HONORABLE ENCOUNTER

‘Never, ever, shoot at a man in a parachute. If you do, I’ll shoot you myself!’ barked Gustav Rödel to the Luftwaffe pilots of JG27 in North Africa.  History was to prove that his strong words resonated with those listening closely that day. Franz Stigler, already an Ace pilot, was one of them.

In December 1943 Stigler’s unit had returned to operate across the Low Countries in ‘Defence of the Reich’. A few days before Christmas he’d been scrambled to locate and destroy a lone American bomber heading back from a raid on Bremen. It was B-17 Ye Olde Pub from the 379th Bomb Group and for its rookie crew, captained by 2nd Lieutenant Charlie Brown, their first combat mission.

Stigler successfully located the battered bomber and, approaching could see the B-17 was in trouble, perhaps another easy victory to add to his growing tally. But as he drew closer and circled for the kill, he saw something else. Beside the three badly damaged engines, shattered nose, shredded fuselage and the tattered remnants of the rudder he could see the rear gunner sprawled dead, his turret sliced by flak. Stigler could also see several blood-stained faces staring nervously at him through the many gaping holes in the fuselage. The aircraft was near defenceless and carrying wounded. He reasoned, correctly, they were too badly injured to jump. ‘To me, it was just like they were in a parachute,’ he was later reported as saying, ‘I saw them, and I couldn't shoot them down.’

Anthony Saunders depicts the final minutes of the moving confrontation in his dramatic painting Honorable Encounter when, having set the bomber on a course heading for England, Stigler departs with a final salute to his erstwhile foes.

It’s a scene depicted by many aviation artists over the years, in fact Anthony has already painted Salute to the Brave which features these two fabled foes, but it’s a story worth telling again and keeping their legendary tale alive. A small glimmer of hope and compassion amidst the bitterness of war.

Had Stigler reported the incident, there is a strong probability that he would have been shot as a traitor. However, many years later, through happenstance and good fortune, Stigler and Brown would meet again and become firm friends.