How Two German Pilots did the Unthinkable

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[jeddkeech]

The average German soldier was a draftee, a normal man. It shows in a lot of these stories. Thank you for covering this story

[zeusmaster]

I was born in Germany to an American father that flew on B-17s and German mother. My Opa (Grandpa) was in the Luftwaffe as a flak gunner in Ludwigshafen and was a very honorable man…not all german soldiers were Nazi Zealots and were compassionate to their foes

[fetzohr]

I was acquainted with the family of Wilhelm Dormann, a Luftwaffe night fighter ace who shot down 14 British bombers. He was careful to shoot at the engines, wings, and control surfaces so as not to kill fellow flyers. He was fluent in English and visited the POW camps to check up on his victims. I also heard this from the grandchildren of one of the British POWs. After the war he taught English to his neighbors and worked for reconciliation between the former enemies.

[elnielo]

Im a 66 years old Australian. Back in the 1970s whilst I was an apprentice plumber working on large construction sites there were ex military guys from a lot of different nations working together. I worked with an Italian, a German and an Australian and New Zealander all ex army who served in the deserts of north Africa. Fought in battles against each other. Great guys. Very funny guys. Great stories. No animosity.

[vmasing]

My grandfather had a little 20 acre farm when WW2 broke out, in a country east of Germany, west of Russia. The frontlines went over twice, so he had experiences with both German and Russian soldiers.

Germans came in very polite and asked to buy eggs. They absolutely loved eggs and always offered to pay or barter for something, wristwatch or a small harmonica. Russians just came and demanded food with an undertone of possible violence if you didn't abide.

My father was a little boy, he said Germans always gave him and other village children candy and choclate from their ration packs, Russians never did that. Germans loved to sing and play harmonica. Russians never did any of that, they always seemed afraid of some invisible threat, always suspicious about the locals.

When Germans came in to eat all the soldiers left their rifles outside behind the front door, stacked against the wall. Only officer had his pistol in his holster. When Russians came in they held their rifles between their legs while sitting at the table and eating.

Germans often were merciful in the battle, there's lots of stories about this, none about the Russians doing the same. Germans and Russians both had concentration camps where they both committed attrocities and systematically killed people but only German attrocities were spoken about because Russians ended up on the winning side. What you hear about history is only half truth, most of the time, unfortunately. You always have to consider which side was writing the history books, take that into consideration and then go look for the full story that's hidden from you.

[brunomanso]

Franz Stigler, from the JG-27, spared a B-17 a year earlier. For those pilots, there was no glory in shooting down a defenseless enemy.

[Deovindice]

Mr. Cottrell lives just up the road from me and I’ve had the honor of meeting him a couple times. My wife and I even met him for breakfast last year and we just sat and talked for over an hour. He is truly a great man. It’s amazing to see his story honored like this.

[morikanti]

Most likely, had there been a verification of this event, Ed would have been ordered not to share his story publically. Which is exactly what happened to the crew members of the B-17 "Ye Olde Pub".

[ronaldbrawders]

I read an interview with Robert Johnson, the top P-47 ace in WW II. He told a similar story about a guy in his squadron who was absolutely terrified of flying combat and had to be lifted into his airplane. He said that despite being terrified, when the time came the guy went down low with the rest of the squadron on ground attack missions and did his job. Johnson concluded by saying the guy "was the bravest man he had ever met.'

[MrShenyang]

By and large, the German Pilots did show considerable restraint when dealing with a damaged allied aircraft. There are numerous stories depicting German Pilots escorting damaged Allied Planes back to friendly zones. That was most commonly referred to as Chivalry and it was common on all sides.

[louiszierlein]

Read the book "A Higher Call" My Father was in the U.S.A.A.F. in WWII. I don't care what our history teaches us, I have heard first hand accounts of how the German Luftwaffe was the most honorable force in the entire conflict. There are MANY stories out there like this.

[janheinemeyer]

German Pilots considered themselves as knights of the air. (To most of them) it was against their code to cut down a crippled enemy.

[katman]

I read a first hand account of an encounter a german nightfighter had with a Halifax that was flying back from a mission to France where the German crew trailed the bomber for quite a while during which they discussed the possibility that it was fligth returning a French spy to England. In actually, it was a bomber returning from a mission but the idea someone might be going home in the bomber made the German Crew softhearted and without saying anything, they just flew away. There were some really cool German nightfighters.

[SNP-]

Pierre Clostermann, a French officer who flew as a fighter pilot for the Royal Air Force in WW2, in his books about the air war, wrote that the German flak was absolutely deadly, in particular defending Luftwaffe airfields, and that any low level attack by allied fighter bombers was near suicidal, right up to the last days of the war.

[russ]

I salute those honourable German pilots.
And can understand why that young American pilot, Art Summers, had difficulty wanting to fly missions. How any of the boys in the air or on the ground kept their mental fortitude and continued to fight is astounding to me.

[LancelotChan]

These 2 german pilots deserve high respect. Heroes, especially at that time it could have cost their life.

[Napoleon-lc]

This story needs as much attention as Charlie Brown’s, A Higher Call.

[KrusinTheKingdom]

My mother grew up in WWII Germany. Her and her sister were walking down and open road and an American bomber they called them Stuka which was actually the name of the German bombers of the day, turned in overhead to strafe them they heard the stories and and a new friends that were killed that way, so they thought they were done but the pilot, who did see them flew overhead and waved his wings as he went by.

Only the fanatics were animals most Germans answered the call, just as us Americans did. My Opa was Wehrmacht German army, my father was 2nd Armored they were both good men, as was that pilot who flew over my mom and her sister that day as was the ME109 pilots who would never think of killing a helpless opponent. It takes more courage to help your enemy up than it does to knock them down.

Many of our so-called leaders today could learn a valuable lesson from this story if they only have the capability to listen. Thank you for telling this story.

May God have mercy on us all.🙏🙏🙏

[abitofapickle]

"8 cylinders out of 18"

The Jug!

[antonnym]

Ed, I'm ex-Army, and I believe you. I've had people not believe me too when I was telling the truth, and it stings. But it is not your fault. Just remind yourself that some people's minds are so narrow, they can't imagine something extraordinary happening. All good wishes.