He nodded at the American pilot and began flying in formation so German anti-aircraft gunners on the ground wouldn’t shoot down the slow-moving bomber. You fight by rules to keep your humanity.” Alone with the crippled bomber, Stigler changed his mission. Yet, Stigler, in his Me 262 “White 3” could also hear the voice of his commanding officer, who once told him: “You follow the rules of war for you–not your enemy. If someone reported him, he would be executed. A German pilot who spared the enemy, though, risked death in Nazi Germany. He could trace his family’s ancestry to Knights in 16th century Europe. Stigler wasn’t just motivated by vengeance that day. He eased his index finger off the trigger. Pressed his hand over the rosary he kept in his flight jacket. The German pilot Luftwaffe Major Franz Stigler What happened next was one of the most remarkable acts of chivalry recorded during World War Il. Instead of pressing the attack, he nodded at Brown and saluted. He stared back at the bomber in amazement and respect. But when Brown and his co-pilot, looked at the fighter pilot of the Jagdgeschwader 11 under command of Oberstleutnant Hermann Graf, again, something odd happened. It was five days before Christmas 1943, and the fighter had closed in on their crippled American B-17 bomber for the kill. The men were looking at a gray German Messerschmitt fighter hovering just three feet off their wingtip. “My God, this is a nightmare,” the co-pilot said.”He’s going to destroy us,” the pilot agreed. But his co-pilot stared at the same horrible vision. He blinked hard and looked again, hoping it was just a mirage. The second was awarded to the 1st Bomb Division as a whole for flying without fighter protection to bomb aircraft factories at Oschersleben on 11-01-1944.Ĭharles glanced outside his cockpit and froze. The B-17 Flying Fortress Group was awarded two Distinguished Unit Citations, the first for operations across the period beginning 28-05-1943 to 31-07-1944. The 379th Bomb Group (H) (heavy), based at Kimbolton, flew more sorties than any other Bomb Group in the Eighth Air Force nickname: ”The Mighty Eighth” under command of the famous of the “Doolittle Raid” on Japan, Major General James Harold “Jimmy” Doolittle and dropped a greater bomb tonnage than any other Group. Half his crew was wounded, and the tail gunner was dead, his blood frozen in icicles over the machine guns. His bomber had been shot to pieces by swarming fighters, and his plane was alone, struggling to stay in the skies above Germany. In December, 1943, a severely battered B-17, called Ye Olde Pub commanded by 21 year old Lieutenant.Charlie Brown, on his first combat mission, with his co-pilot, Spencer “Pinky” Luke, was heading home after a bombing mission over Bremen, Germany. After training he finaly became a pilot and flew the B-17 bomber in the 379th Bomb group. Brown, Charles Lester “Charlie”, born 22-10-1922 in Weston, Lewis County, Virginia, United States, a farm boy, joined the USA airforce after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |