When a BF-109 spared a B-17 

*chops more onions* How about now?

I’ve known this story for around 6 or 7 years. It all started with a print titled “The Guardian” at a train show.

Yeah, you can bet your ass I'm crying.

It's just eye sweat, not tears

We're all crying, face it

Yeah man you are right❤️

Respect is better than Honor

Idc that he was Nazi he still deserves it

I dint even think its fair to call him a Nazi, just a German pilot. The Nazis were the men who poured there brutal ideology into the hearts of the German people and cartied out Hitlers ideals, like the SS for example amd some of the Wehrmacht. But nit every German was a Nazi but a man fighting for his country.

@@ArcticWolf00Alpha0 i meant he worked for them

According to Stigler, he gained something even better than that: a brother.

*Knights Cross

@@SefniAsheforr He should have gotten it later for saving a plane...

he did get it later anyway

@@KekusMagnus oh good

When I’m trying to explain this to people I use the Milgram experiment, seems to help with perspective.

Gg

Most were fighting against their will

Well, in the first place the Germans were soldiers, told to follow commands like any other soldiers of any other country. They had honor and humanity, too. Nazis and the Wehrmacht are two different stories.

@@marcobecken8557 Exactly, nice to see someone who also understands!

Me to my I'm man I'm like 29

Same

Same

I didn't cry. Why did y'all cry

Yes... Brothers, heroes, foes

drones be like...

Sadly the rich People still manage to get hate between us that we still have war and fight each other instead of hold together and fight the real enemy

@@diegomediavilla5632 If the weren't around, the poor would start wars. Before money, wars were started over land to grow crops. Or because one group of humans had something another wanted. It's human nature to fight and kill for no reason. Good or otherwise. Why do you think people rape and murder?

@@ghoost8943 behind every drone is a Chinese child who made the plastic for the missiles

Everyone knew... eccept the american pilots who shot even to the pilots while with the parachute, or while landing, or while crash landing

if your guardian angel pilots a 109 your as safe as you can be

...if I had been in Franz Stigler's place, I'd like to believe that I'd have acted exactly the same way he did- war or no war, I have to live with myself...

@@daleburrell6273 I think everyone believes they would react with honor in that position. And I know everyone prayers they will never have to find out for sure.

I would agree

"Sad Zuko noises"

Ya I can tell your Canadian because you spelled hounor like that instead of honor

Idk why, but I teared up when he said that

@@idofivethings6222 I can tell you’re American because you said “your” instead of “you’re” Lol

The end got me and made me cry

Me too.

holy sht it genuinely is beautiful

Now we need one that looks even more realistic

I won't nitpick considering the quality and effort these guys make to tell these stories. Amazing remaster :).. always great to watch this channel. However, they mention Franz's bird was a G6. But the model is clearly a E model, evident by the small propeller cover, lack of bulges for the hood armament and the tail linked by cables.

Seven years. Perhaps since a certain album _Heroes_ was released? I remember seeing a documentary on The History Channel, from back before they became the Space Alien Bigfoot Templar Conspiracy Channel.

@@Thomas.Wright The two events may indeed be connected, well guessed! History Channel used to have some fantastic programming once upon a time.

@@Handles-Suck-RU-vid Now, it seems, almost all their programming needs to be prefaced with "Once upon a time."

U know Charlie flew two other b17s other than Ye Olde Pub

They were the "Anita Marie" And the "Duffy's Tavern"

A Tree yes

He was a Madman

@@lawrenceofdeeznuts1573 but not as mad as mad jack

I think you mean Yarnhub

D

Sabaton peeps!

Ah a man of culture

This comment ages well, as well as any other Sabaton comments in this video

@Berserker B17

I just read and I noticed that the lyric comments are in order XD

it was because of this that I started to understand more deeper and emotionally that not of us who fought in the war were bad guys and that goes double for the Germans. I guess those who were not Nazis were the good guys fighting for survival for their nation like Stigler did and those who left the Nazis and joined a resisting force (like we saw in the battle of castle itter in 1945). Again this story with Sabaton "no bullets fly" is what made me understand that not all were villains.

You got that right!!! I first got into Sabaton with the Bismark song. It's 80's rock and it's real history. One lucky shot took out the Bismark. I hate that a lot of people are afraid of history. I play video games and in all of the Call of Duty games the so called Germans. They won't call them Nazi's. They will just say Germans. Plus they will not use the Nazi Swastika Flag. They use World War One symbols. I wish somebody would make a period game without the lies. Most people don't know history simply because somebody doesn't want us to remember it or know about it.

@@Rynigin CoD World at War flys the swastika in many parts for the Germans. They wussed out on CoD WW2.

They could just shove Yarnhub and Sabaton videos on and kick back and itd be the best history education the kids ever had.

Secure contain protect

Not just a friend, a brother

A brother to the end

Not a brother, the best brother.

Not just the best brother, the best brother friend

Not just a friend, or a brother, also the only German who chose to protect the whole Ye Old Pub survivors to get home and be with their families. They are all grateful to have the whole crew minus the one KIA lived on and have their descendants met Stigler and his families.

Lol

LoL

Lmao

LOL

@@josephstalin364 We didnt expect special forces sir

Lol

Lol that so true

Nah if that’s real and I’m the Stuka I’ll help him get back to base then leave

I want those points!

I spared a b17 once because his gunners seemed dead and i gotta sympathize with his repair costs

Soon it’s going to be like all the WW1 vets.. all gone.

We need a cure to stop aging.

when you realize that we are the last generation that able to see ww2 veterans

@@comradesfromthesouth3517 F

@Besser Isses well, I just think it's a shame that they are passing, as we cannot hear they're stories. My great grandfather father passed recently, and I wished I asked him more about what his life was like

Fly, fighting fair, it's the code, of the air! Brothers, Heroes, Foes

Hol up there's a song about this

@@skybuprofen9834 yep, is called "no bullet fly" from Sabaton :)

@@skybuprofen9834 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-efxs-Hp0QEw.html here enjoy ;)

My favourite Sabaton song

truely great stories of humanity during war

Yep

og's remember

Yep

2d version?

@@tsiagian6610 thank you

Yes, it was with Sam "Blackie" Blackford - the belly gunner of Ye Olde Pub. His were some of the 25 or so children and grandchildren Franz Stigler later met, who only existed because he held his fire and then helped the crippled bomber escape.

NOOOO I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD

Noooooo

Wassup Stalin

@@necro6954r4 It's not the real Joseph Stalin. It's that guy from that old The Tick animated series who bases his work on the original Stalin.

Yes he did. Charlie said if he had realised he would be speaking Swedish today

@@Yarnhub Unrelated question. What music did you use?

@@Yarnhub Sweden is good way to landing but Charlie decided to made back to England,with luck he made back to England with his badly damaged Pub.

@@YourLocalMairaaboo if you talk about the instrumental I have no idea but the metal song is "No Bullets Fly" from Sabaton

@@eduardochavez7889 it was the instrumental.

There was a hole in the right wing

@@general_duck4580 I mean you can still control it in war thunder

@@engineergaming9045 Sometimes even without wings.

@@emescub exactly

@@engineergaming9045 xd

If I remember correctly after that incident he never recorded any future kills because the cross no longer had the appeal to him

@@Wookiee925 Not true, he claimed at least 5 more kills afterwards (including 3 US heavy bombers). But considering most of his kills were faked and that he got caught, just barrely avoiding court-martial, I doubt he really stand a chance to get the Knight's Cross.

Nazis are evil sparing that bomber could mean a death sentence as stated in the video

@@abuBrachiosaurus that's why he kept that a secret

Well actually even not shooting down the bomber was still an act of bravery, as he said if he shot down that plane it would be on his conscience for the rest of his life, but he may have not earned the iron cross he was a brave man to do that, he did not kill the helpless and didn't take his reward I like that and if his commanders found out he would either be chastised or executed that was brave and mentally strong. (I salute him)

Brother heroes foes!

B 17!!!, HONOR IN THE SKY

@@kameradhazel9480 B 17 FLYING HOME!

B 17 flying home

Killing machine

same..

lmao

XD

LMAO

**I’m getting some warthunder vibes here**

YOUR RIGHT WING

but i doubt it would be faithful to the story, i always said " if you interested in watching documentary movies, watch those made by the losing countries, they have less propaganda and be more truthful to the story"

No shit man

@@Admin-Kuni-6172 All I can say is: You're goddamn right

So true

wow, never thought my words are approved by many

Way ahead of you, partner.

great book

@@patton9696 are you related with George Patton?

The book is really great

Absolutely, I just received a copy of "A Higher Call", it will be thoroughly read and placed alongside my father's 1st Cav Div memoirs of his three wars (WWII-PTO, Korea-Chosen Reservoir, Vietnam-Pleiku & An Khe): "Duty, Honor, Country...and Mercy".

Since I read the book years ago I always thought the exact same thing...

@@victorcarneiro4715 There HAVE been talks about a movie adaptation. Personally I feel like for them to do it right they must do one thing... Gather the cast and crew together and then give EVERYONE a copy of the book and say "This is the script." Seriously the book reads just like a movie. It's THAT immersive.

@@Kamina.D.Fierce Tottaly agree with you. Or even better, they could do a series sort of like Band of Brothers with an intro of whatever footage they can find of the original crew on each episode :)

@@victorcarneiro4715 That could work. Honestly. They could make a 6 hour movie and I'd enjoy every second of it. Of course that's not very feasible for most people, so splitting it into say 2 3-hr movies or 3 2-hr movies would be sufficient too. But a series... Hmm... That allows for more time and building which is honestly very crucial to this particular story. So... Hmmm... Perhaps an hour long episode per book chapter?

@@Kamina.D.Fierce That would be perfect. 👌

@@YooZherName I was about to say just that. It brought tears to my eyes too.

Same here...........

What’s the title of the book your got?

@@lucash7012 a higher call

@@lucash7012 The book is called: A Higher Call by Adam Makos

I was here when they made original video

Yeah, Found them when they had 2-3 videos, Its so amazing to see them grow

I know right! The original one is how I found them!

@@KiegKillsReality same

oh god damn it you beat me to it, just as i wrote it, i looked down in comments and saw yours. The Enemy has captured the Zone

B17 are very weak in war thunder

@@RuminatingKiwi927 They are slow, but they resist against enemy flak and AA, Italians and Japan fighters... Also against some BFs109 The problem is the FW190, a modern BF109 or some Meschersmit. (They kill you for sure)

@@wb-4117 Hehe boi

@@wb-4117 lol same

I KNOW!

True, he took an enormous risk and was well aware of it.

He risked his life, twice in that one day, To save an unknown enemy! Escorted safely out of the kill zone, A short salute before departing!

@@jamesgroccia644 Fly, fighting fair it’s the code of the air! Brothers! heroes! Foes!

@@blahlbinoa KILLING MACHINE

@@breizhrudie4757 HONOR IN THE SKY

Same

The song no bullets fly by sabaton is about this :)

@@alexrowson-brown6568 BROTHERS HEROES FOES

Hey love your content

Vittie! I just saw your video on the Germans Surrendering to the US, Loved it

@@ibbi32 Thankyou!

@@scarf3878 Appreciate it

@@FlakAlley hello Vittie i really enjoy your content, every video you post i will enjoy it... especially i like the one b17 flying fortress land itself....

We’ll see what we can do !

Fly, fighting fair, it's the code of the air! Brother, heroes, foes!

Killing machine Honour in the sky B-17 Flying home Killing machine Said goodbye to the cross he deserved

@@BackBow8504 he risked his life 2 times that day to save a downed enemy

@Wesley Maxfield A SHORT SALUTE THEN DEPARTED

Hehe

Theres another story like this on the show Dogfights. It seems like this happened often during WW2.

snail eater

Don't buy Turkish Hollywood. That nation has a criminal record of genocides.

@@fendrou so does the US.

@@fendrou So does the US, UK, Germany, USSR, Belgium, Croatia, Cambodia, Rwanda, Pakistan, Uganda, Congo, Iraq, Philippines, Japan, Somalia and more. So, why single one out? List them all! Maybe you'll get a medal.

@@alpha00z26 I think you'll agree that most Aussies and Kiwis are kinda pissed off at the UK about Gallipoli

@@jexiagalleta4712 ye

I see he liked my comment interesting.

awoken*

Oof more likes.

Sabaton

Yes... The solo makes me cri

Listen to this music as honour for Franz and Charlie: So touching my dear friends: ancient (old school) version: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3Y1Z1y2PSNw.html new version ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ln3VvTZh8jo.html This music is played in the region of german languages (swiss, austrian, german) as honour for the dead comrades/friends.

The only nazis and germans where you would know they were bad just by hearing about them were the SS

@@errem563 there were enough ss that weren't nazi's but you won't understand it so i wouldn't care to even explain

Yes but you have to understand that this is an extremely rare case. Any other German fighter would have shot down the bomber without hesitation. The vast majority believed in the Nazi ideology. Even those who didn’t know what they were doing were still fighting for an evil regime. I doesn’t matter if a soldier is evil. They were still killing American solders and fighting for Hitler. Whether they knew it or not. What he did was a very incredible and honorable thing. But he whether he believed in the Nazi cause or not, he was fighting for the wrong side

They were forced to fight

@@nicholascernatescu6685 He may have been fighting for the wrong side, but he was doing the right thing, trying to protect his country.

Yeah

Sad thing is. Your vietnam veterans are probably the only ones who hate today. It reminds them that the government, other vets, and even the average citizen hated them for the longest time after their service in vietnam

@@SoggyCoffeeAddict are you sure about that?

@@SoggyCoffeeAddict it’s true very very true

@@zackiet731 my grandfather who passed, his two brothers, and my uncle all go to a bar to get wasted to try and forget what today is. If you were treated as scum for the good part of a decade. No amount of fake praise after that will make them feel better about it. They couldn't work because no one wanted to hire a vietnam vet, they couldn't hang out with friends because the general population seen them as failures. We did loose the conflict over there after all, nothing to do with the people. We never stood a chance and the government knew that going into the war. So no friends and no job, one of my grandfather's brothers even had their wife leave them because that's how things were back then

yes :D

Best book in the world

Remaster*

@@savage4749 Reboot*

@@savage4749 done!

Wether it's a remake a remaster or a reboot I think we can all agree it's a good story

Don't agree

@@samuelparker9882 for?

@@samuelparker9882 go to sleep

I mean he didn't really serve his country that well considering he let an enemy bomber and it's crew survive probably allowing them to continue bombing German cities

@@someretardedgamer6958 so did you beat a man that already badly injured to death? Bomber job is to destroy any military facility, like military base, air base, or weapon production factory, not to bomb the city, its a war crime to bomb a city that had maybe civilian on it, its useless and waste too bombing a city

That is so unfair.😢 At least his name, and his act of kindness is remembered for an eternity on the internet. Both Franz and Charlie live on in our hearts and minds.

He was cremated and died in the arms of his wife,Helga Stigler

same