Found this on my car forum. No link provided.



Some more info and pictures here: http://aviationartstore.com/franz_stigler_109f_2.htm

Interview with F. Stigler: http://109lair.hobbyvista.com/articles/pilots/stigler/stigler.htm


WW2 German fighter pilot saved U.S. bomber crew
Updated Sun. May. 11 2008 10:45 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Franz Stigler's death in Surrey, B.C., received little notice in the local press, but friends knew a remarkable story about the man -- he had been a decorated German fighter pilot who saved the lives of a U.S. bomber crew.

Stigler began his career as a German pilot at age 12, going on to make 28 allied kills in the Second World War.

On Dec. 20, 1943, American pilot Charles Brown was flying his first mission in his B-17 bomber. He had just dropped his bombs on a German aircraft factory when he was attacked by fighters from above and flak from below.

"I do remember being inverted (and then) pulling up over the trees," Brown, who now lives in Miami, told CTV's W-FIVE. "At this point (we were) totally helpless."

Brown's four-engine bomber was badly damaged. Three engines weren't working, there was hardly anything left of the tail and seven of 10 crew member were injured. Brown had a bullet fragment lodged in his shoulder.

That's when Stigler saw the bomber overhead, trying to limp home.

"I went after him (to) finish him off," Stigler said.

But when Stigler got close enough to see the American bomber, he saw Brown's bleeding wounds and realized he couldn't shoot. Instead, he did something that could have seen him court marshalled and shot for dereliction of duty -- he guided the B-17 out of Germany.

"Then he gave me a wave salute and then he left," recounted Brown.

All but one of Brown's crew lived to fight another day. The American pilot was left wondering what happened to the German who spared his life.

Then, in 1990, Stigler contacted him from his new home in Surrey, B.C.

"He almost broke my ribs, he gave me a big bear hug," said Brown.

Once sworn enemies, the men became close friends and met almost every year until Stigler's March 22 death at age 92.




I "borrowed" the photo from: http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=105373

This message has been edited. Last edited by: cawimmer430,

Nice Story !


The article state that Stigler began his flying career at age 12 - must have meant 22, right ?

quote:

Originally posted by ViktorViktor:
Nice Story !


The article state that Stigler began his flying career at age 12 - must have meant 22, right ?

Nah, he was a child prodigy turned fighter pilot!

I think you're right, it's a spelling error.

I wish I could have heard just one war story from him in person....

Wow, Stigler was shot down seventeen times by American bombers, six bailes and eleven times he rode his plane down! What an increadible career and a lucky person.


info from:

http://aviationartstore.com/franz_stigler_109f_2.htm

quote:

Originally posted by cawimmer430:

quote:

Originally posted by ViktorViktor:
Nice Story !


The article state that Stigler began his flying career at age 12 - must have meant 22, right ?

Nah, he was a child prodigy turned fighter pilot!

I think you're right, it's a spelling error.

..... It MIGHT be possible that the age 12 is correct if Herr Stigler was a participant in one of the pre-war glider training programs sponsored by the government.

In any case, I always appreciate reading such stories. They prove that the finer qualities of mankind will emerge even in war. It gives one hope for the future in a way.

Salute!

I am always glad to hear of such good things that can come from the horrors of war.

Sorry to hear of Mr. Stigler's death.I've got an autographed photo of him and a print of the encounter signed by both Stigler and Brown.

The world is short the gallantry of another 'Knight'.

I read from his interview that at the age of 12 he soloed in a glider (as a civilian) and after a number of years he "joined" the Luftwaffe as a flight instructor and fighter pilot.

I'd heard this story before but wasn't sure it was real or not. It's seems real after reading a few of the replies in this thread.

Nice story.

Fritz

You'd think he would have finished them off, to prevent one more crew's availability to bomb his home. But, some of these servicemen eventually come to a point or at least a moment where they can't kill another living creature.

P-47 pilot Quentin Aanenson went hunting after he went home, during which he shot a prairie dog or something. After that, he put up his rifle and never hunted again.

quote:

...
The article state that Stigler began his flying career at age 12 - must have meant 22, right ?

He died at 92 in March 2008....therefore born in 1915 or 1916. He would have been 12 in 1927 or 1928 as the german glider program was active and growing.

quote:

10 crew member

...makes you think...
Some 5,000 of B-17's were lost in WW2...
A lot of men have lost their lives in those bombers.

Right, that's where the huge numbers of airman deaths came from. Ten men in one blow. An older friend of mine related a story traveling to Iowa when he was a kid to attend his father's funeral along with the rest of his crew. The remains of the entire crew were represented in one coffin.

A heavy loss B-17 mission

Scroll down to pages 11-15.

quote:

Originally posted by DKoor:

quote:

10 crew member

...makes you think...
Some 5,000 of B-17's were lost in WW2...
A lot of men have lost their lives in those bombers.

and then the destruction those bombers could cause, the bombing of Dresden was 1300 bombers in 4 raids, killing an estimated 24-40000 people. Now imagine how much destruction could be caused by all those bombers on a full tour. so sad!

Makes one feel lucky to live in our times of relative peace.

That is one very spiritually uplifting story!

GREAT story. Thanks for sharing it

quote:

Originally posted by HayateAce:
Right, that's where the huge numbers of airman deaths came from. Ten men in one blow. An older friend of mine related a story traveling to Iowa when he was a kid to attend his father's funeral along with the rest of his crew. The remains of the entire crew were represented in one coffin.

Reminds me of a story in "First in combat with the Dora-nine":

A pilot crashed due to asphyxia (he forgot to switch on his oxygen).
As he was litterally falling out of the formation at about 8.000m, he hit the deck almost vertical at VERY high speed.

Of course, his friends immediately went to recover him (nobody had seen if he managed to bail..). When they arrived at the crash-scene, they found nothing but a huge crater bit a few bits and pieces of bent and burned aluminium (the usual crash-scene of a fighter that went in vertically).
They took a bucket, put a bit of grass into it and put anything inside the bucket that seemed to be human remains.
The crash scene was on a hill and as they decended from the hill, an infantry-unit crossed, carrying a coffin.
The infantrymen asked for the crash-site.
It was clear, they wanted to recover the pilot's body.
One of the Luftwaffe-guys then handed them over the bucked with what was left of the pilot.
"That's him! You won't find anything more of him up there - if you wanna collect some alu-bits, do it elsewhere!"

At first, the infantrymen couldn't understand!
They weren't used to such an amont of devastation!

There is a big difference between fighting the faceless machines of the enemy, and seeing the sufferings of another (human) being.

I read in the long interview that instead of navigating the bomber out from the combat area, he stayed with the bomber in order to prevent other German fighters from attacking it.