🛫Ben Smotherman was a B-17 pilot who was shot down on his 7th mission over occupied Europe in 1943. He was captured and ended up in the POW camp Stalag Luft III. While he was interned, he drew and painted his experiences in the camp. He also created the intrepid war correspondent Penny, the star of one of the camp newspapers comic strips. His daughter, astronaut Dr Jan Davis, joins us to tell us about her father through the pages of his war log.

📖Get your copy of Air Born: Artistic Musings of a WWII Pilot and POW by Jan Davis from Ballast Books here: https://ballastbooks.com/purchase/air-born-artistic/

📖Get your copy of Air Born: Two Generations in Flight by Jan Davis from Ballast Books here: https://ballastbooks.com/purchase/air-born/

Visit Jan's website at: astronautjandavis.com

Follow Jan on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/AstronautJanDavis/

Follow Jan on X here: https://x.com/astro_jan

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The Damcasters © 2025 by Matt Bone is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

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0:01 Welcome to the Damcasters

2:35 Meet Ben Smotherman

20:30 Life in Stalag Luft III

31:47 The Adventures of Penny

44:22 The Journey Home

47:10 Wrap Up

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