Charlie wondered for over forty years if the German fighter pilot who'd spared him and his crew had survived the war. He asked if any of them knew of a bomber that had been escorted to safety by a German fighter, but no one did.Īfter debriefing on that fateful day in 1943, Charlie and his crew were ordered not to tell anyone about their escort out of Germany, and the records were classified. This led him to tell his German wife about "the one he had let get away." Still curious whether the B-17 he'd risked a court-martial for had ever made it home, h e attended the party and much to his amazement was embraced by the former American B-17 pilots and crewman he met. He came to the notice of the Boeing Company, and in 1985 they invited him to their 50th Anniversary party for the B-17 Flying Fortress. After retiring, he flew a Me 108 in air shows, with Allied planes chasing him, which delighted the crowds. Public Domain.įranz had a good life in Canada. Me 262A at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. In 1953, Franz immigrated to Vancouver, Canada. ![]() He surrendered to the Americans shortly before the war ended, having achieved 487 combat flights. Franz learned how to fly the jet-powered Me 262 and, in March of 1945, joined General Adolf Galland's newly formed fighter unit, JV-44, dubbed "the Flying Sanatorium" or "the Squadron of Experts." Franz and other ace pilots made their last stand from a base just outside of Munich. The copper bullet was secure in the palm of his hand.įranz was sent away to recuperate but later convinced his commander to send him to jet school. Franz managed to make it back to base, sporting a black hole of dried blood and a nasty dent in his head. In late October 1944, a one-inch copper bullet from a B-17 pierced the windshield of Franz's 109, hit him in the forehead and bounced off. After retiring again, Charlie and his family moved to Florida.įranz Stigler continued to shoot down Allied planes on bombing runs over Germany. ![]() He retired early in order to work for the State Department during the Vietnam War. Later he graduated from college and joined the U.S. Charlie returned stateside and became an instructor for the remainder of the war. They completed their twenty-eighth and final mission on April 11, 1944. If you missed the previous accounts of this astounding account of WWII enemies meeting over the skies of Germany, you can find them here: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.Īfter returning to England, Charlie and most of his original crew continued bombing Germany. Our story ended last month when American Captain Charlie Brown and his crew safely landed their fatally wounded B-17 "Ye Olde Pub" in England. German fighter pilot Franz Stigler had safely escorted them out of Germany, but he didn't expect the B-17 to make it home.
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