A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story Of Combat And Chivalry In The War-Torn Skies Of World War II, Makos - A

                     This is an excellent story about two pilots, one German, one American. 

                      Bavarian-born Franz Stigler flew 487 combat missions as a fighter pilot. Of Germany's 28,000 fighter pilots, only 1,200 survived the war. His father had flown in the first war, and he had flown a glider at the age of 12. By the time he was 22, he was a Lufthansa pilot. A year later, in 1938, the Luftwaffe came calling, and assigned him to train pilots. He was a flight instructor until he requested a combat assignment in late 1940. In the Spring of 1942, Stigler was sent to support the Afrika Korps. Flying and fighting in the desert offered opportunities, as Franz was an ace (5 kills) within a few months. But, the hardships were overwhelming. In the summer's heat, each man slept in a grave - a hollowed out hole in the ground with a tarp over it. In September, he took an eight week leave at home, after which he was assigned to Sicily. The fighting was complicated by the Allies growing numbers and better equipment. The following June, a P-40 riddled his Me-109 with bullets and he landed in the Mediterranean. He survived, just barely. With nineteen victories to his credit, Franz was transferred to Germany to help defend the Fatherland as it was being battered by Allied bombers. His squadron flew out of Wiesbaden every day to confront the B-17's.

                    Charlie Brown grew up in West Virginia, and was a pilot of a B-17 by the time he was twenty. At the end of 1943, Charlie and his crew flew from England to Germany on the their first combat mission. As they approached Bremen, flak blew out the planes nose, pierced a wing, took out an engine and damaged a second engine. They slowed after they turned toward home and were attacked by Me-109's, who shot away half the rudder and hit another engine. The B-17 was pummeled again and again, with damage everywhere, the radio out, and two men dead. His stabilizer was shot off and soon, Charlie was flying the plane in an upside down spin. With his oxygen gone, he passed out. The plane plummeted from 22,000 feet. Charlie came to at about 10,000 feet and pulled the plane out of its death drop so close to the city of Oldenburg that he blew shingles off roofs. Flying barely faster than his stall speed, Charlie headed for the Baltic and passed over a German fighter base. Eyeing the wounded B-17 and in need of a bomber to earn a Knights Cross, Franz Stigler took off. When he saw the condition of the B-17 he could not believe the plane was still airborne, and he concluded he didn't have the heart to destroy a handful of helpless men. Franz saluted Charlie and let him attempt to return to England. Three-quarters of the way across the North Sea, they were down to 500 feet. By the time Charlie landed the plane, they were running on one-and-a-half engines. A few months later, Charlie and his crew finished their 28th and final mission. Their war was over.

                  Franz's was not. He already had posted 300 combat missions by the time Charlie was finished. He continued flying two or three missions per day. By the end of the year, the Luftwaffe was a shadow of itself with Franz leading teenagers against the Allies, and facing devastating odds. In October, he was wounded and grounded. In the last month of the war, Franz and a handful of veterans took to the skies in Messerschmidt jets. He survived, surrendered to the Americans, and emigrated to Canada after the war. Because he flew a Me-109 in a few air shows, he was invited to Boeing's 1985 B-17 reunion. About the same time, Charlie began to wonder about the man who had saved his life. He got in touch with the magazine of the German pilots association and posed the question. In 1990, he received a letter from Franz.  They met the following year; their reunion attracted national media attention.  By virtue of the unusual circumstances of Franz not shooting down Charlie and his plane in 1944, the Air Force had hushed the matter up. Sixty-four years later the Air Force awarded Charlie the Air Force Cross and all of the crew received Silver Stars.

                This book tells a remarkable story. The chapters describing Brown and his crews first flight and the amount of destruction their plane took is as harrowing and  nerve wracking as anything I have read about WWII. It is incomprehensible that the plane stayed in one piece and that Brown could fly it for hours in that condition. The degree of professionalism amongst the Germans who fought for years is truly impressive. And not least of all, stories like this are a reminder that almost all of these courageous men were just boys. A magnificent read and one highly recommended. Thanks to Carl Kreitler for the suggestion.