Once in a while, you hear an old war story that restores your faith in
humanity. Usually it involves a moment of quiet in the midst of chaos; some singing or the sharing of a few condiments. But how many of them take place in mid air?
This
is the remarkable story of a crippled American bomber spared by a
German fighter pilot. After the two planes' pilots had a mid-air moment
of understanding, it didn't seem likely that they'd ever see one another
again. Only they did, and became closer than brothers.
Here's how it all went down.
It
was a few days before Christmas in 1943, and the Allied bombing
campaign in Germany was going at full tilt. Second Lieutenant Charlie
Brown was a freshly minted bomber pilot, and he and his crew were about
to embark upon their first mission — to hit an aircraft factory in
northern Germany.
Brown's B-17F Flying Fortress, dubbed Ye Olde Pub,
was typical of American heavy bombers of the time. Along with an
8,000-pound bomb capacity, the four-engine plane was armed with 11
machine guns and strategically placed armor plating. B-17s cruised at
about 27,000 feet, but weren't pressurized. At that altitude, the air is
thin and cold — 60 degrees below zero. Pilots and crew relied upon an
on board oxygen system and really warm flight suits with heated shoes.
As Ye Old Pub approached Bremen, Germany, German anti-aircraft batteries
opened up on 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.
Missing one engine and with another throttled back due to damage, Ye
Olde Pub could no longer keep up with the formation.
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