During his time with Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27—27th Fighter Wing) in the North African Campaign, he was involved in scandal with falsifying claims; his victories were mostly false because he would claim to have shot down enemy aircraft during missions in which other squadron members did shoot down aircraft to save face.

Bendert was born on 9 September 1914 in Schwiebus, present-day Świebodzin in western Poland, at the time in the Province of Brandenburg within the German Empire.

[3] At the time, the Staffel was commanded by Oberleutnant Hermann Hollweg and subordinated to the newly created II.

For the first weeks, the Gruppe conducted various flight exercises before on 10 February they were ordered to move to Döberitz.

Gruppe was placed under the control of the Stab (headquarters unit) of Jagdgeschwader 51 (JG 51—51st Fighter Wing) under command of Oberst Theo Osterkamp.

[5] World War II in Europe had begun on Friday 1 September 1939 when German forces invaded Poland.

Gruppe, as a subordinated unit to JG 51 was controlled by Jagdfliegerführer 2, Oberst Kurt-Bertram von Döring, and was deployed on the right flank of Luftflotte 2 (Air Fleet 2), supporting the attack of Army Group B against the Netherlands.

[6] Bendert claimed his first aerial victory on 12 May over a Bristol Blenheim bomber of the Royal Air Force (RAF).

Staffel flew a combat air patrol and encountered a flight of Blenheim bombers north of Rotterdam.

[9] Here, the Gruppe was tasked with patrolling the Dutch coast until 5 August when they received orders to relocate to an airfield at Crépon, located northwest of Caen on the English Channel.

In this aerial battle, Bendert claimed a misidentified Curtiss P-36 Hawk fighter shot down.

[12] On 6 September, Bendert claimed his sixth in total and last aerial victory of the Battle of Britain when he shot down a Spitfire fighter near Tonbridge.

[15] The Gruppe, as with most of the Luftwaffe, was then withdrawn for the imminent invasion of the Soviet Union for a brief 9-day participation in Operation Barbarossa.

Staffel transferring south on 16 September and was based at an airfield in Ain el Gazala.

[18] In North Africa, Bendert flew in the Schwarm made up of Oberleutnant Ferdinand Vögl, the commander of 4.

[19] This Schwarm of JG 27 was prevented from flying together after fellow pilot Hans-Arnold Stahlschmidt reported that he saw them shooting into the dunes of the desert during a mission in which they claimed 12 aerial victories.

[20] Following his 40th aerial victory claimed, Bendert was awarded the Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe (Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe) on 18 September 1942 and the German Cross in Gold (Deutsches Kreuz in Gold) on 15 October for 42 aerial victories claimed.

Staffel of Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe Süd, a supplementary training unit for fighter pilots based at Salon-de-Provence, as an instructor.

Gruppe was under the command of Major Werner Schröer and based at Saint-Dizier Airfield and fighting in defense of the Reich.

Gruppe was scrambled at Saint-Dizier and intercepted approximately 150 bombers without escorting fighter protection shortly after 14:00 over the Palatinate.

[26] On 11 January 1944, VIII Bomber Command targeted German aircraft production in central Germany, attacking the cities Halberstadt, Magdeburg, Oschersleben and Braunschweig.

[27][28] On 8 March, the Eighth Air Force attacked the Berlin area, destroying the VKF ball-bearing plant at Erkner.

Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 53 (JG 53—53rd Fighter Wing) near Magdeburg where they engaged in aerial combat with a B-17 formation.

[32] According to Obermaier, Bendert was credited with 55 aerial victories claimed in 610 combat mission over the Western Front and North Africa, including ten four-engined heavy bombers.