B-17 saved by Luftwaffe pilot

[Velius]

Simply amazing. I've heard a similar story involving a P-47 and FW-190. The painting of the the fortress and 109 is very nice! 8)

 

[Njaco]

well gents no offence to anyone here but I heard this story before and always wondered myself how could something like that ever happen? I mean this is a very amazing story but for me that sort of chivalry was always beyond understanding. I mean at one side you have a bomber and at the other side you have a fighter defending its own country and its fellow citizens. He knows what this bomber did to this city and still pardoing him?
I mean I can exactly imagine what were the feelings of some Baltic Fleet pilot in the 1941 or 1942 who defended its home city of Leningrad under siege while hundreds of thousands were dying there..
No offence to anyone, just some thoughts..

You have to understand the German military which had a deep code of Prussian honor which included chivarly. The major difference between the Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe, Navy and Nazism. They fought as soldiers without political agendas.

 

[Trebor]

everytime I read that story, it brings tears to my eyes. I seriously hope that they make a movie about this...

 

[Ramirezzz]

You have to understand the German military which had a deep code of Prussian honor which included chivarly. The major difference between the Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe, Navy and Nazism. They fought as soldiers without political agendas.

That's open to dispute, but that's another story. Don't want to start another flame war here.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

That's open to dispute, but that's another story. Don't want to start another flame war here.

How is that? There were millions of soldiers who had no political connection. Millions were were forced into service by conscription. My Grandfather was one of them. He did not want to join the military. He was forced into it, and you did not refuse your mustering orders. Doing so, was not very healthy.

 

[Ramirezzz]

How is that? There were millions of soldiers who had no political connection.

I'm not arguing that. I'm talking rather about the supposed chivalry of the German wehrmacht or any armed force in the WW2. Such cases like that were rather exceptions to the rule in that war. At least on the Eastern front, where both sides shot at the pilots who bailed out of their planes .

 

[Njaco]

I will concede that there may have been one or two(to borrow a Soviet term ) "political Officer' among the rank and file of the German services during the war, but on a whole they were just soldiers, plain and simple (not as an insult to the fighting men.) They had no political affiliation and most really didn't care. I can't see how the Western Powers, years after the war would allow Germany to rebuild its forces - especially the Luftwaffe - using former Nazi soldiers in the ranks. Officers like Galland and Steinhoff and others would have never gotten near the door of the new Luftwaffe if they held to their heart the political views of 10 years before.

So I don't see it as very strange that in the heat of combat, opposing soldiers would show a little humanity to each other. That is not to say that inhumanity also happened at times by certain individuals. It was war.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I'm not arguing that. I'm talking rather about the supposed chivalry of the German wehrmacht or any armed force in the WW2. Such cases like that were rather exceptions to the rule in that war. At least on the Eastern front, where both sides shot at the pilots who bailed out of their planes .

Agreed, it was a very ugly war. All wars are though...

 

[ToughOmbre]

So I don't see it as very strange that in the heat of combat, opposing soldiers would show a little humanity to each other. That is not to say that inhumanity also happened at times by certain individuals. It was war.

Another example of humanity.....

During the Battle of the Huertgen Forest in November, 1944, a truce was called so that American and German Medical personnel could evacuate their wounded.

The image below is the painting "A Time to Heal" by Don Stivers.

TO

 

[maverick61]

Simply amazing. I've heard a similar story involving a P-47 and FW-190. The painting of the the fortress and 109 is very nice! 8)

the pilots in Question was Egon Mayer and robert S johnson.
see youtube p47s
terry

 

[Njaco]

From Walter Stengel, JG 51....

"....During the Weimar period, I had been unemployed but I was very interested in sport flying. The National Socialist Party had no involvement in this activity during that time. When war came, we fought for the Fatherland, not the Fuhrer....."

 

[seesul]

I'm not arguing that. I'm talking rather about the supposed chivalry of the German wehrmacht or any armed force in the WW2. Such cases like that were rather exceptions to the rule in that war. At least on the Eastern front, where both sides shot at the pilots who bailed out of their planes .

Gotta agree in this point that such a cases were exceptions. When I spoke to Willi Reschke he told me that in his units JG301/302 was an unwritten rule that was forbidden to shot at an airman hanging under the chute.Violence of this rule meant automatically exclusion of this pilot from the band of his friends. And W.R. told me, as far he knows, that something like that never happened in his unit. Who owns his book knows, that once, after W.R. bailed out, one Mustang made a circle, flew back and shot at him. W.R. hanged the head and posed as killed. Mustang flew away and W.R. was able to write his book few decades later...

When there was an air battle over my town, the eye witnesses saw the German pilots shoting at American crewmembers under the chutes. One of them absolutely unhurt, with hands up, was even killed by machine gun by a members of German Grenzpolizei (board police) on the ground...

One of German fighters, that shot down a B-17 of my friend´s uncle, even shot at the young Czech boys on the ground. Later he landed, toke a motorbike, drove to the crash site and toke pictures there. His picture is attached. He told to the young Czech boys-I shot at you as I thought your white shirts are chutes... we never found out his name...

So such things happened on both sides and I really think that such cases as described in this thread were exceptions...

 

[Messy1]

It's a sad fact of war, there are instances on both sides of this issue that show both the best and worst in men. It's a tough decision, do you let the guy bailing out live, and chance him coming back up in the air and killing you? I don't think i could have shot someone hanging from a chute, but they were in a different place.

 

[lesofprimus]

Very interesting info Roman, thanks for that...

 

[seesul]

Very interesting info Roman, thanks for that...

Which part do you mean Dan, that one about Willi Reschke?
Do you own his book? If so I can post the date of the event...

 

[fly boy]

amazing

 

[seesul]

dan, that w.r.´s almost deadly meeting with mustang was on august 24,1944, over czechoslovakia. if that mustang aimed better, w. r. would never shot down b-17 5 day later close to my town and i would never get in touch with him...
sorry for my typing, i´m holding my daughter in my left arm

 

[seesul]

It's a sad fact of war, there are instances on both sides of this issue that show both the best and worst in men. It's a tough decision, do you let the guy bailing out live, and chance him coming back up in the air and killing you? I don't think i could have shot someone hanging from a chute, but they were in a different place.

yes, exactly. it wasn´t a pc game, it was a war.everyone fought for his life and couldn´t restart it as a game.
absolutely agree...

 

[lm2f]

the best part was that Franz lived in Vancouver after the war, not far from Charlie

 

[B-17engineer]

I heard During Monte Cassino a Similar thing happened with the British and Germans. they helped each other and the Germans gave the Brits Stretchers and the Brits gave the Germans cigarettes