(continued from page 3)
Out of all
the pilots you have flown with was there one who made a really good lasting
impression on you?
Uh,
well…this depends...someone a year or so…I had a Sergeant...and he had a
Ritterkreuz. And he,
uh…he got shot down…uh…in Germany…over Germany.
He had a Cross of Knights and then he got after he was killed...he
got the one with oak leaves. He
was only non-com (NCO) that had this got one.
What was his
name?
Oh…damn…I’m
terrible with names…my wife might know the name, she would know his
name…
Did you as
pilots always have regular training courses on escape and evasion, survival…
Yeah,
we had them, but no one gave a shit. You
lost everyday you lost a few pilots…everyday…and so…we are sitting
there every night writing to a wife or to parents, you know…you’d have
half a bottle of cognac besides you…because that’s the only way you
could do it, you know. We’d
have to write about what a “hero” he was, and so…late in the afternoon
there’d be about 6…multiply by…by 2…but, uh…we were sitting out of
the evening with all the other men, the liquor and the beer…and we were
sitting in the office and writing…and we had to write it by hand…We
couldn’t get the…the Master Sergeant to write the letters, no…YOU had
to write the letters.
With new
pilots…obviously you have better experience with the aircraft like the F and
the G…did the new pilots have problems?
You’d
put them in the middle…for the first few flights, you know…so they know
what is going on. The…the new
pilots they hardly could fly the 109…they had seventy or eighty hours of
flying time. They had of heck
of a time learning to fly the airplane…take off and land, you know.
As I said, every pilot came with a plane. They came form the school and then they went to uh…to the
manufacture, or someplace where they had the airplanes, and they would come
with them…especially in Afrika.
In Afrika,
was the tropical filter used just for takeoff?
Yes,
for takeoff and landing you close it…because of the sand, you know…after
you go about a couple of thousand feet high…and then you open it…
How many
times were you out per day flying missions?
Sometimes
three a day, three times, yeah…especially in Afrika. And we didn’t waste any time because if the bombers.
How long did
it take for fatigue to hit you, tiredness, wanting to take a break?
I
don’t know, I don’t remember…we had no time for fatigue.
|
Out of
all the planes you’ve flown in your whole life, including like your
108…what was you favourite plane, from the day you started flying?
My
favourite plane?…I had a Heinkel 70 …have you heard of it?
Yeah,
it’s big plane.
It
was like…looked like a Spitfire…only bigger, it was 6 seater.
One pilot in the front, and in the middle down there, the
passengers. It was a kind of
a…how do you say it…a commuter plane…you bring a pilot from some,
uh...airport to the main area…and I had it for…oh, I don’t know how
long. I teached my students
with it…I visited my girlfriends with it…on the weekend I could fly
anywhere I wanted…
So
that was your favourite?
Yeah!
It was fast, you know. At
the time it was the fastest airplane there was.
What
year was this?
Uh…43
or 44…No, 33 or 34 |
 |
There was a
gunsite for a Me262 (EZ42)…my friend Roger waned me to ask you about it…
Yeah…on
the 262 it adjusted itself for the speed and acceleration, so…it was a
Revi too, for all aircraft types it was the Revis…but o the 262 you saw it
in the windshield…the reflection.
Did you ever
have any dogfights or battles, where you didn’t think you would make it back
home, or uninjured?
Oh
yeah, it happened quite often, but you don’t even think of it.
We…we always uh…in the, the home defence we were always
under...under...had less than the other side.
There were
lots of American fighters, Germany had lots of fuel shortages and…
I
can quite remember a night in ’43 in Afrika we flew over the Junkers
52’s transport planes with fuel and ammunition…and as we came over
there, I had 6 airplanes with me…6 fighter planes as escort.
We came over there, and the sky looked like a swarm of bees!…P-51s,
you know… and uh…uh…Spitfires. Of
course we were always short. I
always made it home…but not quite…
Did the
transport planes make it?
…no…
…Did you
ever, just for fun, did you ever fly your plane without permission?
Oh
yeah…we had also, uh…aerobatic planes, you know, little biplanes, and we
went up and cut loose and just have yourself fun.
We had those cloud, those… pillow clouds, and we’d fly around
them. Looked like Blanket
against the wall, you know.
What were
your favourite memories?
I…I
don’t know…I…one is I didn’t shoot this guy down… this guy down
this B-17…Charlie Brown, I let him get away…I was talking yesterday with
him. He might come here to our
airshow. They want to make a
film down there, I don’t want to. I
just want to have my quiet peace, you know…that’s all.
|
Now…I’ve
read the story…(Franz’s cat walks over, meows). If you downed one more
plane, you could be nominated for a Knights Cross.
It was pretty much illegal not to shoot an enemy aircraft down was
it not?
Yeah,
more or less. I didn’t
do my job, I should have shot him down. If I wouldn’t have not seen
a person I would have shot him down.
I came from a…I was flying above, and uh...I figured out how
to finish him off…I’d say I’d do it the normal way from the
rear. And I came from the
rear…and I was waited…waiting and gave the tail gunner a chance to
lift the guns…the guns were hanging down, you know.
And he never lifted the guns.
And I came closer and closer…and at about 20 feet…and I saw
him lying in there in his blood…so I couldn’t shoot.
I flew up…next to his right side...and uh… the plane was
bad, you know…much damage. I was surprised it flew even…I tried to
get him to land…in Switzerland…because of the damage, I never saw
so much… next to him, I flew for many minutes…until he got to the
sea…and then I flew home…
|
The painting titled, “The Gallant Foe”, by
Michael W. Wooten, commemorating the act of humanity that Franz Stigler
displayed on December 20, 1943. |
Why did you
stay with him for so long?
…Because
I didn’t want anyone else to get him…
Wow…
Yeah…and
it took him forty years to find me. In
out Jagr magazine…we have this uh…this pilot magazine…(Franz pulls out
a copy of a pilots magazine). He had an ad and…as looking for the pilot
who let him go…now we meet every year.
Charlie and I meet every year now.
Right now I cannot fly I have an asthma you know…so I am not
allowed to get insurance…because of the stupid air and air-conditioning in
the airplane...it’s dangerous… you know…not too long ago a woman died
in an airplane because of it.
So, when you
came back from the B-17, were you scared at all, that someone might find out
that you didn’t -
-
I didn’t tell anybody. No
definitely not… I couldn’t tell anyone…I couldn’t…I’d be court-martialled.
I shot, on the same day I shot two B –17’s down, you know.
(Franz cat
jumps on my leg, and there is a bit of silence)
You have a very friendly cat…loves attention.
| Oh,
if you want, I got a picture for you.
I’ll sign it for you.
(Franz
pulls out a picture of himself in full dress uniform…he signs it in
silver ink)
How
old were you here?
Uhh...
24, I guess...when I guess I was a Squadron Commander…
|
 |
Did you ever
get the heated flight suit?
Oh
yeah, they were always heated. We
only had heated flight suits. You
just plugged it into the aircraft. Yeah, the boots were heated, the gloves
were heated…everything…and you just plugged ‘em in.
What
did the Messerschmitt smell like when you were in the cockpit?
Ahh,
that’s a…well…that’s…we had, special fuel made from coal.
It’s the only way, we didn’t have usual fuel as everybody
else…and uh…well…actually it was a good smelling clean airplane…I
can write I hope…(Franz signs the photo)
Thank you
very much…
Let
it dry…
Thank you.
…you’re
welcome.
How did the
AFN2 and Fug 16Z work?
Yeah,
the 16Z...that was our radio…and so you could talk to the ground, you
could talk to each other…and then uh… and if you were above the clouds,
and didn’t know where you were, you’d ask the ground, give me my
position, or and my course for the next airport and within a minute at
least…within minutes you had it. The
Americans were crazy about those radios. We didn’t use a lot of the…Variometer it was
called…that showed the position of your plane.
There were very few of us ever used it - the old timers…the young
pilots would end up flying with us, they would...
Was it was
it easy to keep formation in the group?
Oh
yeah…yeah, you get used to it.
The armour
glass was first on the outside of the aircraft, and then they moved it to the
inside for the G model. Is that
correct?
Yeah.
Did you ever
get the heated flight suit?
Oh
yeah, they were always heated. We
only had heated flight suits.
You just
plugged it into the aircraft.
Yeah,
the boots were heated, the gloves were heated…everything…and you just
plugged ‘em in.
What did the
Messerschmitt smell like when you were in the cockpit?
Ahh,
that’s a…well…that’s…we had, special fuel made from coal.
It’s the only way, we didn’t have usual fuel as everybody
else…and uh…well…actually it was a good smelling clean airplane…I
can write I hope…(Franz signs the photo)
Thank
you very much…
Let
it dry…
Thank you.
…you’re
welcome.
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