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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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. ❤️
@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.
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
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
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.
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.
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 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
"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
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.....
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 🇦🇺
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 💜💜
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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 ...
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. .
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.
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 RU-vid and other sources of media. Something like this would take a lot of empathy and gut in order to spare an enemy!
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
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.
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....
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 : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-c9BwAI2dtBQ.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 : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rHI1DVGdzQE.html&ab_channel=FlakAlley
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.
@@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.
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!
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.
