For Charlie Brown, a farm boy from
West Virginia, and his crew of “greenhorns” flying a B-17 Flying Fortress of
the 379th Bomb Group named “Ye Olde Pub”, their very first combat
mission to the German city of Bremen was looking almost certain to be their
last mission as well. One damaged engine had already been shut down and another
was surging; the aircraft had been so severely shot up that most control surfaces
were shredded and there were holes you could have driven a wheel barrow
through. Even with the help of co-pilot “Pinkey” Luke, the plane was barely
controllable and losing altitude rapidly. The tail gunner “Eckey” Eckenrode was
already either dying or dead, trapped in his cramped position, while radioman
Dick Pichout and waist gunner Lloyd Jennings were trying to save gunner
“Russian” Yelesanko from bleeding to death in the rear fuselage. What’s more
all of the fortress’s guns were frozen and unable to defend the wallowing
bomber from further attack by the Focke Wulf’s momentarily left behind. “Ye
Olde Pub” seemed doomed even as the cold Atlantic coast became visible in the
distance. At an altitude of only 2,000 feet and with badly wounded crewmen, it
was already getting late to consider abandoning ship, even if the crew had been
willing; and worse, they had blundered into the airspace over a German airfield
near the town of Jever.
To Luftwaffe fighter pilot Franz
Stigler waiting for repairs to be completed on his Messerschmitt Bf-109G, the
sound of an obviously damaged and low-flying enemy bomber overhead sounded like
a gift from the gods. Already an Ace, and one of Germany’s most experienced
fighter pilots, Franz needed only one more American bomber victory to wear the
coveted “Knight’s Cross” around his neck. With cannons charged, he quickly took
off and closed in on the stumbling B-17, wondering why the tail gunner failed
to send defensive fire his way. Carefully circling the crippled ship, he was
amazed that such a sieved and shattered airplane could still be flying, noting
as well the blood-stained crew members staring at him from behind silent guns.
Finally settling his fighter within a few feet of Charlie Brown’s watching
eyes, he motioned with a pointing finger toward the Swedish border, hoping the
American would fly to a neutral haven. Failing that, Franz made a decision
saying to himself, “I will not have this on my conscience for the rest of my
life”.
In the end, and at the personal risk
of court martial and a firing squad, Franz Stigler guided the crippled B-17
through Germany’s most deadly network of defensive anti-aircraft installations
(known as The Atlantic Wall”), and set them on a correct course for England before
giving a final salute and heading home. No Knight’s cross, but true to a
lifelong sense of honor and respect for humanity.
After negotiating a wild North Sea
crossing just feet above the waves, American P-47s finally led “The Pub” to a
safe landing at a newly-created B-24 base at Seething, England.
Charlie Brown and his crew would
survive 27 combat missions to become one of the most decorated bomber crews in
history, while Oberleutnant Franz Stigler ended up as one of a handful of
Luftwaffe pilots to fly the vaunted, but highly dangerous, ME-262 jet fighters,
along with his friend, iconic General Adolph Galland (known personally to Al
Cooper), surviving more than 500 combat missions with at least 17 planes shot
out from under him. (Of the 28,000 Luftwaffe fighter pilots to see combat in
WWII, a mere 1,200 lived to see the end of hostilities. 160,000 Allied airmen
lost their lives in those same European skies.)
Forty-one years after their
unforgettable encounter over Germany, Franz Stigler, then living in Vancouver,
Canada and Charlie Brown finally hunted each other down to form a brother-like
friendship which became the richest mutual experience of their long lives,
traveling together in order to tell the story of their tearful get-together and
firm bonding to aviation reunions and interested audiences in North America and
abroad. In their 80s, they died within months of each other in 2008.
Between Lt. Colonel Charles L. Brown, USAF
(Ret) and members of the “Olde Pub” crew, at least 100 children, grand-children
and great grand-children are alive today because of the decision made by 1st
Lt. Franz Stigler in the skies over Germany on December 20th, 1943.
NOTE: The whole story of this unusual series of events
and their powerful meaning is captured in splendid detail by author Adam Makos
in his best-selling book, A HIGHER CALL whose meticulous research spanned four
years and miles of international travel.
“A HIGHER CALL” © Valor Studios and John D. Shaw,
2009
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