(Continued from page 6)
You came to
Canada in the 50’s…
Yes
53,
Why did you
come to Canada?
Ah,
it’s a long story…a long story…I had a contract with… here in
Canada…Canada here as an engineer…and they were building this Avro
Arrow, and it was top secret, you know…they said to me “come back in 2
years”. I tried to get on it, but it was Top Secret…anyway in 2 years
when I realized I was supposed to come back, I was in Queen Charlotte
Islands, you know…and I had a job out there…and my girlfriend came and I
enjoyed every minute…I was there for 5 ½ years.
So how often
do you get together with the other pilots?
Yeah,
about once per year we get together…I haven’t been…the last one I was
there was about 3 years…3 years ago.
(I look up
at a massive model of a seaplane). Did
you fly a plane like that?
Oh
yeah…
So was
landing on water easier?
Oh
yeah, well you get used to it…same as on land…you have to watch more
because you try to keep the tail down…so you didn’t…didn’t crash.
I had an unlimited license…weight unlimited.
What does
that mean?
You could fly any
size…
So, did you like the Me 110?
No, not at all...I
have a friend, he… he flew the 110 throughout the war…and if he’s
still alive it’s a wonder…I hated it…the 210 was better then the 110.
So are you
visiting a lot of air shows now?
I’m
invited all the time…I don’t know if I should continue…I’m so old to
go to the air show now I am a few minutes older…I cannot go…and I belong
to the Abbottsford flying club, and now I’m never there.
Ken…he is a friend of mine…he was a Mosquito pilot…you can see
him out there at the museum where the planes…they fix planes.
Yeah he
sounds like a great guy, he was the gentleman that gave me your number.
What was your last rank in the Luftwaffe?
I
was First Lieutenant and a wing Commander…this is a Colonel’s job, but
the matter was…as long as you had the experience…
When you
were in the service, what did you start out as?
Private,
Unteroffizier…I was in instructor, you know…and at the time in
Officer’s School, and there I was a Private there, an instructor…and all
my student were Lieutenants, you know…it was not always easy, you
know…and once I had a run-in with one…in the...in the classroom… I was
trying to teach him some…I don’t know navigation or what, and there was
one sitting in the back and was reading a newspaper…I said to him…the
Lieutenant to come ahead and read it allowed, so everyone knew what was
going on…and they gave ME shit, you know.
So I went to the General…told him what happened…and he didn’t
become a pilot. I was the
instructor and, and he was mad at me! So
I said don’t be mad at me…it’s your fault.
If an officer doesn’t know how to act or behave… then send him
home.
So how long
did you instruct for?
2
years I think…but then I got fed-up and went and became a fighter pilot
So you were
teaching before you were a fighter pilot? With
your experience flying, I assumed you would have automatically been a Fighter
Pilot?
Yeah,
I ASKED to become a fighter pilot, otherwise I would have been a transport
pilot on some flying ship…but that’s uh…that’s not what…I wasn’t
built for. My brother,
August…he was a fighter pilot, before I was...and he was killed…in
France...you know...so I wanted to be a pilot.
(Looking up
at his vast array of models, I see a HUGE Emil…probably about 1/16 scale)
Wow, that’ s an E-model, yes?
(Franz
points at the model hanging next to it) Yeah…but I like the Junkers 52.
They flew it mostly at night…so you can’t recognize
them…hundreds of them.
It had three
engines…
Yes,
three…one in the middle and one each side.
I’ve seen a couple flying like this…I know Luftanza got
one…completely rebuilt….
Yeah, I know
there’s only a couple flying right now…someone I met is re-building one for
a museum…
Yeah,
I think the Americans have one…flying…Lufthansa...they flew it bring it
over here sometimes. It’s
easy to fly.
When did
they start producing that? It was
in the 30’s wasn’t it?
Yeah,
they built them…one 4-motor one…this one originally was made with one
motor, and then some uh…Arab Siek over there it was…he wanted it with
three motors, so since then, the made it with 3 motors. They had one in
Canada here too…somewhere up north…
They
eventually put a gun turret in the top?
Yeah…stupid,
silly thing…
(I look out
side) So what’s that propeller from outside…mounted on that
tree?
Oh,
a 180 (Bu180…similar to Me108, but shorter)... This guy went in the
snow…and picked up of the runway… this part of the airplane.
So what did
you do right after the war? Did you
go back to your regular job?
…yeah…I
mean…after…before, by the time I went to university…and at the same
time went to a flying school to learn how to fly...the seaplanes you
know…I came to that school there, and for sea planes and float
planes…and then flying boats…and I flew almost anyone they had
there…and I was happy…flying them was no problem…some of them, the
first Germans after the war began flying for Russia…they had a…a…the
so-called Lufthansa German-Russian Airline…it was east in Russia near
Moscow…that’s where we first began after the war…29 or so…
When did you
eventually stop flying?
Well,
I flew still five after I lost my license, you know.
I flew the Beaver, and then my airplane, I had always had to take
another pilot along with you… so if you only had 50 hours…as long as you
had a standard license you know…still I was flying a lot.
I was teaching aerobatics…mostly I flew with a lot of airline
pilots
So
today…what is your favourite jet plane?
340…The
French one…that’s a nice airplane…the Boeing, 457, that was a nice
one.
So when you
came to Canada, what were you doing for a living on the Queen Charlotte Islands?
For
a long time, I was a shop foreman in a repair shop.
I had twenty-seven men under me…it was a good shop.
350 men and 8 families… We’d repair logging
trucks, garbage trucks, boats…tug boats…anything with a motor.
Unfortunately,
my tape recorder ran out at this point…but we basically spent the rest of the
day just talking about weather, current events and of course…airplanes. Franz spent his whole life flying, and like the Queen
Charlotte Islands, loved every minute of it. We spent minutes on end talking
about planes his love for the air. One of my favourite memories is
picturing Franz, and his best friend Adolf Galland, up in the Canadian
wilderness flying in a Beaver in search of a big moose…
I kept
thinking of Franz as a German Luftwaffe fighter pilot…how wrong I was…he was
quite simply, a pilot. A dream that
grew in him from his earliest memories in childhood.
Hearing him speak of his knowledge of numerous aircraft I couldn’t even
count, his boyhood dream still lives in his eyes…
I was
extremely happy with our visit…part of me wished that I didn’t have the
questions so structured, but I did so to keep everything concise as we were only
had a couple of hours. After the
visit, to my surprise, Franz suggested we meet again before I move to the US,
but our schedules kept conflicting. So…I
went out and bought a copy of Prien and Rodeike’s, and had it hand delivered
to his address…with an inscription thanking him for sharing his experiences
and memories with me.
In looking
back in awe picturing Franz escorting this wounded B-17 to the North
Sea…disobeying orders and regulations so that an enemy could live to see
another day. World War Two was a time where destruction and chaos ruled.
After meeting with Franz, I realized that being an Ace isn’t kill
score…it’s not how many missions you flew…
It’s about
humanity…
…And
placing the life of another individual over the life of your own…in a place
and time where humanity didn’t exist.
I would like
to dedicate this article to the pilots, soldiers, and families of all nations
who survived…
Michael
Fuller
There are
great links detailing the full account of “The
Gallant Foe”…
http://www.military.com/Content/MoreContent1/?file=dday_0033p1
http://www.thirdreich.ca/ober.htm
http://www.vancourier.com/112102/news/112102nn1.html
http://www.vancourier.com/113102/opinion/113102le1.html
http://www.stormbirds.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=SA&Product_Code=VID101&Category_Code=VID
http://www.bf109.com/stigler.html
http://www.aircraft-used.com/Listings/feature6.htm
http://vancourier.com/114102/opinion/114102le1.html
Editor's Note:
Having met Franz twice
myself, I was inspired to build two of his 109s, both of which he commented
favorably upon. The G-6/trop identity of "gelbe 12" was
conjectural at the time, based on Franz's kennzeichen as carried in Afrika a
few months previous. These can be seen via the following links:
Bf
109F-4/trop of Franz Stigler
Bf
109G-6/trop of Franz Stigler
Lastly, I would like to
thank both Herr Stigler and especially Mike Fuller for taking the time to do
this interview. These veterans are leaving us at an ever-increasing
rate, and it's important that we let them tell their stories so that future
generations may learn from those who've gone before.
Lynn Ritger, webmaster