On December 20, 1943, he was taking off from RAF Kimbolton airfield. (England) the B-17 bomber, called Ye Olde Pub , of the United States Air Force (USAF) with the mission of bombing an aircraft factory in Bremen (Germany). The aircraft's crew consisted of Bertrand O. Coulombe, Alex Yelesanko, Richard A. Pechout, Lloyd H. Jennings, Hugh S. Eckenrode, Samuel W. Blackford, Spencer G. Lucas, Albert Sadok, Robert M. Andrews, and al in front of all of them the young lieutenant Charles L. Brown .
Ye Olde Pub Crew
They managed to carry out the mission but at a high price… the tail gunner was dead and 6 more crew members were injured, the nose was damaged, two engines were hit and of the remaining two only one had enough power, the fuselage was seriously damaged by the impacts of the anti-aircraft batteries and the German fighters, even the pilot Charlie Brown came to lose consciousness momentarily. When Charlie woke up he was able to stabilize the plane and ordered that the wounded be treated.
Just when he thought they would have enough to keep the aircraft in the air, the worst came... a German fighter on the tail . Everyone thought their time had come, but instead of firing the fighter paralleled the bomber. Charlie turned his head and saw the German pilot making hand gestures at him. It stayed that way for a few moments, until the lieutenant ordered one of his men to climb into the machine gun turret... but before he could carry out the order, the German looked Charlie in the eye, made a gesture with his hand and left. left. With great difficulty, and after traveling 250 miles, Ye Olde Pub managed to land in Norfolk (England). Charlie told his superiors what had happened but they decided to hide that act of humanity. But the lieutenant didn't forget... why hadn't he shot them down?
In 1987, 44 years after that event, Charie began searching for the man who had spared their lives despite knowing nothing about him, let alone if he was still alive. He put an ad in a publication for fighter pilots:
I am looking for the man who saved my life on December 20, 1943.
From Vancouver (Canada), someone contacted him... it was Franz Stigler . After exchanging several letters and phone calls, in 1990 they managed to meet.
It was like meeting a brother you hadn't seen for 40 years
After several hugs and a few tears, Chrarlie asked Franz:Why didn't you shoot us down?
Franz explained that when he got on their tail and had them in his sights to fire, he only saw a plane that was barely staying in the air, without defenses and with the crew badly injured... there was no honor in shooting that down. aircraft, it was like shooting down a skydiver. Franz had served in Africa under Lieutenant Gustav Roedel , a knight of the air, who instilled in them the idea that in order to survive morally a war should be fought with honor and humanity; otherwise, they would not be able to live with themselves for the rest of their days. That unwritten code saved their lives . He tried to lead them out of there, but had to give up as they approached a German control tower; If Franz had been discovered, he would have been sentenced to death.
For several years they shared their lives and in 2008, six months apart, they died of heart attacks. Franz Stigler was 92 years old and Charlie Brown 87 .
Brown and Stigler with a picture of the reconstruction