Charles Brown was on his first combat mission during World War II when he met an enemy unlike any other.
Franz Stigler wondered for years what happened to the American pilot he encountered in combat.
Charles Brown, with his wife, Jackie (left), found peace after his reunion with Franz Stigler, with his wife, Hiya.
Dixie and I are listening to this as an audio book whenever we are in the car and it states that out of the 28,000 German pilots in WWII, only 1,200 survived the war.
Franz Stigler (a former airline pilot from Bavaria) was a veteran Luftwaffe fighter pilot attached to Jagdgeschwader 27 and at the time had 22 victories to his name and would be eligible for the coveted Knight's Cross with one more downed enemy aircraft.[1]
Excerpt
The German Officer had
several close calls during his years of combat. On one of his more
interesting missions he and others in his Me-109 Fighter Squadron
had to escort a flight of Stuka Dive Bombers after ships in the
Mediterranean. Someone in the command structure decided that the
Me-109 escorting fighters should also carry one 500-pound-bomb
Rather than dive-bombing as the Stukas did, the fighters were to go
down just above the water and release their bomb, skipping it onto
the ship. “So, when the Stuka started diving, we had to dive too. We
went past them because we were twice as fast as they were.
They were to drop on the
ship’s deck and we would try getting our bombs into the side of the
ship. As, I was closing in, I was to drop the bomb and jump over the
ship. So, that’s what I did. When I looked out on to my left wing,
there was the bomb coming with me!!” When Franz had dropped the
bomb, it had bounced off the water and was flying formation just off
his left wing. Rather than dropping down after passing the ship as
planned, he climbed rapidly to get away from the bomb, which could
only go down into the water. “I killed a lot of fish, I think”, he
joked.
Stigler engaged in combat as a Bf-109 pilot in Africa, Italy,
Central and Western Europe during his service with the Luftwaffe.
During his 487 combat missions in the Me-109, he had 28 confirmed
victories and was wounded 4 times. Herr Stigler finished the war
flying 16 more combat missions in the ME-262 jet, assigned to the
select JV-44, the celebrated Squadron of Experts (Aces), making him
one of the world’s early jet fighter pilots in combat.
I don't know where or when that I first read this story, but I still reread it every time that it pops up. And I still go through many Kleenex each time. Thanks for posting it.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading. Did you see the two videos in the link?
DeleteYes, wonderful. That was the 1st time that I've seen the videos.
DeleteYears ago I had an Industrial Arts teacher named John Hobart . He had been a navigator on a PBY flying boat doing recon missions over the Med. Sea . On one of these boring trips they had an encounter with an Me. 109 . Hobart said the thing appeared out of nowhere coming strait at them , passed by on one side looped around and came back on the other , the pilot appeared to be back throttling trying to slow down enough to match their speed . This plane carried no armament except the pilots 45cal. handguns . Mr. Hobart said " We could see his face plainly and I'm sure he could see us , faces bleached white , eyes bugging out and mouths agape , he had our lives in his hand " . None of them expected what happened next , the German kicked the plane over into a right bank and rolled away , disappearing as quickly as he came . To this day not only the crewmen of this aircraft , but I myself thank this gallant warrior for his act of decency at a time when the entire world was engaged inn a brutal ' winner take all ' bloodbath . I learned many things from this kind hearted gentleman , not only of the crafts but of morality , decency and work ethic . ......... In a way , I would not be the same person , were it not for this chivalrous hero who wore the enemy's uniform . W. Russell
ReplyDeletehis plane carried no armament except the pilots 45cal. handguns
DeleteGreat story and thanks, but they were armed with either a cannon or machine guns, so I don't understand your comment.
Brock , that had to have been around 67 or 68 the afternoon we sat there and listened to this . Old age memory omission I guess . Sad to say this fellow met a tragic end , he was murdered , stabbed to death . W.R.
DeleteYour teacher?
Delete