{"id":50008,"date":"2023-01-12T11:53:23","date_gmt":"2023-01-12T10:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=50008"},"modified":"2026-03-20T04:53:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T03:53:49","slug":"ye-olde-pub-the-american-b-17-bomber-saved-by-a-german-bf-109-fighter-pilot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2023\/01\/12\/ye-olde-pub-the-american-b-17-bomber-saved-by-a-german-bf-109-fighter-pilot\/","title":{"rendered":"Ye Olde Pub: The American B-17 bomber saved by a German Bf-109 fighter pilot"},"content":{"rendered":"

It's been many years since I read this nice story of World War II, and it's about time it had its own entry on this website.<\/p>\n

The story of Captain Wilhelm Hosenfeld: a German catholic who helped save Poles<\/a><\/rel>
\nThe curious history of the last German unit that surrendered in World War II<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

On December 20, 1943, a US Army B-17 bomber, nicknamed \"Ye Olde Pub\", was returning to England<\/strong> after a mission over the city of Bremen, Germany. During the bombardment, German anti-aircraft artillery had caused serious damage to the plane<\/strong>, with ten crew members on board and whose pilot and commander was 2nd Lieutenant Charlie Brown. The B-17, with two damaged engines, was unable to follow its formation of bombers on the return flight.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
An artist's rendering of the encounter between Brown's B-17 and Stigler's Bf-109.<\/div>\n

During this solo flight, the \"Ye Olde Pub\" was attacked by several German fighters, which further damaged the American plane<\/strong>, leaving it with only one engine fully operational, the tail gunner dead, and the largest part of his crew badly wounded. After surviving this new German attack, the B-17 was tracked down by a Luftwaffe ace, Colonel Franz Stigler<\/strong>, author of 27 kills and who went out to hunt down the bomber with his Messerschmitt Bf- 109G-6.<\/p>\n

When the German pilot approached the B-17, he saw it destroyed<\/strong> and was able to make out the wounded crew members on board. The bomber was an easy target, but Stigler did not fire, risking being shot down by the B-17 gunners <\/strong>, but they did not open fire on him (most of the onboard weapons were disabled ). Stigler thought that shooting down that plane in that state would have been murder<\/strong>, and that contradicted his sense of honor.<\/p>\n

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The protagonists of this story in photos of the Second World War: the then 2nd Lieutenant Charlie Brown and Colonel Franz Stigler.<\/div>\n

Using signs, the German pilot tried to convince Brown to deviate and fly to Sweden<\/strong>, which would be their shortest route to find salvation and free themselves from captivity, but the American pilot did not understand him. The commander of the B-17 wanted to return to England<\/strong>, and since he ignored his instructions, Stigler decided to risk his life again by flying in formation with the B-17<\/strong> so that German anti-aircraft artillery would not mow down Brown and his men. Stigler also risked being identified and shot for treason by returning to his base.<\/p>\n

The B-17 managed to travel more than 400 kilometers to reach the RAF Seething base. When Brown explained to his superiors what had happened, they ordered him to keep the incident secret<\/strong>, since it could have led to fraternizing with the enemy. More than 40 years passed without anyone else knowing what happened.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Another artist's rendering of the encounter between Brown's B-17 and Stigler's Bf-109.<\/div>\n

After the war, Stigler moved to Canada. In 1986, the then Lieutenant Colonel Brown was invited to a meeting of World War II veteran pilots<\/strong> held at the Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama (United States). There he finally told the story that occurred on December 20, 1943.<\/strong> As a result, Brown began to look for records that would allow him to identify that German pilot. Four years later he received a letter from Stigler identifying himself as the pilot of the Bf-109 that had escorted him.<\/strong> When they spoke by phone, the German pilot gave details of what had happened that only Brown knew, proving that the testimony of him was true.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler in a meeting when they were old.<\/div>\n

Brown and Stigler became good friends, they looked almost like brothers. They both died in 2008<\/strong>, just a few months apart. Undoubtedly, his story is one of the most beautiful and exciting in a war that was filled with horror, atrocities and dishonor.<\/p>\n

In 2014, the Swedish metal band Sabaton dedicated a song titled \"No bullets fly\" to this story.<\/strong> In November 2020, Yarnhub made a video recreating what happened<\/a> and including the Sabaton song. You can see here a version subtitled in Spanish by Martin Boniotti<\/a>:<\/p>\n