In the middle of the most brutal aerial warfare of World War II, a remarkable act of humanity took place high above the frozen skies of Germany.
It was December 20, 1943, and an American B-17 Flying Fortress, riddled with holes and struggling to stay in the air, was about to be finished off by the Luftwaffe. But what happened next defied all logic and expectations. A German fighter pilot—an enemy ace—chose mercy over duty, and spared the crippled bomber in a story that would remain hidden for decades.
The Crippled B-17 “Ye Olde Pub”
On that day, 21-year-old U.S. pilot Charlie Brown was flying a B-17 bomber named Ye Olde Pub after a successful bombing mission over Bremen. But the mission came at a cost. The aircraft had taken devastating flak damage, knocking out one engine and severely damaging another. The nose was nearly blown off, the tail was shredded, and most of the guns were frozen or inoperable.
Half the crew was wounded, one man was dead, and the B-17 was bleeding altitude and speed as it tried desperately to limp home. The bomber was far behind formation, a sitting duck for German fighters patrolling the skies.
Enter Franz Stigler
Luftwaffe ace Franz Stigler spotted the B-17 and immediately prepared to finish it off. Just one more kill would earn him the coveted Knight’s Cross, one of Nazi Germany’s highest military honors. But as he approached the battered bomber, something made him hesitate.
Through the glass nose of the plane, he could see the crew tending to their wounded, trying to stay alive. He noticed the extent of the damage. This wasn’t a threat—it was a flying coffin.
Stigler later said, “I saw their faces. They were scared. I couldn’t shoot. It would have been murder.”
A Silent Escort
Instead of firing, Stigler pulled alongside the B-17, flying in tight formation so German anti-aircraft gunners wouldn’t shoot it down, thinking it was a friendly aircraft. He tried to motion to Charlie Brown to land in Germany and surrender, but Brown refused.
Risking court-martial or worse, Stigler made a decision: he would escort the American bomber to safety. For several minutes, he flew wing-to-wing with the B-17, protecting it from other German fighters and flak.
Once they reached the North Sea, Stigler saluted the American pilot and peeled away—vanishing back into enemy territory without ever firing a shot.