Awesome A2A session with some Warbirds. The B-17 featured in the Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler incident
The incident occurred on 20 December 1943, after a successful bomb run on Bremen, 2nd Lt. Charles "Charlie" Brown's B-17F Flying Fortress Ye Olde Pub of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) was severely damaged by German fighters, and had fallen out of formation, left behind by other bombers with only a few engines running. Luftwaffe pilot Franz Stigler was on the ground, repairing a bullet lodged in his radiator when Brown's aircraft flew low nearby his airfield, Stigler seeing this and seeing it as an opportunity to score the last kill of a bomber kill award. When he intercepted the bomber, he had the opportunity to shoot down the crippled bomber but did not do so, and instead escorted it over and past German-occupied territory so as to protect it. The American bomber aimed the roof mounted turret at Stigler under Brown's request, but did not open fire as Stigler descended. When they left occupied coasts, Stigler saluted Brown from the left side of the aircraft and flew back home. After an extensive search by Brown, the two pilots met each other 50 years later and developed a friendship that lasted until Stigler's death in March 2008. Brown died only a few months later, in November of the same year. Source: Wikipedia
F6F Hellcat and B-17 Flying Fortress (Ye Olde Pub)
R5
57 · f/9 · 1/100 · ISO 200
Congratulations on the selection of PotD !
Thank you, Frank. Much appreciated
Certainly a fantastic photograph...in retrospect, my father was a Flak 88mm gunner in Berlin...as beautiful as a picture may look, there is a lot of devestating suffering behind it...
Matthias, i trust you had the chance to talk to your father about his experiences. One can never romanticize the act of war. However, there are moments, like the B-17 incident, that serve as a silver lining in humanity, where friend and foe can respect life and each other.
Hello Marius...There were never any glorious war stories from him...he was just a 16 year old kid in 1945...the worst part and horrific memories he told me about, was that it was mandatory to visit the crash sites of the downed American and British bombers...those memories would haunt him for the rest of his life...as the Soviets moved in to Berlin, he was able to fight his way to the Elbe river and was taken as a POW by the Americans...he said they treated him very well and he made many friends for life...a much better option than being a POW in Soviet captivity...
All the best...Matthias