Franz Stigler expected a kill. He was flying a Messerschmitt Bf 109 over Germany on December 20, 1943, when he came upon a lone American B-17. Under ordinary circumstances, a B-17 was dangerous prey.

On December 20, 1943, Second Lieutenant Charles “Charlie” Brown was flying his first combat mission as aircraft commander of a B-17F Flying Fortress named Ye Olde Pub. The target was Bremen, Germany, ...

EXCLUSIVE: Neophyte screenwriter John Marckesano has been tapped to adapt true story WWII tale A Higher Call for Oscar-winner Tom Stoppard (Empire of the Sun, Shakespeare In Love) and Solipsist Films.

Every once in a while, you hear a story from a battlefield that shows love wins over guns. The story of US pilot Charlie Brown and German ace pilot Franz Stigler is one such. On December 20, 1943, at ...

In response to the letter “Suggested reading for Hegseth” (Jan. 4, TribLive): For Charles Brown and Franz Stigler, things turned out well that day, but many others died at the hands of each afterwards ...

Five days before Christmas in 1943, over the skies of Germany, Charlie Brown, a 20-year-old farm boy from West Virginia, encountered Franz Stigler, a 29-year-old German flying ace. Brown, the pilot of ...

Most Americans do not know the name Franz Stigler. In late 1943, in the air war over Germany, Stigler climbed into the cockpit of his Messerschmitt Bf-109 to pursue a badly damaged B-17. The American ...

Some years ago I read about Charles Brown, a World War 2 pilot on his first mission, just before Christmas, 1943. His B-17 had been shot to pieces by German fighters and anti-aircraft guns. Half his ...

This feature is only available to members. Join now for full online access. In December 1943, German fighter pilot Franz Stigler was in pursuit of American bomber pilot Charlie Brown's plane, looking ...