WARREN — George Goldner, soon to be 99, served first in England and then in Germany some eight decades ago during World War II.

Goldner was born in Warren and grew up on a farm in the country, graduating from Jackson-Milton High School. He went to work at Peerless Electric in Warren until he was drafted into the Army Air Corps — which later became the Air Force — at the age of 21.

Goldner said he began his service in 1941, when he was sent to England to work in the control tower at an advanced training center for B-47s. The long-range bomber planes were capable of carrying nuclear bombs. Goldner helped guide pilots during takeoff and landing by ensuring their airspeeds were correct.

“We trained pilots to operate better when they went into actual service,” Goldner said.

Although Goldner was not on the front lines, the training center still could be a dangerous place.

“Some days we had more casualties at the air base than they did in actual combat,” Goldner said.

Goldner remembers when one pilot caught a cross wind and drifted off the runway during takeoff.

“He crashed into the tower carrying a 500-pound test bomb,” Goldner said. “The plane caught fire. Luckily, the bomb didn’t go off because it had safety features on it.”

The incident trapped Goldner in the communications tower for about 45 minutes while crews worked to put out the fire, he said.

“There wasn’t much you could do about it.”

When Goldner’s base in England was closed, he was sent to Nuremburg, Germany, where he worked in communications, sorting documents related to war crimes.

By then, the fighting in Nuremburg was over, Goldner said. He said the city was “terrible.”

“There was not much of anything left standing. It had all been blown up.”

Goldner saw many war criminals during his time in Nuremburg, but never met any.

“I didn’t want to really meet them,” he said.

After his service, Goldner returned to Warren and resumed his job at Peerless Electric. He retired after 45 years.

He and his late wife, Rhonda, had two boys, and now Goldner has “quite a few grandchildren and some great-grandchildren.” He still lives in Warren, now at Washington Square Nursing and Rehab Center.

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