Sgt. Sidney A CHRISTOPHERSON - B-25 Combat N. Africa, 1942, 12th BG, 434th BS.

http://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/17aug2017-above-beyond-180963936/ Sergeant Sidney Christophersen’s diary resides at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Riverside, Ohio. The note on the sketch of him indicates it was made in Constantine, Algeria in 1944, but the artist’s signature is not legible. (Courtesy the Walter Christophersen Collection (Ar.2012.011) via the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force) By WALT CHRISTOPHERSON (ARTICLE and PHOTO CREDIT)_

"Quiet Nights in Tunisia" Sidney's diary and personal journey… (all war is hell)

Returning to base in Tunisia after an air strike, an American B-25 bomber descended, the five crewmen unaware they were seconds away from a fiery disaster.

86 landed and rolled about 100 yards or so along the ground when a “hung” wing bomb apparently dropped off, blowing up the ship. Lieutenant Gruesser, pilot, Lieutenant Simmons, bombardier, and Tech Sergeant Humeston were blown out of the ship and taken to the hospital. P.O. Watkins, copilot, and Sergeant Robertson (Royal Canadian Air Force), radioman, burned in the ship. Lieutenant Simmons died at the hospital about 2 a.m.

That description comes from the diary of my uncle, Sergeant Sidney Christophersen of the U.S. Army Air Forces’ 434th Bombardment Squadron, 12th Bombardment Group. The date was April 29, 1943. The 434th was helping Britain’s Eighth Army and other Allied forces push German troops out of North Africa. His job was repairing bombers damaged during air raids.

I knew Sidney as a young child, my head about as high as his belt, but we weren’t close. I don’t recall us ever having a conversation. A skinny bachelor from Chicago with a receding hairline, wire-rimmed eyeglasses, and a thin mustache, he made this entry the day after the explosion: Read more at http://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/17aug2017-above-beyond-180963936/#3XH0yy34IDdSMDjx.99_

Barbi Ennis Connolly, 57th Bomb Wing Historian and Historical Researcher for WWII. MY dad/321st BG, 447th BS, T/Sgt Edward C Ennis, Airborne RADAR/Radio/Aerial Gunner would arrive in N. Africa shortly after this entry, early 1943. PrincessbarbiB25@msn.com God Bless our brave men._

Sidney A Christophersen