10 Weirdest WWII Stories You Probably Haven't Heard

2nd Lt Charles 'Charlie' Brown is returning from a bombing raid over Bremen, his B-17 has suffered severe damage and he is limping back to England. As the plane flies over a German airfield he is spotted by Oberleutnant Franz Stigler. Stigler jumps into his plane which is still carrying battle damage and takes off, knowing it would give him enough points for a Knight's Cross.

However, as he approached the stricken bomber, he noticed it wasn't firing on him. He could see the crew through holes in the fuselage and they were in poor shape. Stigler remembered the words of his commander: "If I ever see or hear of you shooting at a man on a parachute, I will shoot you myself." It became clear that the condition of the bomber and its crew was the same as a man parachuting. So, he drew alongside the cockpit and tried to gesture to the pilot to land at a German airfield. Obviously though, there was a communication barrier.

Since he had no way of communicating with the battle-scarred plane, he decided to escort the plane to the Channel even though he was risking execution by doing this. Once the bomber reached the coast, fearing he would be shot down, he simply saluted and left.

Brown was told he could not tell anyone of what happened; they didn't want any stories painting a German in a positive light spreading around the men. If this is where you think the story ends, you'd be wrong.

After many years of searching for Stigler (the man had saved his life), Brown had a letter published in an aviation magazine. Months later, Brown received a letter from Stigler simply saying, "I am the one." Brown and Stigler would remain close friends until they passed away in 2008.