From the Portland Area Sailplane Society, Gresham, Oregon
Aviation History: Charlie Brown's Story
Charlie Brown was a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot with
the 379th Bomber Group at Kimbolton, England. His
B-17 was called ‘Ye Old Pub’ and was in a terrible
state, having been hit by flak and fighters. The
compass was damaged and they were flying deeper over
enemy territory instead of heading home to Kimbolton.
After flying over an enemy airfield, a pilot named
Franz Steigler was ordered to take off and shoot
down the B-17. When he got near the B-17, he could
not believe his eyes. In his words, he had never
seen an airplane in such a bad state. The tail and
rear section were severely damaged and the tail
gunner wounded. The top gunner was all over the top
of the fuselage. The nose was smashed and there were
holes everywhere. Despite having ammunition, Franz
flew to the side of the B-17 and looked at Charlie
Brown, the pilot. Brown was scared and struggling to
control his damaged and blood-stained airplane.
Aware that they had no idea where they were going,
Franz waved at Charlie to turn 180°. Franz escorted
and guided the stricken airplane to and slightly
over the North Sea towards England. He then saluted
Charlie Brown and turned away, back to Europe. When
Franz landed he told the control operator that the
airplane had been shot down over the sea, and never
told the truth to anyone. Charlie Brown and the
remains of his crew told all at their briefing, but
were ordered never to talk about it.
More than 40 years later, Charlie Brown wanted to
find the Luftwaffe pilot who saved the crew. After
years of research, Franz was found. He has never
talked about the incident, not even at post war
reunions.
They met in the United States at a 379th Bomber
Group reunion, together with 25 people who are alive
now—all because Franz never fired his guns that day.
Research shows that Charlie Brown lived in Seattle
and Franz Steigler had moved to Vancouver, British
Columbia, after the war. When they finally met, they
discovered they had lived less than 200 miles apart
for the past 50 years. Q
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