A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II

Every now and then I cross paths with a book that strikes a chord somewhere deep within me, a book that shares my waking hours and my sleep. This is one of those books, as was Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken. Coincidentally, both tell a true story from World War II ... Unbroken tells of Louis Zamperini who survived to tell about his adventures as a US pilot in the Pacific, subsequent capture and imprisonment by the Japanese." A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II" tells of two pilots, one German and one American who meet high in the skies over Germany on December 20th, 1943. Both of these books will stay with me, I am sure, for a lifetime. A Higher Call grabbed me and simply won't let go. December 20, 1943, in the skies over Bremen, Germany. Charlie Brown is the pilot of a B17 bomber, just finishing a raid on an aircraft production facility. His plane has been hit multiple times by German flak. It was missing a rudder and had sustained serious damage to its hydraulic and electrical systems, not to mention that only one engine out of four was functioning at peak, one crew member was dead and several others seriously injured, and now Charlie faces flying through enemy flak to get north of Germany over the North Sea and back to Great Britain, a feat beyond all imaginings. Suddenly from behind he spots a German fighter plane and Charlie knows he and his crew have no chance to survive if the fighter shoots so much as a rock launched from a slingshot at their plane. This edge-of-the-seat action enhances, but does not dominate the story. The pilot in the German Bf109 is Franz Stigler, a man who joined the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) to avenge his brother's death. One look at the B17 and Stigler knew it didn't stand a chance. He remembered the words of his former leader and mentor, Gustav Roedel, who had once told Franz, "you score victories, not kills ... you shoot at a machine not a man", and decided in less time than it took the thought to form that he not only couldn't shoot down that crippled bomber but that he would do everything he could to save the men inside. There were two dangers to this, but Stigler barely registered them. The first, of course, was that the bomber would fire on him first and knock him out of the sky (he didn't know that the bomber's guns were frozen, all but the turret gun whose range was so limited that he was never really in any danger from that). But the other, perhaps greater danger was that if the German command ever found out that he had the chance to dispatch this bomber and didn't, he could be court-martialed and sentenced to death. On Stigler's mind at that moment in time, however, was how he could keep the crew on this bomber from either being sent to a fiery death by German flak or an icy death in the North Sea. Ultimately, he led them through the German flak and left them over the North Sea with a salute and a prayer that they could stay safe. And it is in this one episode that Franz Stigler became a hero in my book. He would go on to fight some 487 missions in the war and is now in history books as a German flying ace, but for me it was that one act of human kindness, of human compassion, that made him a hero. Though the book centers around the heroic acts of Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler in the air over Germany that day, the event itself actually occupies less than 4% (15 pages out of 368) of the book. Had I realized this in the beginning, I might never have bought the book and that would have been my loss. The bulk of the book follows Stigler's career and rise as a flying ace throughout the war and it is from this that I, who have nursed a hatred of all things pertaining to the German military almost since my birth, came to realize that not every soldier in Germany was a Nazi and not every soldier in Germany lacked a heart. The Luftwaffe, or German Air Force, in this book is shown to be no less human than any man in the USAF or any other branch of the Allied military. Overwhelmingly, the Luftwaffe were NOT members of the Nazi Party and did NOT support Hitler and his programs. They were simply there to do their jobs and defend their nation and its people. In fact, most were not aware of Hitler's "Final Solution" (the extermination of Jews) and the death camps until near the end of the war. For the most part Germans, including the Luftwaffe, were as afraid of the SS (Gestapo) as were we. Many years after the end of the war, both Brown and Stigler wondered what had become of one another. Neither knew the other's name, yet neither had forgotten that strange encounter in the skies over Germany. Eventually they would have their reunion and become brothers not of shared blood, but of shared life. Notably, though fifty years had passed since the end of WWII, once this story became public, Franz Stigler began receiving hate mail, presumably from Germans who felt that he should have blown Charlie and his crew out of the sky. I guess hatred is in no danger of becoming extinct any time soon. This is Adam Makos' first published book, though he has been editor of the military magazine Valor, for some fifteen years, and frankly I was intrigued when I read a synopsis of the storyline, but was not expecting great writing from this first-time author. I was wrong. The writing is as seamless and spell-binding as almost any I have read. This is a heart-warming, yet edge-of-the-seat true story that reads like a novel and leaves the reader wanting much more. Sadly, both Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler died in 2008. However there are photos and video clips of their reunion some 50 years later on the author's website: [...]. If you read no other non-fiction book this year, do yourself a favor and read this one. It will stay in your mind and in your heart for a good long time, maybe forever.

Excellent book. I enjoy true action stories. You simply have a hard time putting this book down. I didn't expect the story to contain so much from a German soldier's perspective. As it turns out, that is pretty much what makes this book so darn good. How often do we hear first hand how a German pilot feels or how they were treated. Well, that alone was absolutely fascinating to me. Not at all what I expected. Brilliantly written with classic climax and suspence. Not sure if the book was made into a movie but it should. I wish everyone could read a story like this. Not only a history lesson but a lesson in humanity. I can't even imagine being in they're shoes. God bless them.

A great read. To realize this is a true story is amazing. Knowing the incredible research that had to go into putting the story together, you know the author did a fantastic job.

I read a review of this book online in December. I think it was USA TODAY. I immediately ordered the book from Amazon. I have been interested in WW II aviation since I was a young teenager when I built model airplanes and read books like " The First And The Last" by Adolf Galland and "Stuka Pilot" by Hans Ulrich Rudel. I have been reading books about WW II aviation ever since and have been especially interested in books about the USAAF and the Luftwaffe. There is a family connection for me too as my mother's cousin was a B-17 pilot who flew 30+ missions in 1944 and was killed as a member of the 3rd Scouting Force while on a mission on January 15, 1945. Also my girlfriend's father was a bombardier flying A-20's and A-26's over Europe in late 1944 and 1945. About two thirds of this book "A Higher Call" is about Luftwaffe Lt. Franz Stigler. The name did not ring a bell at first. I researched him and found his name on lists of Luftwaffe Aces and he is also mentioned in the book " Battle Over Bavaria" by Robert Forsythe ( in connection with JV 44) and "Fighters Over The Desert" by Christopher Shores and Hans Ring ( in connection with North Africa in 1942 and the "Vogel flight" controversy), The book shows Franz Stigler as a human being which is refreshing because Luftwaffe aces are usually portrayed as arrogant killers- a prime example being " Pretty Boy" in the movie "Red Tails". In the USAAF, bomber crews initially flew 25 missions and were then rotated home ( this was later increased to 30 and then 35 toward the end of the war). American fighterS flew 200 " combat hours" before rotating out. Luftwaffe pilots flew until they were killed, captured, severely wounded or had a mental breakdown. A few lucky ones were detached as flying instructors or were promoted to a non-flying position. Due to this policy, a few highly skilled ( and lucky) pilots flew hundreds of sorties and many victories, Erich Hartmann, the top German "expert" had 352 victories and flew 1456 sorties. Gerd Barkhorn flew 1104 sorties to gain 301 victories ( he had flown more than 100 sorties before his first victory). Adolf Galland had 103 victories and 705 sorties. Franz Stigler was credited with 28 victories ( and 30 damaged or probables) in 487 sorties. Franz Stigler was shot down a total of 17 times crash landing or ditching 11 times and taking to his parachute the other 6. This contrasts with American aces such as Francis " Gabby" Gabreski who had 28 kills in 166 sorties, Robert Johnson 27 kills in 89 sorties, "Hub" Zemke with 11 kills in 154 sorties and Chuck Yeager who had 12.5 aerial victories in 64 sorties. It must also be remembered that the Germans were on defense at this stage of the war and had no shortage of targets and if shot down over their own territory they were often able to return to duty while surviving allied aircrew were usually made POW. The book tells the story of Steigler from his interest in aviation as a boy ( his father was a WW I pilot) to his stint as a Lufthansa airline pilot and years as a flight instructor. By the time he was posted to JG 27 in North Africa in 1942 Franz was an unusually experienced pilot having flown many different types of aircraft ranging from small single engine trainers to ponderous multi-engined seaplanes. Franz had good luck in meeting the great ace Hans Marseilles who gave him advice on the best way to shoot down enemy aircraft which was simply to get close until the enemy airplane filled your gun-sight and you were so close you could not miss. Franz also had the misfortune to be associated with the "Voegel flight" where his flight leader and his wingman was suspected of making false claims of aerial victories. This tainted Franz Steigler's image for a while as his comrades thought he had a case of " throat ache" in that he was anxious to be awarded the coveted " Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. ( This brings to mind subplots of the movies " The Blue Max" and " Cross Of Iron"). Franz goes on home leave ( partly to escape the taint of the " Voegel flight" scandal). In early 1943 Franz is posted to Sicily. He is engaged in the so called " Palm Sunday Massacre" where dozens of Ju 52 transports are shot down by allied fighters and Franz and most of his squadron are shot down and Franz is forced to ditch his Bf 109 off the coast of Sicily. It is also over Sicily where Franz has his first encounter with the American Boeing B-17 heavy bomber and realizes how difficult it is to shoot down and a change in tactics is needed. Later in 1943, Franz Stigler and his unit II/JG 27 is posted to north-west Germany for defense of the Reich duties. It is here where he has the memorable encounter with Charlie Brown and his B-17. This encounter seems to have changed Franz to some extent. He lost his case of " throat ache" and often does not claim victories for allied planes he has shot down or gives credit to new pilots to bolster their confidence. Franz is wounded in 1944 and is withdrawn from combat. In early 1945 he learns to fly the Messerschmitt Me-262 wonder weapon and becomes an instructor. He later joins Adolf Galland's JV 44, bringing his own jet " White 3" with him. Here he joins a squadron of experts such as Walter Krupinski, Gerd Barkhorn ( who Franz taught to fly a few years earlier), Johannes Steinhoff, Heinz Baer, Guenther Luetzow and several others. Franz flies several sorties with JV 44. He claims 2 more victories and is put in for the Knight's Cross by Galland but in the confusion of the last weeks of the war, neither the medal or confirmation of the victories goes through. Franz survives the war and after much hardship in postwar Germany moves to Canada. Many years later he reunites with Charlie Brown in an incredible set of circumstances outlined in the book. The book is very good but not enough to give it 5 stars. It is obvious that the authors are not pilots and some aviation terms are not properly used. ( This does not bother me as I am not a pilot either), There are a few minor historical things that are not correct ( not counting transistors in WW II radios which all used tubes). Franz's brother August flew with Kampfgruppe 806 ( K. Gr. 806) not KG 806. The book indicates that the crew of "Ye Olde Pub" shot down German Ace Sgt. Ernst Suess of 9/JG 1 on December 16, 1943. All the sources I have found indicate he was shot down by American fighters, probably P-38's. Suess was able to get out of his stricken Bf-109 but was shot and killed while hanging in his parachute. I would like to have heard more about the crew of " Ye Olde Pub" and some of Franz Stigler's exploits are out there on the 'net and should be in the book. Finally, this book should have an index. However I can recommend this book to both the WW II buff and casual reader.

My God, what a book! Adam Makos with Larry Alexander bring us this harrowing and chivalrous story of two World War II Air Forces. This is not just a story about an incident involving a German Messerschmitt BF 109, and a U.S. B17 Flying Fortress. No, it's also about both sides fighting with courage and perseverance, while maintaining a healthy respect for each other. The German Air Force fighter pilots were not Nazi Party members, in fact their attitude was a thorn in the hat of the German Reichsmarshall Hermann Goering ( German spelling ). They fought because they had no choice, fly or die. On page 288, the pilots attitude is confirmed when Major Hohagen of the German Air Force tells a joke to one of the book's protagonist, Ace Franz Stigler: " Hitler, Goering, Himmler, and all of their friends are out on a boat at sea, there's a big storm and their boat sinks! Who's saved?" Franz knew the joke. "Germany." If a political officer overheard this joke, by law they both would have been executed. Herr Goering would occasionally slip a political officer into the ranks of the Air Force to get the flavor of the pilots. I extol the effort the authors made to bring the readers this compelling non-fiction Pulitzer Prize worthy story. I know that says a lot, but you haven't read this book. The book opens with the story of Franz Stigler, a German Messerschmitt BF109 fighter pilot, who completed 487 missions by the war's end. It focuses on his time served in North Africa, and his service defending Italy and Germany from U.S. and British bombing raids. The reader meets many aces; such as, Hans-Joachim Marseille, the Star of Africa, and General Adolf Galland, leader of all fighter pilots. Most of the fighters we meet are holders of the Knights Cross ( 30 or more victories ). Bear in mind that you are going to feel empathy for these men, even though they are the enemy. They fought bravely for their country, not for the Nazi Party. They fought with honor and with a knights chivalry throughout the war. They had a code of ethics similar to the American fighters and bombers: they didn't shoot a parachuting enemy pilot, nor mistreat them as a POW. Unfortunately, that can't be said if the SS did the capturing. It's sad that the typical German citizen hated the German fighter pilot at the end of the war because: "You didn't keep the bombs from falling." That's a pretty sad statement since no one could stop thousands of B17's dropping bombs everyday. The Germans called our monstrous B17 flying fortress, "the four motors." Each plane rained down twelve 500 pound bombs each trip. The second part of the book tells the story of a twenty year old American pilot, 2nd Lt. Charlie Brown ( Not of Snoopy's Red Baron squad ). He is a member of the 379th bomber group stationed in England. You are going to like his crew; Al `Doc' Sadok, Robert `Andy' Andrews, and Spencer `Pinky' Luke, to name a few. They get into a now famous incident with Franz Stigler on Charlie's first bombing raid as a Captain that winds up becoming the title of this book. My definition of `A higher call' is " vacating a duty for a better one, or " It's God's wish ". I don't know if the author had my definitions in mind, or not. You might ask, What is the incident? Well, I can't tell you! I guess you will have to read this wonderful story yourself. By the way, this book doesn't read like the history that it is, instead it reads like a novel, such as Erik Larson's In the 'Garden of Beasts'. The third part of the book deals with Goering's dissatisfaction with Germany's famous fighter pilots led by General Galland. He would like them executed for treasonous statements, and he accuses them of being cowards, but they are too popular, so he makes them form the JV-44's unit ( the squadron of experts ). They are responsible for defending Germany against the massive U.S. bombing raids in the last months of the war. Goering figures that they will die quickly against overwhelming odds. He forgets that these men are legends in their own time: Franz Stigler, Major Gerhard Barkhorn ( 301 victories! ), Col. Luetzow, Oberst Steinhoff, Oberst Roedel, Major Hohagen, Oberst Trautloft, and Hauptmann ` the count' Krupinski are the main flyers. This part of the book was very exciting and sometimes very sad. The rest of the book deals with: What happened to these men ( German and American ) after the war was over, and the ensuing years? Well, like Arte Johnson on the 'Laugh-In' show used to say: "It's very interesting". So is this gripping book!

... Comes another great story of the thousands, from the Second World War. This one, however, is a cut above. Several weeks ago, listening to late night AM radio, just before nodding off to sleep, I heard an interview with an author, and a words about a B-17 pilot and his crew on a mission, a German ME-109 pilot and an amazing story. I tried to make a mental note to look here on Amazon, the next morning, and find the book. Fortunately, I did remember and ordered the book immediately with OneClick. This was a wonderful story to read about flyers in that world war, and much more , as the title indicates, hints at. I for one, am not a religious man, never have been. The humanity and feeling, personal conflict, and eventual resolution, described in this story, confirm in every respect, my ultimate belief that we humans do indeed, have the ability make the world a better place, and make life daily, a precious and marvelous thing. I have been an amateur student of history for most of my 67 years, and have always been drawn to the impact of modern war, on individuals, and how they reacted, coped, within their own personal spheres, to the great world conflicts taking place around them. This account of two individuals is a masterful telling of these two former adversaries in combat, and the people they influenced, and of those who influenced them, while growing into mature adults under conditions and extreme duress that we, who have never endured real combat, can not imagine. My own father was also a B-17 crew member, flying missions from North Africa, Egypt, and later India. When I was young, I remember always wanting to hear his "war stories" before going to sleep, many nights, as a young boy. As I read this book, I remembered him also, and only wish I had "interviewed" him far more thoroughly about his exploits. Mr Makos' and Alexander's book has heightened those feelings, and make me regret even more, not getting more of his personal wartime history. I have an old record, document which lists his combat record, showing five bronze stars, among others, and I have no idea how he earned them, sadly to say; I'm still researching online. Reading this book, I had tears in my eyes several times - a very emotional, and rewarding read for me. As I told my wife, there are surely thousands more, stories from World War II out there that will probably never be told -- I'm so very glad that this one had the ending it did -- and has been told so beautifully and completely. Thank you Mr Makos, and Mr Alexander. And, above all -- thank you, Franz. R.L. Hood Feb 2013

This is one of the best books I have ever read. I have been a WW2 buff for many many years. My father served in the Navy in the Pacific during WW2 but never spoke of it to his death. There is a reason that it is called "The Greatest Generation" because it was basically an unselfish one which is very hard to duplicate today. Although having seen and read almost all there is about the WW2, it was only by "accident" that I saw a Youtube clip called "A Higher Call" not long ago. I ordered the book from Amazon and couldn't put it down. The author writes in such a way that it makes you feel that you are right there, watching these characters and events unfold before your very eyes. Having learned about the honor of many soldiers of the Civil War, WW1 and WW2, this book touched a special nerve in my heart. Whether it be the two infantry soldiers during the Civil War, one a Yankee and the other, Johnny Reb, as they stood in a shallow part of the Potomac River exchanging a few puffs of tobacco for a couple of sips of coffee, or the German and British soldiers exchanging the same during a Christmas truce on the battlefield during WW1, the goodness of the human spirit seems the prevail even during the harshest of battlefield conditions. Only the hand of an invisible God could have brought these events together, the that of a young Lieutenant piloting a severely damaged B-17 and a fighter Ace in his BF-109 who needed only one more kill to receive the coveted Knight's Cross for bravery. The book so inspired me that I began to tell everyone I could about it. Then this Christmas, to my utter surprise, my wife had gotten me the portrait called "The Guardian" by Nicholas Trudgian depicting the Brown's crippled B-17 with Stiglar's ME-109 off to its right. This book will make you laugh and cry and stir all manner of emotions in the events that came together in an almost unbelievable climax. The ending of the book is as emotional as the rest of the story in my humble opinion. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about a generation where honor and respect for humanity trumped the selfish ambitions for personal glory at the expense of another. I salute such honorable warriors as Frans Stigler and Charlie Brown. You will not be disappointed in this well researched, small but important piece of WW2 history.

I have a special feel for this book because my own writing about the B-17 war ( ]) devoted a couple of chapters to events on the same mission in the same wing formation (303rd Bomb Group) that lies at the heart of this remarkable story. In fact, the title of my book comes from an incident that occurred during this very mission! (I also wrote about another mission covered in this story, the January 4, 1944 raid where a number of morning assembly, mid-air collisions took place between 303rd and 379th aircraft.) Thus, it was fascinating to read about these events from the perspective of B-17 pilot Charlie Brown and the 379th Bomb Group. The story told by the author has the absolute ring of truth in it, right down to the frozen .50 cal. machine guns that prevented Brown's crew from firing on Stigler's Bf-109 on December 20, 1943. Time and again, recalling my own research and conclusions, I said to myself, "Yes, the author got this right." In fact, I saw only two errors in the whole work: (1) saying that the B-17 was powered by Pratt & Whitney engines instead of the Wright R-1820 Cyclone, and (2) the statement that Brown's B-17 had a .30 cal. MG in the nose, when at this time virtually every B-17F was retrofitted with one or two .50 cal. MGs in the Plexiglas nose because of the ineffectiveness of the lighter weapon. However, on the second point the author might be right, who can really say today? In any event, these points in no way tarnish the magnificence of the larger saga of Franz Stigler and his extraordinary act of mercy towards Brown's crew. THAT was exceptional, especially during this period of the air war, when more often than I'd like to say both sides shot at helpless enemy airmen in parachutes. What I especially liked about the "story-telling" here (and I use the phrase in the best sense of the words) was how the author got inside Stigler's head and made the reader understand that the decision to spare this crew came from Stigler's heart, and the religious, Catholic values instilled in him as a child. Overall, I'd say that the plight of a good man fighting on the wrong side in a terrible war has rarely been so well presented. This is a special work that was clearly researched exhaustively, and is a true labor of love. My hat is off to the author for preserving a story of war and humanity that truly deserves to be remembered.