5/25/2023 0 Comments Ww2 bomber crew stories![]() You fight by rules to keep your humanity.” So Stigler pulled his finger from the trigger and rested his hand upon his rosary.įor his part, Stigler also had a rocky end of the war. Stigler would recall the words of one of his commanding officers telling him, “You follow the rules of war for you - not your enemy. I flew beside them for a long time, trying in some way to help they were trying desperately to get home, so I was going to let them do it.” The B-17 could not defend itself, Stigler concluded: “I didn’t have the heart to finish off this wonderful machine and its brave men. He also saw one of Brown’s gunners, covered with blood. There was a huge hole in the side of the fuselage, and the rudder was almost blown away. I flew in behind the plane, and I could see the gunner lying across his machine guns. Stigler remembered seeing Brown’s damaged Flying Fortress, “When I got near it, I could see that there was much damage to the nose and tail sections. Stigler had heard the American plane racing across the sky when he scrambled to go meet it. He was also the recipient of Germany’s Knight’s Cross, one of the country’s highest honors. He even flew a Messerschmitt 262 at the end of the war, one of history’s first jet aircraft. Born on August 21, 1915, Stigler shot down 28 Allied aircraft although he himself was shot down 17 times. Stigler was apparently a true fighter ace. The two arranged to meet and quickly became friends. He also had made inquiries over the years with no results, but he was to be in the United States that June as a guest of the veteran’s group of American fighter aces. Stigler introduced himself as the German pilot who expressed his happiness to learn that Brown and his crew had made it home. ![]() Over the ensuing decades, Brown made query after query until January 18, 1990, when he received a letter from Franz Stigler. His daughter would later recall, “I remember him having terrible wartime nightmares, waking up in a cold sweat every now and again.” Yet with the PTSD came the need to track down the enemy pilot who showed such compassion. A Quest of A LifetimeĬharlie Brown had made it home, but the war cast a shadow over his soul. Wikipedia A German Flak Cannon from World War II. Ye Olde Pub was said to be one of the most battle-scarred bombers in all of World War II, though unfortunately there are no photographs of it. ![]() It was a rough landing, but they were alive. Just as the plane was losing altitude and they would be forced to ditch into the sea, Brown saw the British coast and soon an airbase. It was a remarkable act of chivalry, but the dumbfounded Brown needed to save his plane, heading off as best he could toward Britain. His co-pilot said, “My God, this is a nightmare.”īut then, something amazing happened: the pilot nodded at them, saluted, and broke away. The German fighter was painted black a night fighter. Then Brown looked out and saw a Messerschmitt 109 about a yard away from his wing. The German fighters mauled the bomber and the crisis for the Americans mounted the Flying Fortress only had one of its eleven guns working. Brown recalled, “I was scared, I don’t give a damn who knows it.” The Flying Fortress then started taking fire in its rear and soon its radio room. 50 caliber twin guns while another opened up with the nose gun, attack the fighters ahead of the B-17. ![]() One of Brown’s crew poured gunfire out of. There were at least six FW-190s that bore down on Ye Olde Pub. Messerschmitt 109, the type of fighter Franz Stigler’s flew when he spared Brown’s Flying Fortress.
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