It’s December 20, 1943. For almost eighty miles, 500 USAAF bombers are lumbering toward a Focke Wulf plant on the outskirts of Bremen. The planes can expect over 500 FW-190’s and BF-109’s defending Germany.
In one plane Second Lieutenant Charles “Charlie” Brown is flying his B-17F, nicknamed “Ye Olde Pub.” Charlie’s formation is right at the front of the group.
A little after 11:00 a.m. the Pub is closing in on the German borders, when the tail gunner, Hugh “Ecky” Eckenrode, cries out, “Bandits!” German fighters were attacking a plane high above the Pub. Two escorting P-47 fighters race to intercept them. They push on, leaving the dogfight behind them.
At 11:30 a.m., flak starts to explode all around them. The plane is rocked as four flak shells explode right in front of them. A cry goes across the intercom: “We’re hit!” In the plexiglass nose, a piece of shrapnel has come through making a huge hole, blowing icy cold wind inside.
Charlie’s co-pilot, Spencer “Pinky” Luke, tells Charlie: “Engine no. 2 is losing oil pressure.”
Charlie looked out to his left and saw that the engine had been hit. “Shut it down,” Charlie ordered.
One minute away from the drop Pinky let out an expletive as he noticed a gaping hole in the right wing. Suddenly, engine no. 4 began to rev wildly and accelerate. Charlie had been warned that there were problems with engine no. 4 from his ground crew.
They reduced power and pressed on through a sky full of flak.
After releasing their bombs over the factory the crew turned north, planning to head over the coast and then west for home. With one engine out and one faulty, the Pub began to fall back from the formation along with another plane that had smoke trailing from both engines on the left wing.
Charlie heard the distress call as it lost altitude and disappeared into a cloud bank. Sam “Blackie” Blackford in the ball turret watched as it disappeared. Suddenly, there was an orange flash where the plane had disappeared. Something was wrong.
“Bandits!” Ecky shouted. Five BF-109’s burst through the cloud bank. Then another cry: “Bandits!” Eight FW-190’s were spotted in formation ahead of the Pub. Two peeled off to engage the injured bird, their guns trained on the cockpit. Charlie nudged the plane up to meet them. The lead FW-190 opens fire, doing little damage.
Once the planes were close enough, Sergeant Bertman “Frenchy” Coulombe in the top turret shot the 190 out of the air. The Navigator, Al “Doc” Sadok, took out the second. Pinky reported that engine no. 3 had been hit and now was stuck at half power. That left only one engine at full power.
Five BF-109’s appeared behind the Pub. Ecky cried out: “Fighters attacking 6 o’clock level!”
For almost four miles, Ye Olde Pub fell.
To the crew’s dismay, both Ecky and Blackie’s guns are frozen. Charlie puts the injured bird into a turn. The 109’s press their advantage and half the rudder is blown off. The plane shakes violently under the impact. Other crew members report their guns were non-operational because of ice. The tail gunner position is hit, instantly killing Ecky. A shell explodes near the waist guns, badly hitting Alex “Russian” Yelasenko.
With the plane still in a tight turn, the 109’s fire round after round into the cockpit, eventually hitting the oxygen.
The plane lurches and spins to the ground. Charlie and Pinky pass out.
For almost four miles, the Pub fell. Almost one mile above the ground below, Charlie slowly started to regain consciousness. Realizing the danger, he gripped the controls and pulled as the plane continued to fall. Moments from hitting the ground, the plane pulled up, almost skimming the trees below it.
Passing low over a German airfield, the plane was heard by a pilot who was refueling and rearming his BF-109 G6. Although there was an American bullet lodged in his radiator, the pilot, Franz Stigler, was one bomber victory away from earning the Knights Cross. Nothing was going to stop him from shooting this plane down.
Stigler took off and rapidly caught up with the Pub. Having the plane in his sights, he was about to deliver the final death blow when he realized something was wrong. The B-17 was badly damaged, with the rear gunner dead. Realizing there was little threat to him, he flew to the other side of the plane and saw the gaping hole where the side guns should have been and inside he saw the injured crew members trying to stay alive.
He had never seen such a shot-up plane still flying. The plane was basically a flying wreck.
Franz and Blackie locked eyes. “What are you waiting for?” Blackie cried out. Franz made an ominous decision. He remembered the words of his commanding officer: “Honor is everything.” This plane was no threat at all. In Franz’s mind, shooting this plane down would be the same as shooting a man in a parachute.
Franz decided: “This is no victory. If I shoot this plane down, it will be on my conscience for the rest of my life.”
In Franz’s mind, shooting this plane down would be the same as shooting a man in a parachute.
At the controls, Charlie looked out the window and with dread saw the Me-109. Locking eyes, Franz nodded. Pointing at the ground, he gestured at the pilots to land in Germany. They responded with a firm, “No.”
Franz flew alongside the plane as it passed over German flak batteries. There was no way the batteries would fire at a German plane, even if he was aiding the enemy. Sweden was just 30 minutes away and Franz knew that it was a far better option than England, which was two hours away. Stigler mouthed, “SWEDEN,” and gestured wildly toward it. Pinky shrugged in return.
Trying the same with Charlie, Stigler got the same response. Stigler thought the Americans were just stupid. The crew thought they were being told to land in Germany. Charlie ordered Frenchy to train his guns at the fighter.
Stigler saw the gun wheel around, locked eyes one last time with Charlie, saluted, and turned away.
The crew was confused on why their enemy had spared them. Losing speed and altitude, they were intercepted by two P-47’s who escorted them to a nearby airfield. They had made it back to England, with only one crew member dead.
At debriefing, Brown told them the story of the German fighter who had escorted them. It was decided that it would be kept secret: the notion of an honorable German pilot choosing not to shoot down a damaged American bomber was a story no one wanted to get out.
Brown kept his silence about the incident until 1986, when he began looking for the German pilot. In 1990, he received a letter from Stigler, who had moved to Canada in 1953. Franz gifted Charlie a book and inside the inscription read: “In 1940, I lost my only brother as a night fighter. On the 20th of December, 4 days before Christmas, I had a chance to save a B-17 from her destruction, a plane so badly damaged it was a wonder that she was still flying. The pilot, Charlie Brown, is for me, as precious as my brother was. Thanks, Charlie. Your Brother, Franz.”
Franz never got the Knights Cross, but he did say he got something better. In 2008, within a few months of each other, the two friends passed away.
Read the story of Ye Olde Pub in the book A Higher Call by Adam Makos.
– by Artorius G. (13) Escalante
Feature image caption: “Ye Olde Pub” flying the skies. Courtesy Hubpages.
Read more of the stories behind significant historical events in Someone Pinch Me.