Free Republic

*Luftwaffe pilot Lt Franz Stigler refused to shoot down near-destroyed Allied bomber *Instead he guided stricken pilot Lt Charlie Brown to safety *A phone call led to a tearful reunion of the two World War II veterans The lone Allied bomber was a sitting duck. Holed all over by flak and bullets and down to a single good engine, it struggled simply to stay in the air over Germany, let alone make it the 300 miles back to England.

The day a chivalrous German flying ace saluted a crippled US bomber and let them fly to safety instead of shooting them down. *Charlie Brown's B-17F bomber had come under fire from 15 enemy planes during successful mission. *Franz Stigler pursued it, but when he saw the damage he let it fly home to safety, guided by the moral code laid down by his commanding officer. The bombing mission targeting a German munitions factory had been a success, but Second World War pilot Charlie Brown's attempts to get home safely seemed doomed to failure. His B-17F bomber had been attacked...