Understanding the message and certain that the bomber was finally out of German airspace, Stigler departed with a salute.Īmerican Oncology Institute (AOI), Hyderabad elevates Cancer Care in Telangana with the launch of AI-powered Ethos Radiotherapy, becoming an Advanced Comprehensive Cancer Centre in the Region. Brown, still unsure of Stigler's intentions, ordered his dorsal turret gunner to target his guns on Stigler but not open fire, to warn him off. He then flew near Brown's plane in close formation on the bomber's port side wing, so that German anti-aircraft units would not target it, and escorted the damaged B-17 across the coast until they reached open water. Stigler later told Brown he was trying to get them to fly to Sweden. However Brown and the crew of the B-17 did not understand what Stigler was trying to mouth and gesture to them, and so flew on. Twice Stigler tried to persuade Brown to land his plane at a German airfield and surrender, or divert to nearby neutral Sweden, where he and his crew would receive medical treatment and be interned for the remainder of the war. I saw them and I couldn't shoot them down." Stigler instead recalled the words of one of his commanding officers from JG 27, Gustav Rödel, during his time fighting in North Africa: "If I ever see or hear of you shooting at a man in a parachute, I will shoot you myself." Stigler later commented, "To me, it was just like they were in a parachute. To the American pilot's surprise, the German did not open fire on the crippled bomber. Through openings torn in the damaged bomber's airframe by flak and machine gun fire, Stigler was able to see the injured and incapacitated crew. He soon took off in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 and quickly caught up with Brown's plane. Brown's damaged, straggling bomber was spotted by Germans on the ground, including Franz Stigler (then an ace with 27 victories), who was refueling and rearming at an airfield. Many of the crew were wounded: The bomber's exterior heavily damaged. This left the bomber with only two dorsal turret guns plus one of the three forward-firing nose guns for defense. Several of the gunners' weapons had jammed. The bomber's internal oxygen, hydraulic, and electrical systems were also damaged, and the bomber had lost half of its rudder and port (left side) elevator, as well as its nose cone. Further damage was sustained, including to the #3 engine, reducing it to only half power. Brown's struggling B-17 was attacked by over a dozen enemy fighters of JG 11 for more than ten minutes. 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. Luftwaffe pilot Franz Stigler 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. 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. The Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler incident occurred on 20 December 1943, when, after a successful bomb run on Bremen, 2nd Lt.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |