A Christmas miracle was developing at the time. The German ace Franz Stigler’s Bf 109 was poised for an easy kill since the American B-17 bomber was crippled and defenseless
On December 20, 1943, an act of peace and dignity took place in the sky over Northern Germany during World War II, in a time of suffering, death, and misery. After attacking Bremen, an American bomber crew was trudging home in their severely damaged B-17. They were met by a German fighter pilot in a Bf 109. They were rivals and had vowed to shoot one other from the skies. However, what happened between the bomber crewmen and the fighter pilot that day and how the narrative turned out decades later beggars belief. Never before had it occurred, and it hasn’t since. In the broadest sense, what happened might be one of the most amazing tales in the annals of combat.
A Christmas miracle was developing at the time. The German ace Franz Stigler’s Bf 109 was poised for an easy kill since the American B-17 bomber was damaged and defenseless. Stigler had never seen a B-17 this damaged, and they were close to the German coast. He wondered, “My God, how are you still flying.” Charlie Brown, a rookie American pilot, had an identical thought inside the bomber’s cockpit.
His bomber had been destroyed in an air duel. Charlie noticed something as he leaned over to examine an engine. A gray Bf-109 was flying there, three feet from his wingtip. When Charlie opened his eyes after closing them, the German was still standing there. Charlie came to the conclusion that he would destroy them.
Instead, Franz made a remarkable gesture by nodding at Charlie. Franz had transformed while in presence of his adversary. To revenge the death of his brother, a pilot who was killed early in the war, he had only turned to fight. Franz, however, made the decision to stop the circle of violence, spare the bomber, and escort it out of Germany while standing next to the helpless B-17. He led the bomber to the North Sea, saluted the American pilot, and then took off after deciding that life was worth more than death.
The mysterious German ace who held his fire gave Charlie and his fellow airmen optimism that they would eventually make it back to England. After the terrifying mission, Brown actually wrestled his B-17 “Ye Olde Pub” back to England. P-47s who had also taken part in the attack over Bremen came across “The Pub,” amazed at the damaged bomber, and assisted in escorting her to a secure landing at Seething Air Base in England as Brown struggled to maintain his aircraft in the air.
Franz’s life, however, was now in danger. Just four days before Christmas, a charming German village lay below, warm and welcoming. But a war was going on. Franz would have been executed as a traitor if anyone had accused him of sparing the enemy. Fortunately, no one noticed Franz’s marks, and he lived to see the end of the war.
Charlie would never forget Franz’s gesture. In his old age, Brown looked for Franz all over the world, and in 1990 they reunited—not as former enemies but as brothers who had been separated for 46 years. In the ensuing years, their friendship grew to the point that Stigler himself considered Brown to be as precious as the brother he had lost.
The story is taken from A HIGHER CALL: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II by Adam Makos and Larry Alexander.
Print credit: “The Guardian” by Nicolas Trudgian. Prints are available at ValorStudios.com and “The Guardian Returns” by Nicolas Trudgian.