German Air Force

Franz Stigler

NCY-152

On 20 December 1943, Franz met the B-17 bomber named "Ye Olde Pub" and its crew for the first time, but it would not be the last. Franz had shot down 2 B-17s earlier on that day and he soon caught up to this wounded B-17 flown by Charles Brown. Lining up to finish the bomber and shoot it down, he noticed the tail gunner never moved the guns. Upon further inspection of the airplane he saw through the large holes in the fuselage a frantic crew trying to save the lives of their fellow airmen. "Franz felt like this was shooting men in their parachutes". Stigler motioned to Brown to land his airplane because of the extensive damage. However, Brown flew on and when they reached the North Sea coast Stigler saluted Brown and broke formation to return to base. Stigler never spoke of this incident as he could have been court-martialed. Charles Brown told his commanding officers, who chose to keep the incident secret. Years later, Charles Brown searched for the German pilot who let them live that day, and eventually the two pilots met face to face, half a century later.