P-51 pilot Refuses orders and Spares Enemy
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ต.ค. 2024
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This is the incredible story of when a p-51 pilot went against orders to take down an enemy aircraft
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'There Was A Time'. 'Juggernaut' 'Hymn to the Dawn' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au
Background history on the P-51 Mustang
P-51, also called Mustang, a single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft originally designed and produced by North American Aviation for the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and later adopted by the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF). The P-51 is widely regarded as the finest all-around piston-engined fighter of World War II to be produced in significant numbers.
The P-51 originated with an April 1940 proposal to the British Aircraft Purchasing Commission by the chief designer of North American Aviation, J.H. (“Dutch”) Kindelberger, to design a fighter from the ground up rather than produce another fighter, the Curtiss P-40, under license. The result was a trim low-wing monoplane powered by a liquid-cooled in-line Allison engine. Other fighters powered by non-turbo-supercharged Allisons, notably the P-40 and P-39, had shown mediocre performance, and the U.S. War Department had reserved turbo-supercharger production for four-engined bombers (the P-38 Lightning being the only exception at that point). Nevertheless, by using experimental data obtained from the U.S. National Advisory Committee on Aviation, Kindelberger’s team achieved a giant leap in performance. Their design, dubbed Mustang by the British, had a low-drag laminar-flow wing and an efficient low-drag engine cooling system that gave it exceptional speed and range. It had a maximum speed of about 390 miles (630 km) per hour and a combat range of roughly 750 miles (1,200 km). The use of external drop tanks nearly doubled its operational range to 1,375 miles (2,200 km). The only drawback was the Allison’s lack of an efficient high-altitude supercharger, which restricted the plane to low-altitude operations below 15,000 feet (4,600 metres). The Mustang first flew in October 1940, entered production in May 1941, and began combat operations with the RAF in April 1942. Some 1,579 Allison-powered Mustangs were produced. They were typically equipped with two .50-calibre nose-mounted and four .30-calibre wing-mounted machine guns, although one model had four 20-mm cannons and another (the A-36A) was a dive-bomber for the USAAF. They served as low-altitude fighters and as long-range photo-reconnaissance aircraft under the designation F-6, mostly with the RAF.
In the meantime, the British had experimented with Mustangs fitted with the powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, and they discovered that the Merlin’s efficient mechanical supercharger gave the fighter outstanding high-altitude performance. North American quickly followed suit. The Merlin was already being produced under license in the United States by the Packard Motor Company, and by the summer of 1943 Packard Merlin-powered P-51s were coming off North American’s assembly line. Merlin-powered P-51s, equipped with jettisonable drop tanks, had an operational range of more than 1,600 miles (2,500 km), and they mounted their first long-range bomber escort missions over Germany in mid-December 1943. They quickly established ascendancy over Germany’s premier fighters, the Me 109 and the Fw 190. The P-51’s superiority was particularly evident above 20,000 feet (6,000 metres). By March 1944, P-51s were available in quantity and, in combination with drop tank-equipped P-47 Thunderbolts and P-38s, had taken the Luftwaffe’s measure in the daylight skies over Germany.
The crippling losses which the U.S. bombers had previously suffered were thereafter drastically reduced: in October 1943 as many as 9.1 percent of the Eighth Air Force bomber sorties credited with attacking their targets had failed to return, and a further 45.6 percent had been damaged. In February 1944 the corresponding figures fell to 3.5 percent and 29.9 percent. From that point, Germany was effectively under round-the-clock bombardment. Though fewer in number, the P-51 could penetrate deeper into German airspace than the other U.S. fighters and was better in air-to-air combat; it thus played a disproportionately large role in the defeat of the Luftwaffe.
www.britannica...
P-51 pilot Refuses orders and Spares his Enemy
🤔Ever wondered Why WW2 US aircraft only had 1 Roundel? Find out here : th-cam.com/video/gHkc4ZU644w/w-d-xo.html
I would like to point out that allied pilots and air crew and their crash sites are to this day remembered and honored across Europe.
As the grandson of a member of the RCAF still over there, thank you as it means a lot to me.
My brother , is interned at the Allied Cemetary in Kiel, North Germany, he was killed on the very last heavy Bombing raid , May 3rd. 1945. He had joined the RAF in August 1940 aged 18
Things like this really touch my heart because it feels good knowing that many people still appreciate the sacrifices made by The Greatest Generation...
Most wars were not fort by the people that started them . God bless all who fort in all wars
@@MrDaiseymay MrDaisey, thank you for the comment. Thanks to your brother for his service, the UK wouldn't be where it is today without him :)
I am glad to know that.
My drill sergeant once told us that the greatest irony of war is that those facing each other on the battlefield have more in common with each other than the politicians who sent them.
We the people here don't want a war
@@mickehogan3230 Yeah, the first song I sang as a kid in Canada... Tim Hardin : Simple Song Of Freedom - Still have that single somewhere.
Of course. I heard a simple reference, that when two indivduals have a quarrel it's their business only. But when politicans have a quarrel, they fight by using ordinary citizens hands.
And the politicians are likely 'influenced' by a network of Int'l bankers of a certain ethno-religious background, many of which financed the bolshevik takeover of Russia decades before the war.
In a war there are no Winners...just Survivors.
My heart goes out to the Preddy family - Losing two sons in one year must have been a terrible blow.
Especially losing the second just weeks before the war's end.
George was the highest scoring Mustang Ace in WWII.
A friend was a scout in the Vietnam War. He told me that once he came across a single Vietcong scout, about 10 feet away. They stared at each other, keeping their weapons down. My friend shook his head and slowly backed away, and the other did the same. People don’t want to die nor to kill others.
You rarely hear this, but it probably happened more than we know.
I am a Vietnam veteran and things like that did happen. Unfortunately, more often than not one of them just shrugged and shot the other guy.
That's B.S. I did 13 months in Nam, '66-'67, shoot first and fast, IF, YOU want to go home intact, instead of "tacked in".
There are similar stories from the "winter war" between Finland and the Soviet Union. Conscripts are not as eager to take lives, mostly they just want to go home.
an american medic in WWII treated a wounded japanese soldier and sent him back to his unit, @@richbrake9910
So many stories told and yet to be told, so many tragic endings, so many great men.
Alas there are too many historical stories lost as the years go by and the the survivors died without telling them.
So many ways to prevent further losses are lost to time.
@@GaryGraham66 Thanks for the comment, you couldn't be more right. The entire focus of this channel is to bring to light those rather untold but deserving stories into the modern age! A lot can be learned from these stories, their sacrifices cannot be forgotten to time
Every day we lose the survivors of the greatest generation, the greatest struggle against tyranny of the 20th century. May they never be forgotten by those of us who remember.
The Lord took them back home soon as they had shown they didn't deserve to live in this horrible world called Earth.
I only knew about his famous brother, George, one of America's top aces, who had been killed on Christmas Day 1944 by friendly AA fire while he was attacking German aircraft over Allied lines. The brothers are buried side by side in the Lorraine American Military Cemetery, St. Avold, France. Thanks for posting this story about William.
I was fortunate enough to be at work when the "Cripes A Mighty" George Preddy tribute P-51 rolled onto our ramp at BNA utimately hangared for quite some time to have some maintainence performed on it. The mechanic who worked on the plane flew to BNA in another polished P-51! Talk about right place at the right time again! I helped the famous record holding pilot, noted aircraft restorer remove panels, hold flashlights, stand fire guard on run ups while researching George Preddy. This story came across my feed and told the story of his brother making my prescense around this aircraft more poinent. Being employed at this FBO, the mechanic allowed me to move the airplane to several locations during the golden hours of evening to photograph this plane in the soon to be demolished 84 year old hangar that at one time sheltered craft just like it.
A good man, who sadly like his brother, tragically died. Cheers to the Czech woman who tried so hard to save him, then had a nice monument grave made for him. This story is a good companion piece to the famous Franz Stigler - Charles Brown story.
George Preddy was from my hometown, a street named after him/
You just answered my question. Never knew that George had a brother who was also KIA.
My father spared a kamikaze pilot who set his plane on the sea, next to their LCT, rather than crash for the Emperor. His commander ordered my father to kill the pilot, but he refused and they picked him up instead. That was the only war story he ever told me.
Thanks for the comment Paul, what an incredible story! Appreciate you sharing this here :)
Thats a wonderful story. If wars were left up to the soldiers, theyd get together, have a beer and each of them go back home. Wars are fought by stupid old men. Soldiers only hate each other because theyre brain washed into hating .
Warriors of old often stated that Mercy was greater then killing an enemy who was honorable... Especially those that did not rape and kill children and the old people. But who sought out warriors as equals
Czech guy here, thank you for this great story and I'm glad that Czech woman did her best to save him.
Thanks for the comment McEddy! Our pleasure
She was obeying her conscience - just as First Lt. Preddy did.
A very brave woman .
Remembered no doubt by God , when her own time came
Enjoyed hearing this story of the P-51 mustang pilot. He gave them a fighting chance and the respect of a crew down for the count, no need to slaughter. Excellent choice brother. ❤️
I know an old timer in his late 90’s who was a P-51 pilot in the Euro theatre (Normandy onward) and said he remember’s being in somewhat of a fighter formation when he looked over at the same time they were taking anti-ground fire and said he saw his buddy next to him disappear. Literally that fast.
Yep, if your aircraft was hit directly by an 88mm or 125mm anti-aircraft flak shell, there was generally nothing left behind. Larger aircraft might explode generally without any survivors unless they happened to be wearing a chest type parachute and could manage to pull the rip cord before passing out from anoxia. This exploding aircraft gave rise to the myth of the Scarecrow shell amongst RAF Bomber Command aircrew, when the reality was that they were actually seeing other bombers blowing up from direct flak hits.
Thanks for a poignant tale. Chivalry is difficult in war but ultimately a man has to be true to his own code.
he's supposed to obey orders or stop flying combat missions
He was no longer needed in this realm. He had done his good work.
It’s stories like this that make me feel better about humanity. RIP William R Peddy. You are a credit to the human race.
The guys in both planes were better men than I'll ever be, that's for sure. Lt. Preddy's honour is what separates warriors from murderers.
Well put..❤and Respect
Obviously you never were in a war or have been bombed!
Lt. Preddy showed mercy in this situation where he could and im sure when he needed to kill he did. I'm reminded of something my grandfather told me when I was very young. He was in the 99th infantry during ww2. He told me of a encounter where he had to decide whether or not to shoot a German soldier. He said I thought to myself this man has a family at home just like I do. But it's kill or be killed so he had no choice but to shoot him. It still troubled him but he did what he had to do. Anyone who believes it was easy for these men to do what they did is sadly mistaken. The pain was still there all those years later. These men were put in difficult situations and we owe them all greatly.
@@robertallen5531 Thanks for the comment Robert, incredible! thank you for sharing this account on your grandfather.
One of my uncles help liberate two death camps. He was a medic.
He was a better man than I.
I do remember my uncle’s talking once. The medic said very few guards survived. There was no remorse in his voice. I’m now 62 and I was about 19 at the time. We were at a VFW I believe in Pappillion or maybe Omaha Nebraska.
Isn't it awesome that during the war without mercy that there were moments of mercy on both sides and in both theaters of operations. Thank God for such occurrences
*IF there WERE a GOD, then GOD has been Shown to be DeMonic!!!!*
Great story. It must have taken a lot of research for you to put this all together. Thank you for your time. This was an amazing and sad story. War is definitely hell but every now and then there are some events where people show that they are human. It is good that he spared their lives.
So many stories of gallantry like this. Men of honor!
I'd heard of George Preddy before. I never knew of his brother.
Rest in peace, gentlemen. We are proud of you. And grateful...
My father inlaw was a P-47 Thunderbolt pilot during WWII. THIS Pilot was a honorable man for not killing the doomed aircraft. RIP!
Thanks for the comment Fen, and your dad for his service on the mighty P-47!
@@FlakAlley He loved his Jug! The Germans had a different opinion! 👍🏻😉
@@RollingStoneZzzzz Its an absolute menace in the right hands, did your father inlaw have any interesting stories on the jug? Thanks
@@FlakAlley Absolutely 💯
A noble man. With some morals and respect for human life.
@weekendwarrior3420 I sincerely doubt that he was.
@weekendwarrior3420 English civilians killed? Far more German civilians were killed, and the Germans did not have a habit of lynching English bomber pilots either.
It would be no different than killing an unarmed man. If they had the ability to shoot back, yes, I would bring them down, however they were sitting ducks. This man showed some respect for human lives, even in wartime. I highly respect him for that. What if it had been you in the defenseless aircraft? Our pilots likewise killed their civilians with our bombers.
Brought tears to this old soldiers eyes. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for the comment and your support on the channel blackcat, have a splendid day!
RIP William Preddy. You were a man of honour. The best of the best. I was privileged to know your story. I'm sad that the Lord needed you more than us.
Imagining the loss for their Family as well..
I absolutely love stories like this. Well done Sir!
Thank you for telling this story. These were great men. God bless and keep them forever
Thanks for the comment and your support Autoscape, absolutely
So many stories are unbelievable but true. You live long enough, you hear just about everything. Thank you
My heart breaks for every mother who lost a son in any war however, for Mrs. Preddy and those like her who lost multiple sons, I don't know how one ever recovers from that!
Thanks for the comment and your support Anne, cannot agree with you more. Its unlikely you could ever recover from something as tragic as losing both sons in war. However their sacrifice will not be forgotten for years to come. This channel is dedicated to keeping such individuals alive, we only tell the more unknown / untold stories. Bring those sacrifices back into the light of modern society
I continue to be pleased with your work. Thank you for providing the details, and told from a dispassionate perspective. We should never assume our opinion today, or reactions to these stories, to want to make snap moral judgements of either side, when viewed from our point in history. While I'm a fiercely patriotic individual, I can accept this wasn't my time in history. Again, thank you for brining these tales of humanity to us, when we need them desperately.....
A Similar WW2 Story is the well known event where a German Pilot Helped a shot up b17 make it over the chanel to England - After landing the Americans Buried the B17 and recorded that it was lost at sea so the German would not be Shot by the Germans for His Kindness -After the war the German and American became Very close friends - There Is Humanity in all of Us Given the Chance to Give It - God Bless Us All
I know this story. Only war could this kind of kindness happen.
"Grand Illusion," an old movie. Two enemy generals toast each other, and say : "You and me, we're the same. We have nothing in common the them (their opposing armies) out there." The same may apply to the opposing warriors---who must be demonized by their respective governments, lest they become friends.
They didn't buried the b-17.
They just told by their officers to never speak about this event and make the German pilots look good to the American people.
Thanks for the comment! One of the reasons for why Charlie Brown is so popular was due to the fact that both sides survived the incident. Pilots sparing other pilots has happened many times as shown in past videos, but very rarely do they ever live through the war. The stories are generally one sided as a result
That story is known as The Franz Stigler- Charles Brown incident, a very inspiring story
An Airman, warrior in the sky...theres a time to hunt and kill the enemy, this Airman knew, it is not this time to make the kill. A most honorable thing to do, he proved that for sure. And both brothers resting easy side by side, an incredible story.
A MAN OF HUMANITY. RESPECT.
So many stories about the honourable men and woman of this era. A lot of respect for Czech lady.
A true gallant Patriot. Awesome story of sacrifice and duty. Tragic yet somehow glorious in it's ending. A woman takes over.👍🙏🇺🇸🦅
Sad indeed this fine Gentleman expired the way he did!! God’s got a seat at the table for him!! Whenever I am in NC I always try to stop at his and his brothers marker and pay my respects! It’s located off I-85!! Thanks great content 💜💜
Thank you for sharing this story and keeping history alive, well done!!
War is Hell for both sides - I know that from my Korean - war experience
I had a friend years ago who piloted a B-17. He had been shot down over France twice and each time made it back to Allied lines. Years later some of his friends took him to a small airport to let him fly an ultralight. He barely got it off the ground then immediately landed it. He said he flew bombers through flak and enemy fighters but there was no way he was going to fly a lawn chair powered by a lawn mower engine! Although I was never in the military, when I see documentaries where the pilots and air crews of any side crash and burn I find it sad. Since my father was a career sailor in the U.S. Navy, it really breaks my heart to see any sailor drown at sea.
I am amazed at the doctor who refused service to the wounded pilot.
Although many doctors on both sides treated enemy wounded brought to them, some even losing their life to war actions while trying to show mercy to a wounded enemy, you also have to remember who was in charge of the German military at that time. They were not known for their charity or forgiveness of those who showed anything less than total devotion to the Fatherland. Being shot or hung for helping the American wouldn't help the hundreds, possibly thousands of German soldiers, his own countrymen, friends, family and neighbors, which he hoped to save as a German Dr. nor would it help his family back home who were already in a warzone and about to be on the losing end of the war and occupation by Americans, or even worse, may have been in a zone the Russians were about to over run, who were known for rape and murder of civilians. Even had the Dr. wanted to help him, the Dr. had to survive the war, too because as. Dr., an unknown number of Germans were going to be in desperate need of his skills in a war demolished country with little to no resources or supplies left, and at that time in the war, he'd have been under regular attack from the air by pilots just such as the one brought to him as well as had been lifting sheets to cover the faces of his own soldiers dead, delivering that news to their comrades who'd rushed them to aid as they were dying and treating hundreds of his own countrymen for injuries sustained by these same American pilots. War is horrible, and it kills men. Sometimes, even the ones who survive it... May peace forever be with you.
Men make bad decisions under pressure. Imagine the conditions, they were probably working 18 hour days on a never ending line of wounded and dying men. He probably regretted decisions like that for the rest of his life.
Things were getting rather messy in Germany towards the end of the war. The doctor, if he was even a fully qualified doctor, failed his Hippocratic oath. He may however have seen the condition of Preddy at a glance and could see that he didn't have any resources to help him even if they could do any good. The doctor may also have been very worried about being reported to some Nazi official for giving aid to the enemy and he could have found himself being summarily shot by the Nazis for that reason.
We don't know of all of the circumstances that the doctor was facing at the time? We like to see things in black or white and unfortunately life is not like that, especially during a war.
Mark from Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺
No act of kindness ever goes unpunished. A brave and chivalrous man.
An Honorable Man
Honour & Respect . Lest we forget .
Thanks for the comment and Support Patrick!
After 9 months hes back :D good vid btw
Even during war, we may be enemies, but with Honor and Dignity we serve, not as only warriors, but also with passion and sympathy as members of the Human race.
The enemies of America aren't human.
Nice to see at least one American had honour still. RIP pilot
Thanks for presenting another fascinating story ❤😊
been a while, nice to see your videos again
The video started and I kept expecting the narrator to say, "three minutes and twenty one seconds later"... LOL!
Was Preddy any relation to George Preddy, who racked up around 25 kills, and on Christmas Day 1944 was chasing an FW190 at low altitude over Belgium and was shot down and killed by our own antiaircraft fire. Tragic.
Thank you for this incredible story, and I suspect this happens at some point in every war.
Thanks for the comment and your support :)
It seems to me that human beings are the best existent thing in this planet but, sometimes, the same way, they can be the worst. We could see both exemplified in this short story.
And, as someone already mentioned, there were sometimes similar situations on the german side... so this is about humanity, not flags (with all due respect to all nations involved).
Amazing job! Thanks.
Incredible story of true greatness, God bless.
Great story and great video. War was cruel for those young men.
George Preddy, while flying his P51, was brought down by friendly fire.
Amazing story and bravery and compassion thank you sir
as a fleet sailor and a ship board fire fighter i saw the true footage of this. ,it will forever remain in my mind.
Amazing story, thank you. I only cried a little.
Thanks for the comment Talldude, as long as its only a little its fine ;)
Have a wonderful Day / Night!
I met a world War two soldier told me a story about what happened to him on a battle they lost he said that he was wounded laying on the ground and the German commander ordered all American wounded to be killed a German soldier approached him I was waiting to be killed he said the German looked at him and winked his eye and stuck the bayonet on the ground beside him he spared me he said than he played dead then they left he was rescued by an American patrol who I passed by he always told me that every night he would say a prayer to that German soldier that he hoped that he survived the war so you see there's good men in every war now those are the real warriors not the kill happy ones when your defenseless
what a great story - thanks for sharing. Eyes moist.
Thanks for the comment and your support Ian, have a great day :)
I love you channel and your videos i learned a lot of stuff from your channel
Awesome! Thank you
Joakim - "WRITE THAT DOWN! WRITE THAT DOWN!"
Parr - "We already did a version of this, Joakim..."
I wish I had the spare cash to contribute but alas I can't.
Keep up the great work it is a breath of fresh air amid the crap on TH-cam.
A hero and a humanitarian combined.
Well, a German pilot did spare a B-17.
An english soldier did spare a german messenger in WWI
Happened a lot more then we know most cases were classified so we will never know about them
a ww1 Allied soldier spared a A failed austrian painter😂
The German pilot certainly did, I watched that video.👍
Indeed he did, in fact, he also refused orders and escorted the crippled bomber through German flak batteries knowing they wouldn't fire on the American plane for fear of hitting him.
What an amazing story and very moving.
I will say it a thousand time they dont make men like that anymore . Damn love those guys
If he said that he shot down the Heinkel , when he got back to base his gun camera wouldn’t have recorded it, everyone would have known.
Honor is an idea we desperately need today
Sad that close to the end of the war in the European theater and this happens to Preddy ! A true hero. My great uncle was the CO of the 485th 9thAF but made it home after the war ...
My Dad was a german pilot of a Junkers Ju88, twin-engine, KG30 and his plane was shot in the fights around allied convois.
After a british pilot shot his left engine to pieces, my Dad lowered his landing gear as a sign of surrender and made a belly landing with his crew, somewhere in Norway in March17th 1940 (before the bloody Battle of Britain started). The british fighter pilot stopped shooting and lateron, in the POW-Camp, he visited my Dad, they shok hands and exchanched their pilot scarfs.
After seven years in Canada, my Dad came home
.
He always told me, that he loved to fly, but was happy, that he got his crew and himself unharmed trough this action and was always thankfull to this pilot.
My Mum had not such friendly engagement with an american fighter pilot. he chased her with his machine guns over the field. He flew that deep, that she could see his head in the cockpit. But that`s war.
I really hope, that people will understand one day, that we are all human beings and none of us has to be send to kill the other one..
Thank you very much for your very touching video. What a sad end for all of them....
First Lieutenant William R Preddy was a Great Human Being and Pilot who did not deserve his fate at all, and even less so close to the end of the war, so young with his life and love to live in peace time. RIP William.
God bless William and Jan. Both had a great sense of decency..
Thanks
His brother George was very famous, and was the top Mustang P51D ace of the war. George was shot down by so-called friendly fire and killed.
Thanks for the comment Paul, indeed. It must have been quite a tragic losing both sons so close to the end of the war
Thank you for sharing this
the worst of humanity can bring out the best. and vice versa thank you for this video.
My utmost respect to this pilot, human !
If he had been shown the compassion he showed,,at the hospital he might have lived,,,🌍☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️ from northern Ireland
While people like Preddy and Stigler might be charged prison time or even execution for their actions. I believe that no matter what the punishment is. They totally deserve the respect and fame they get on TH-cam and other sources of media. Something like this would take a lot of empathy and gut in order to spare an enemy!
Heart warming story. Thank you 🙏
It's wonderful to see humanity survive in such inhumanity as war.
What a beautiful story
Just a note on one of the points:
The German doctors at the emergency center didnt refuse to take Preddy in. In fact they treated him with first aid as best they could. What they refused to do was to transport him to the actual hospital, which was 10km away. It being 1945 and Germany is in absolute chaos, this is understandable. Why prioritize an enemy over your own.
Jan then transported him to the hospital, where the German doctors there took him in but couldnt save him.
Really good story and there must have been many similar from both sides over the course of the war.
Thanks for the clarification. I was a bit surprised and disappointed at the statement that German doctors wouldn't treat him, as I'd understood that these doctors were decent chaps and treated enemies as patients. .
So, that answers my rhetorical question of whether or not there was a 'Stigler-Brown Incident in reverse', thereby repaying the compliment. As one who blogs about the female Pop music from east of the former Iron Curtain, concentrating overwhelmingly on what was Czechoslovakia, it's very interesting that there is a connection with that part of the world.
Your job, when in the military at time of war, is to cripple your enemy’s ability to fight. Preddy recognized that this bomber was no longer a threat to allied positions.
We must all remember the sacrifices of death these men made so we can enjoy our extreme freedoms today. Thank you to all veterans..
Honor and reputation, is everything, in this life. 2 words, all the money, in the world, will never buy, but has to be earned
Had no idea this happened. I salute you great American P-51 Mustang Pilot, my
respects to you
Thanks for the comment Herbert!
@@FlakAlley You are welcome
A true American hero.
Thanks for the video.
A Nobel Warrior. Salute.
On December 20, 1943 a BF 109 flown by German pilot Lt. Franz Stigler wouldn't shoot down a very damaged B-17 flown by American pilot Charles Brown! Stigler escorted the B-17 to the North Sea and the 2 pilots saluted each other before departing! In 1990 Charles Brown found Franz Stigler and the 2 became the best of friends until they both passed away months apart in 2008!
Great story about compassion and mercy shown to an enemy. The compassionate pilot was maybe thinking, There, but for the grace of God, go l
I imagine there are other instances of men showing their humanity to their supposed enemies that we will never know of.
I did know about a German fighter pilot doing the same with a completely crippled B 17, even going as far as making German coastal defense believe there was no need to further shoot on the returning bomber, as he was in "pursuit". Both pilots met 40 years later and became friends. But I didn't know about the same thing happening the other way around. I guess something like this never happened over the Pacific, or am I wrong ? Chivalry towards the enemy doesn't sound very imperial Japanese to me ?
Thanks for the comment Retro, this likely happened on more occasions than we would ever know! We have 1 video of a similar incident over the pacific : th-cam.com/video/c9BwAI2dtBQ/w-d-xo.html
This was another American pilot sparing a Japanese pilot. We also have a video on a B-29 that lost its tail to a Japanese pilot but after the war they met up and became best friends : th-cam.com/video/rHI1DVGdzQE/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=FlakAlley
I would guess that happened more than we would think, both sides. There is story of Germany Pilot escorting a badly damaged B-17, as far as he could and then turning and going home.
He could have just finished them off, but he didn't.
Thanks for the comment, Certainly! we have a few videos on the lesser documented cases of this happening with the P-47, Spitfire and as you already know the Charlie brown incident. This likely happened on numerous occasions that just isn't documented as most did not survive very long in the war as pilots / crew
Amazing story should be made into a film 📽️🎥 that's what I call respect did the German heinkel pilot survive
Thank for an inspiring war story!
Reminds me about the B17 Charlie Brown.
This practically broke my heart. The German doctors turning him away...I'm sure we did the same but...
Thanks for the comment, it was certainly quite a rare occurrence from what we know. Most documented cases were very late into the war with desperation for resources at an all time high.
The Gestapo would have summarily executed the doc had he treated William.
@@MT-kc6rq Perhaps,yet the Geneva Convention (which Germany was a signatory) demands captured POW's be given medical treatment. It can be a war crime to refuse.
@@johnemerson1363 Thanks for the comment, indeed! however many things during war goes unaccounted for with no records, we can only guess what else happened. The doctors could have also been dealing with other fellow German soldiers etc. Its difficult to say, we can only hope that they did what was best at the time from their position.
@@MT-kc6rq more likely the allies had bombed the hospital and the docs were still pissed
My goodness, I never knew George Preddy had a brother also a pilot.. never heard this story before but I know plenty of George Preddy and his p51s crypes a mighty, (blue nose).. was kia Christmas day 44 by friendly fire, (ground fire)..
God bless that good woman , she gives me hope .