![]() ![]() But this strange German pilot kept gesturing at him. He had already counted himself as a casualty numerous times. A bewildered Brown stared back through his side window, not believing what he was seeing. That heap will never make it back to England. His message was simple: Land your plane in Germany and surrender or fly to Sweden. ![]() He tried to contact Brown with hand signals. Stigler kept his distance, always staying out of the line of fire of the two guns still in service, but managed to fly within 20 feet of the bullet riddled B-17. He could see crew members giving first aid to the wounded, and most of the plane’s guns hung limp, unmanned as they were… Its nose cone was missing, it had several gaping holes in the fuselage. As Stigler told interviewers in 1991, he was aghast at the amount of damage the bomber had sustained. Somehow, he and the co-pilot managed to get the plane flying level again at about 1,000 feet of elevation. He was surprised when Ye Olde Pub was spared further harassment by enemy fighters except one (Stigler). What happened next is according to the memory of Brown, who told interviewers years later that his mind was a bit hazy at the time his shoulder was bleeding and he needed oxygen. With 14 German fighter planes behind them Brown knew that the end was near…īack in Germany Lt Franz Stigler never spoke of his part in that aerial encounter with ‘Ye Olde Pub’ for fear of a Luftwaffe Court Martial and continued flying in combat until the end of the war in May 1945, becoming one of the world’s first fighter jet pilots flying the Luftwaffe’s incredible ME 262 in combat. Franz Stigler, a Luftwaffe fighter pilot just in from shooting down three B-17s, saw Ye Olde Pub limp by. On the way out to the sea, Ye Olde Pub passed a German airfield. The plane went into a spiral, plummeting earthward. The only defensive guns left in service were the top turret and the nose gun, and the bomber’s hydraulics and oxygen systems had also been knocked out. The tail gunner was killed and four were injured, including Brown, who caught a bullet fragment in his right shoulder. Falling behind the formation, Ye Olde Pub weathered merciless attacks from 13 German fighters. Things went from bad to worse for Brown and his crew. ![]() The armor plating protecting crew and vital areas of the plane was heavy and affected cruise speed. B-17s were known for being able to soak up a lot of bullets and anti-aircraft flak and still make it home, but that came at a cost. Missing one engine and with another throttled back due to damage, Ye Olde Pub could no longer keep up with the formation. Unfortunately for the pilots and crew of Ye Olde Pub, one of the anti-aircraft rounds exploded right in front of their plane, destroying the number two engine and damaging number four. His message was simple.land your plane in Germany and surrender or fly to Sweden.!Īs Ye Olde Pub approached Bremen, Germany, German anti-aircraft batteries opened up on the formation. Stigler kept his distance, careful to keep flying out of the line of fire of the two remaining machine guns still in service, but managed to side-slip to within 20 feet of the bullet riddled B-17, where he tried to contact pilot Brown with hand signals.
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