Corgi 1/72 AA39915 Boeing B17F Flying Fortress Ye Olde Pub 379th Bomber Group 8th Air Force Kimbolton and Messerschmitt Bf109G-6 Franz Stigler Jg 27 December 1943
This is the Last AA39915 we have, but unfortunately has a Slight Box Damage.
A special pair of aircraft models marking one of the most unusual events of WW2, which demonstrated that even in war there is room for compassion and chivalry.
These two aircraft, B17F Flying Fortress Ye Olde Pub of the 379th bomber group and Bf109G of Jg27 met on December 20th 1943 while the B17 was returning from bombing the Foke-Wulf plant in Bremen. From his Bf109 Franz Stigler could see the wounded crew struggling to get their aircraft home and escorted the heavy damaged bomber in its' ultimately successful attempt to return to England.
In the late 1980s ther bombers' pilot, 2nd Lt. Charlie Brown sought to contact the German pilot, who was then still unknown to him, finding out that not only was Franz Stigler still alive but had moved to Canada after the war.
This set commemorates this remarkable event, recorded in a recent book 'A Higher Call', presenting the two aircraft in as close as research has made possible their appearance when they took off for their fateful meeting over Germany in December 1942.
Wingspan: B17F 438mm, Bf109 137mm
On 20th December 1943 2nd Lt. Charlie Brown embarked upon his first mission over enemy territory, the bombing of the Focke-Wulf factory at Bremen. While the route to the target was relatively routine, once over it the mission ran into problems.
Accurate flak smashed the Plexiglas nose, knocked out the number 2 engine and damaged engine number 4. Brown was forced to slow the bomber, dropping out of formation and becoming a straggler, a very vulnerable position for the aircraft. The bomber then came under sustained enemy fighter attacks, number 3 engine being damaged, along with the oxygen, hydraulic and electrical systems. Only the dorsal turret and one nose gun remained serviceable. Of the crew most were injured, Brown had been shot in the shoulder and the tail gunner had been killed.
The final fighter to intercept the plane was flown by Franz Stigler, who upon seeing the damage to the B17 and the wounded crew visible inside through the holes, decided not to shoot them down. The bomber declined his invitation to guide them to a German held airfield and his attempts to signal them to turn towards nearby Sweden. Instead, recognising the bombers commanders' resolve to return to base, he escorted them over German flak batteries until his own fuel limits, at which point Stigler saluted the bombers' pilot and crew and flew home. Lt. Brown landed safely but was instructed to tell no-one of the German pilots' actions.
Both Stigler and Brown survived the war and in the late 1980s Brown sought to find out who the German pilot was, making contact with Stigler for the first time and discovering that he lived just a few hundred miles away, having moved to Vancouver after the war. They met in late 1990 and remained friends until their deaths just a few months apart in 1998.