wartime experiences , while " Don ' t Talk – Do It ! " covers his post - war life . The first three were also published in German . Ulrich Steinhilper died on 20 October 2009 at the age of 91 in his native Stuttgart .