Remembering the words of one of his commanding officers from the Jagdgeschwader 27, Gustav Rödel, during his time fighting in north Africa – “You are fighter pilots first, last, always. To the American pilot's surprise, Stigler did not open fire on the crippled bomber. Through the damaged bomber's air frame Stigler was clearly able to see the injured and incapacitated crew. He soon took off in his Messerschmitt Bf-109 and quickly caught up with Brown's plane. He regained the controls and began the long flight home in the shattered bomber.īrown's damaged bomber was spotted by Germans on the ground, including Franz Stigler, who was refueling and rearming at an airfield. Lacking oxygen, Brown lost consciousness, but came round to find the bomber remarkably flying level at around 1000 ft. Most of the crew were now wounded (the tail gunner had been killed) and Brown was wounded in his right shoulder. The bomber's only remaining defensive armament were the two dorsal turret guns and one of three forward-firing nose guns (from eleven available). The bomber's internal oxygen, hydraulic and electrical systems were also damaged. Further damage was sustained including the number three engine which would produce only half power (meaning the aircraft had at worst 40% of its total rated power available). Attacks by fighters īrown's straggling B-17 was now attacked by over a dozen enemy fighters (a mixture of Bf-109s and FW-190s) for over 10 minutes. The damage slowed the bomber and Brown was unable to remain with his formation and fell back as a straggler – a position from which he would come under sustained enemy attacks. Before the bomber released its bomb load, accurate anti-aircraft flak shattered the Plexiglas nose, knocked out the number two engine and further damaged the number four engine which was already in questionable condition and had to be throttled back to prevent overspeeding. The mission was Brown's first and targeted a Focke-Wulf aircraft production facility in Bremen.īrown's B-17 began its 10-minute bomb run at 27,300 feet with an outside air temperature of minus 60 ☌. Franz Stigler (a former airline pilot from Bavaria) was a veteran Luftwaffe fighter pilot attached to Jagdgeschwader 27 and at the time had 22 victories to his name and would be eligible for the coveted Knight's Cross with one more downed enemy aircraft. Charlie Brown (a farm boy from West Virginia) was a B-17F pilot with United States Army Air Forces (USAAF)'s 379th Bomber Group stationed at RAF Kimbolton in England. The two pilots met each other 40 years later after the extensive search by Charlie Brown and the friendship that the two developed lasted until their deaths. Luftwaffe pilot and ace Franz Stigler had an opportunity to shoot down the crippled bomber, but instead, for humanitarian reasons, decided to allow the crew to fly back to their airfield in England. The Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler incident occurred on 20 December 1943, when, after a successful bomb run on Bremen, Charles 'Charlie' Brown's B-17 Flying Fortress (named "Ye Olde Pub") was severely damaged by German fighters. Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler incident Air combat summary
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