At Christmas, A German Fighter Escorted An Injured B-17 To Safety-Here, They Meet Again

At Christmas, A German Fighter Escorted An Injured B-17 To Safety-Here, They Meet Again | World War Wings Videos

During The Horrors Of The Great War, Stories Like These Were Few.

Lieutenant Charlie Brown was a B-17 bomber pilot during World War II and right before Christmas of 1943, found himself in a bad spot. His bomber and crew were in shambles after a mission, the plane itself barley staying together. Unable to do anything but keep flying, Lt. Brown saw that a Messerschmitt Bf 109 was right on him with not a thing he could do about it.

“There parked on my right side is a Bf 109, that little sucker looked like he owned me and belonged there. I sort of closed my eyes like you would in a nightmare, but when I opened them he was still there.”-Charlie Brown, WWII Pilot

Lieutenant Franz Stingler, a German fighter ace, was on a mission to shoot down any and allย Allied bombers. Seeing that Brown’s plane was not a threat anymore however, he decided to escort him to safety.

During the interview, he said that it would be like shooting a man in a parachute after he bailed out and it was something he just couldn’t do. ย This honorable actย was not an easy one to make, however, as Stingler risked both being somehow attacked by the B-17 as he flew up to offer assistance, and also retaliation from his own government if anyone saw him doing so.

The end of this story is a 40-year friendship that developedย between the two pilots after the war and as you’ll see in this video, these men really care forย one another.

YouTube video

Donโ€™t Miss Out! Sign up for the Latest Updates