The HISTORY BEHIND the ART. On Dec. 20, 1943, Lt. Charlie Brown’s life and the lives of his eight remaining crewmen hung by the thin cables that held together their B-17, “Ye Olde Pub.” As the wounded bomber flew low over the costal towns of North Germany, she bore scars from an earlier battle at 27,000 feet, where flak and 15 German fighters had ravaged her. The Pub’s crew was equally battered. Charlie had flak in his shoulder. A 20mm cannon killed his tail gunner. One waist gunner had a severed leg and another was shell shocked. The radio operator had a fragment in an eye. The ball turret gunner had frostbitten feet. When their situation couldn’t seem to worsen, they passed over a German airfield where Lt. Franz Stigler smoked a cigarette as his fighter was re-armed. A squadron leader, Franz had shot down two B-17s that morning—one more and he would earn the Knight’s Cross. Franz jumped into his fighter and gave pursuit. His rudder bore 25 victory marks from earlier combat. But, Franz was a reluctant warrior. He flew for Lufthansa then became a instructor when the war broke out. His students included Barkhorn (301 victories) and Franz’s older brother, August, who joined against their family’s wishes. When August was killed in the Battle of Britain, Franz became a fighter pilot to avenge his loss. On Dec. 20, 1943, when Franz chased down the wounded B-17F “Ye Olde Pub,” he experienced a transformation. 1. Franz approached The Pub from 500 feet above and behind the bomber. He intended to attain the victory from the tail, the classic way. Dipping to the same altitude as The Pub, and closing to within 200 feet, he noticed that the bombers tail guns pointed downward and appeared inoperative. Like a dueling lawman, with his finger against the trigger, Franz waited for his opponent to reach for his gun. With the lifeless body of tail gunner Eckenrode behind the tail guns, their barrels hung earthward and still. Franz neared to within 20 feet of the tail, unnoticed. There, he saw Eckenrode, …slumped over his gun, his blood streaming down its barrel. 2. Franz remembered, “The B-17 was like a sieve. There was blood everywhere. I could see the crew trying to help their wounded. Through the gaping hole in the fuselage, I could see crewmen working frantically to save a comrade whose leg was blown off. I thought to myself, ‘How can I shoot something like that?’ It would be like shooting a man in a parachute. When I was flying in North Africa, my Commander (Gustav Roedel, who had 98 victories) said, ‘You are a fighter pilot. If I ever hear of you shooting someone in a parachute, I’ll shoot you myself.’” Franz concluded that the Pub was, “. . . the most badly damaged plane I ever saw, still flying.” 3. The navigator of “Ye Olde Pub,” Al Sadok, remembered, “Finally, the enemy coast put itself behind us and the fighters quit coming in. Probably all out of ammunition, one rather brazen pilot in an Me-109 flew up…and nodded at our pilot.“ From vantage, pilot Charlie Brown remembered, “There, flying very close formation with his wingtip only about three feet from our wingtip was an Me-109! For a moment I thought that I had lost my mind and if I briefly closed my eyes it would disappear. I tried—he was still there! Upon his return to the cockpit, I pointed out our visitor to Pinky (co-pilot Pinky Luke). The German pilot nodded, but Pinky and I were in a state of shock and did not return the greeting.” 4. Earlier, on the bomb run, four shells from a flak battery bracketed the Pub. One shell blew off most of the Plexiglas nose dome, blasting the men with frigid, -50 degrees Celsius air from the open sky. An 88mm shell punched through the Pub’s right wing without exploding. Shrapnel from another shell hit the #2 engine, which lost oil pressure. Charlie and his copilot immediately shut #2 down and increased power to the remaining three engines. Then, engine #4 ran away, as if the throttle controls had been severed. Charlie began shut-down procedures on #4 to bring it back to a usable power range and feathered the propellers of engine #2. Thus, The Pub became a straggler. 5. Franz motioned for Charlie to land in Germany, but Charlie did not react. Franz pointed eastward, trying to encourage Charlie into a turn toward neutral Sweden. However, Charlies state of mind did not comprehend that Sweden was 30 minutes away, whereas England was two hours distant, across the frigid North Sea. Aware that the pilot was in shock and could not discern his motives, Franz chose to remain in a close escort position. Franz explained, If I would have passed up the escort, then they would have to watch out. But if youre hanging there with this plane, even if another fighter would have come along, they wouldnt have shot; they wouldnt have interfered with you. 6. Franz recalled his exchange with Charlie across those cold, open lengths of sky: “I know he (Charlie) closed his eyes, he opened them again, and I was still there. They knew they were helpless.” Franz saw fear in Charlie’s face. Charlie explained, “Although the German pilot appeared relaxed, I was most uncomfortable and felt that at any time he would unleash some type of new German weapon to destroy us . . . I finally surmised that he was out of ammunition, but I was amazed at his curiosity and daring in flying that close to even a badly crippled enemy bomber.” In reality, Franz’s fighter was freshly armed to the teeth. 7. After several minutes with Franz flying on his wing, Charlie called his flight engineer, “Frenchy” Coulombe, into the cockpit to, “ . . . join Pinky and me in observing the audacious German pilot. Now, we had three wide-eyed American airmen in the cockpit . . . after a few more seconds, my nerves could stand it no longer and I asked Frenchy to get back in his turret and point his guns at the German pilot. When the fighter pilot saw the engineer’s head appear in the top turret, he saluted, rolled over, and was gone.” In realizing that his company was no longer welcome, Franz remembered thinking, “Well, I hope you make it. So, I waved off, saluted him, and flew back to the airport.” 8. A week earlier, pilot Charlie Brown flew his first mission with a veteran crew for indoctrination. The mission depicted in “A Higher Call,” was his second, but his crew’s first. Their aircraft, B-17F (42-3167), had been named “Ye Olde Pub” by her prior crew. She had patches from past bullet holes and a rough-running #4 engine. But, she knew the road to the Reich and back. On this day, she would earn the title, “Flying Fortress.” 9. Identified by the markings of a triangle surrounding the letter K, the 379th Bomb Group was one of the 12 heavy Bombardment Groups in the First Division of the U.S. 8th Air Force. The 379th would fly more missions than any other group, drop more bombs, bomb with the highest accuracy, and suffer the fewest losses. For these accomplishments, by the wars end, the 379th was known as the Grand Slam Group and arguably, the best in the business. 10. The Berlin Bear painted onto the forward cowling of Franz’s plane was the mascot of Franz’s squadron. To honor this, the Berlin Zoo gifted a bear cub named “Bobby” to the unit. The bear lived with Franz and would swim in the pool with the men of his squadron. In late 1944, as Fighter Wing 27 retreated deeper into Germany, Franz was ordered to “Get rid of the bear,” as there was no space to transport Bobby or food to spare. Franz could not bring himself to shoot his bear nor could his squadron mates. A neighboring unit had to do it for them. 11. Franz’s fighter carried his personal nose art that showed his wife’s name, Eva, next to an apple with a snake weaving through it. Franz’s rudder bore 25 victories marks, amassed prior to December 20, 1943. That day, in his encounter with “Ye Olde Pub,” Franz saw his brothers pleading eyes in faces of the B-17 crew and realized he had almost walked the same path as his brothers killer. During the next year and four months of fighting, Franz flew in the desperate defense of Germany. While he would shoot down further opposing aircraft, after December 20, he stopped adding victory marks to his rudder. Although bound by blood to defend his country, he never again celebrated his aerial triumphs. Franz had chosen to answer a higher call. 1. Franz approached The Pub from 500 feet above and behind the bomber. He intended to attain the victory from the tail, the classic way. Dipping to the same altitude as The Pub, and closing to within 200 feet, he noticed that the bombers tail guns pointed downward and appeared inoperative. Like a dueling lawman, with his finger against the trigger, Franz waited for his opponent to reach for his gun. With the lifeless body of tail gunner Eckenrode behind the tail guns, their barrels hung earthward and still. Franz neared to within 20 feet of the tail, unnoticed. There, he saw Eckenrode, …slumped over his gun, his blood streaming down its barrel. 2. Franz remembered, “The B-17 was like a sieve. There was blood everywhere. I could see the crew trying to help their wounded. Through the gaping hole in the fuselage, I could see crewmen working frantically to save a comrade whose leg was blown off. I thought to myself, ‘How can I shoot something like that?’ It would be like shooting a man in a parachute. When I was flying in North Africa, my Commander (Gustav Roedel, who had 98 victories) said, ‘You are a fighter pilot. If I ever hear of you shooting someone in a parachute, I’ll shoot you myself.’” Franz concluded that the Pub was, “. . . the most badly damaged plane I ever saw, still flying.” 3. The navigator of “Ye Olde Pub,” Al Sadok, remembered, “Finally, the enemy coast put itself behind us and the fighters quit coming in. Probably all out of ammunition, one rather brazen pilot in an Me-109 flew up…and nodded at our pilot.“ From vantage, pilot Charlie Brown remembered, “There, flying very close formation with his wingtip only about three feet from our wingtip was an Me-109! For a moment I thought that I had lost my mind and if I briefly closed my eyes it would disappear. I tried—he was still there! Upon his return to the cockpit, I pointed out our visitor to Pinky (co-pilot Pinky Luke). The German pilot nodded, but Pinky and I were in a state of shock and did not return the greeting.” 4. Earlier, on the bomb run, four shells from a flak battery bracketed the Pub. One shell blew off most of the Plexiglas nose dome, blasting the men with frigid, -50 degrees Celsius air from the open sky. An 88mm shell punched through the Pub’s right wing without exploding. Shrapnel from another shell hit the #2 engine, which lost oil pressure. Charlie and his copilot immediately shut #2 down and increased power to the remaining three engines. Then, engine #4 ran away, as if the throttle controls had been severed. Charlie began shut-down procedures on #4 to bring it back to a usable power range and feathered the propellers of engine #2. Thus, The Pub became a straggler. 5. Franz motioned for Charlie to land in Germany, but Charlie did not react. Franz pointed eastward, trying to encourage Charlie into a turn toward neutral Sweden. However, Charlies state of mind did not comprehend that Sweden was 30 minutes away, whereas England was two hours distant, across the frigid North Sea. Aware that the pilot was in shock and could not discern his motives, Franz chose to remain in a close escort position. Franz explained, If I would have passed up the escort, then they would have to watch out. But if youre hanging there with this plane, even if another fighter would have come along, they wouldnt have shot; they wouldnt have interfered with you.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 14:24:10 +0000
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