Franz Stigler and Charles Brown

[Mel]

Well guys, I don't know if this story has already been shared in the forum, if so, I apologize.

I personally think it's a beautiful story

 

 

 

The Charles Brown and Franz Stigler incident occurred on 20 December 1943, when, after a successful bomb run on Bremen, Charles 'Charlie' Brown's B-17 Flying Fortress (named" Ye Olde Pub ") was severely damaged by German fighters. Luftwaffe pilot and ace Franz Stigler was ordered to shoot down the crippled bomber, but instead, for humanitarian reasons, decided to allow the crew to fly back to their airfield in England.The two pilots met each other 40 years later after an extensive search by Charlie Brown and the friendship that the two developed lasted until their deaths several months apart.

Brown's damaged bomber was spotted by Germans on the ground, including Franz Stigler, who was refueling and rearming at an airfield. He soon took off in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 (which had a .50 BMG slug embedded in the radiator which risked the engine overheating) and quickly caught up with Brown's plane. Through the damaged bomber's airframe Stigler was clearly able to see the injured and incapacitated crew. To the American pilot's surprise, Stigler did not open fire on the crippled bomber. Remembering the words of one of his commanding officers from Jagdgeschwader 27, Gustav Rödel, during his time fighting in North Africa, “You are fighter pilots first, last, always. If I ever hear of any of you shooting at someone in a parachute, I'll shoot you myself. "Stigler later commented," To me, it was just like they were in a parachute. I saw them and I couldn't shoot them down. "

 

 

 

 

 

Between 1990 and 2008, Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler became close friends and remained so until their deaths within several months of each other in 2008.

[Mel]

Hace 14 minutos, Jennings Heilig dijo:

¿Conocemos detalles de las marcas en el 109 de Stigler?

Franz Stigler pertenecía al escuadrón Jagdgeschwader 27

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bf 109Es de JG 27 en vuelo sobre el norte de África

 

 

 

I hope that with what little I have been able to contribute, it will help

Edited September 18, 2019 by Mel

[chuck540z3]

This topic was done very nicely at the June Model Contest at Nanton, Alberta.  I'm not sure who the modeler is, but he should be commended.

 

Both pics below are courtesy of Vaughn MacPhail, who posted them on the Rocky Mountain Model Club Facebook page.

 

 

 

Cheers,

Chuck

Edited September 18, 2019 by chuck540z3

[Mel]

18 hours ago, Jennings Heilig said:

Interesting.  So either a yellow bar or a yellow winkel, but not sure which?

Hi Jennings, I honestly don't have the exact information

[Mel]

18 hours ago, chuck540z3 said:

This topic was done very nicely at the June Model Contest at Nanton, Alberta.  I'm not sure who the modeler is, but he should be commended.

 

Both pics below are courtesy of Vaughn MacPhail, who posted them on the Rocky Mountain Model Club Facebook page.

 

 

 

Cheers,

Chuck

It looks incredible

[MikeMaben]

[Markjames1968]

pure class , hero's all

[Isar 30/07]

Are there any photos of the badly damaged "Ye Olde Pub" after arriving in England?

I´m searching for a while but all I see are drawings.

 

Reimund

 

[ringleheim]

On 9/18/2019 at 5:44 PM, chuck540z3 said:

This topic was done very nicely at the June Model Contest at Nanton, Alberta.  I'm not sure who the modeler is, but he should be commended.

 

Both pics below are courtesy of Vaughn MacPhail, who posted them on the Rocky Mountain Model Club Facebook page.

 

 

 

Cheers,

Chuck

That savaged B-17 looks visually very interesting.  Makes me want to try and do something similar.

 

 

[Lothar]

It's kind of a relief to learn from this story that there were also some "other" Germans in this conflict.

There has been a farmer (RIP) in a nearby village from where I live who hid a shot down British pilot

just weeks before wars end in his farm. They became friends as well.

 

Lothar

 

[Out2gtcha]

1 hour ago, Lothar said:

It's kind of a relief to learn from this story that there were also some "other" Germans in this conflict.

There has been a farmer (RIP) in a nearby village from where I live who hid a shot down British pilot

just weeks before wars end in his farm. They became friends as well.

 

 

Stories like these do tend to restore what little faith I have in humanity. 

[chrish]

On 9/18/2019 at 3:44 PM, chuck540z3 said:

This topic was done very nicely at the June Model Contest at Nanton, Alberta.  I'm not sure who the modeler is, but he should be commended.

 

Both pics below are courtesy of Vaughn MacPhail, who posted them on the Rocky Mountain Model Club Facebook page.

 

 

 

Cheers,

Chuck

That’s amazing work!

I have been planning on trying that in 1/32 with the HK kit and Revell 109....It might be just a bit too much though. At least I’ve managed to talk myself out of it so far.

[John1]

On 9/23/2019 at 3:30 PM, Lothar said:

It's kind of a relief to learn from this story that there were also some "other" Germans in this conflict.

There has been a farmer (RIP) in a nearby village from where I live who hid a shot down British pilot

just weeks before wars end in his farm. They became friends as well.

 

Lothar

 

I think the majority of Germans who were in the Luftwaffe served with honor.    There are exceptions as always but such is the nature of war.   

[John1]

4 minutes ago, Jennings Heilig said:

 

Serving with honor is not the same thing as being politically aligned with the regime.  The Luftwaffe was very much a Nazi party creation, and its leadership was steeped in Nazi ideology more so than the army or the navy, both of which had long traditions predating the Nazi rise to power.  As demonstrated here, there were obviously a lot of people in the Luftwaffe who weren't fervent Nazis, but there were a lot who were, too.

Don’t disagree and it’s not worth splitting hairs over, as this subject can be easily get emotionally heated for some.  

Edited September 26, 2019 by John1

[LSP_Mike]

No need for further debate in this arena.