WENDORF-EDWARD

FIRST  DAY  OF  AERIAL  COMBAT

Edward George Wendorf was born on February 22, 1922, and grew up in the small central Texas town of West.  He enrolled at the University of Texas with a football scholarship and played for two years before entering the Navy shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor.  He was commissioned in June 1943 and after earning his wings, joined Fighting Squadron Sixteen (VF-16) aboard USS LEXINGTON in October 1943.  The following excerpts from the book, “F6F HELLCAT AT WAR,” describe some of the remarks made by CDR Wendorf in an interview he made describing his first day in aerial combat.

“I reported to VF-16 and they were flying F6F Hellcats which I had not previously flown.  I was given an F6F handbook to read and the next morning passed a blindfold cockpit checkout.  I was immediately placed in a cockpit, given a chase pilot to walk me through the essentials, and I did one familiarization flight.  That afternoon I flew formation and did some gunnery runs on a towed sleeve.  The next morning I conducted field carrier landing practice.  The next day I flew to the LEXINGTON and proceeded to make six landings.  I was now a qualified Hellcat pilot and was going to battle with a total of ten flight hours and six carrier landings.”

“On December 4, 1943, I had a very exciting day.  It was my first day in actual combat.  Our flight was to be middle cover for the SBD and TBF bombers at ten thousand feet.  We saw no air opposition and proceeded on our secondary mission – strafing planes on the ground, antiaircraft emplacements, and targets of opportunity.  On my initial fun, I felt a couple of bumps from AA fire and knew I had taken several hits.  As I completed my strafing run, I saw a Japanese Betty bomber trying to sneak out at a low altitude.  I pursued and put several rounds into him.  It caught fire and plunged into the ocean.  My radio had been disabled on the first run by AA hits and I had no radio, so I thought I had better join up with some friendlies.  I spotted a flight of four just below me but as I joined up with them I discovered they were four Japanese Zeros.  They had not seen me come out of the sun, so I opened fire on the outside plane, and he began to burn and exploded.  I then slid over onto the number three man and did the same with him.  By this time the leader had seen me and turned around and got on my tail.”

“As I was shooting down the number two man, my plane began to shudder and I saw pieces flying off my wing.  I had just started to look around the rear armor plate when a bullet came through the cockpit and hit me in the left temple just outside of my left eye.  I dove and as I was recovering, blood began to spill and spurt on my left hand.  I was able to pretty much stop the major flow but it was still bleeding quite profusely.  I had no radio and was alone, so I decided to try to return to LEXINGTON.  I had stopped the flow of blood to a trickle.  I flew for about 45-minutes but did not see a ship.  I began to do an expanded square search and on the second leg I spotted a wake.  It turned out to be the USS YORKTOWN.  They were preparing to launch and couldn’t take me aboard.  They soon recognized I had no radio and was from LEXINGTON.  They made a pointer of white canvas with a big “10” written on it, indicating the direction and distance to LEXINGTON.  I proceeded and soon observed her.  I made two passes and was waved off both times for not having my tail hook and flaps down.  My tail hook had been damaged and I couldn’t lower it and I had no hydraulic pressure for the flaps, both due to hits from the earlier AA fire.”

“On the third pass, I was flying with one hand on the stick and holding my bleeding head to keep the blood from flowing into my good eye.  They waved me in and at the proper time gave me the cut signal.  I reached over with my right hand and cut the throttle, and then grabbed the stick again to make my flare for landing.  I had a long rollout and was virtually stopped when I hit the barrier and my Hellcat tipped onto its nose.  I was quite bloody as it had seeped down my arm, then my leg and into my shoes.  After they pulled me out of the plane, I attempted to walk and was quickly told to get my butt onto a stretcher.   I was taken to sickbay, being ever so thankful for what I was sure was divine intervention and for being back safely aboard my ship.”

Over 220 bullet holes were reportedly found in the Hellcat which was later used as a promotion exhibit during War Bond Drives.  When his wound healed, Wendorf returned to flying duty and later became an “Ace” with a total of six victories.  He remained in the Navy for 24-years before retiring in January 1966 with the rank of Commander.  He died on February 10, 2013, and is interred at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego next to his first wife and his memorial marker carries the inscription:  CDR – US NAVY – PURPLE HEART – WWII – KOREA – VIETNAM.

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)