A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II by Adam Makos (PDF)

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THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER: “Beautifully told.”—CNN • “A remarkable story…worth retelling and celebrating.”—USA Today • “Oh, it’s a good one!”—Fox News A “beautiful story of a brotherhood between enemies” emerges from the horrors of World War II in this New York Times bestseller by the author of Spearhead. December, 1943: A badly damaged American bomber struggles to fly over wartime Germany. At the controls is twenty-one-year-old Second Lieutenant Charlie Brown. Half his crew lay wounded or dead on this, their first mission. Suddenly, a Messerschmitt fighter pulls up on the bomber’s tail. The pilot is German ace Franz Stigler—and he can destroy the young American crew with the squeeze of a trigger…What happened next would defy imagination and later be called “the most incredible encounter between enemies in World War II.”The U.S. 8th Air Force would later classify what happened between them as “top secret.” It was an act that Franz could never mention for fear of facing a firing squad. It was the encounter that would haunt both Charlie and Franz for forty years until, as old men, they would search the world for each other, a last mission that could change their lives forever.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐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.

⭐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.

⭐Rarely does a novel attempt to make the German soldiers and luftwaffe from WWII seem human. Usually books from allied countries consider the German army all nazis and subhuman, however Adam Makos does a phenomenal job in making the reader realize there are two sides to war with humans on both sides who share similar emotions and tragic history. I recommend anyone interested in learning a personal story between enemies during WWII this novel it is a must read.

⭐Arrive on time in perfect condition and this book is a really a great lecture regarding WWII history. Humanity.

⭐Sometimes all it takes is to see your enemy through another set of lenses to understand. If you can do that you may realize you have more in common than not. Great book hard to put down once the story started.

⭐I am enjoying this book which is an easy read, however, I found the first 75 pages to be rather slow. When you get to around 175 it gets much better. The story is a true one which makes it all the more interesting. It is hard to imagine chivalry existing between German pilots and American pilots.

⭐Great first-hand accounts from both sides of the air-war. And not just about that one fascinating incident. I found the background on the Luftwaffe, and in particular the ME-262, captivating as well. Very many brave and dedicated pilots, and crew, in the air over Germany.

⭐This book is so well written and impactful that I really wanted to make sure this review did it justice.I can totally understand why A Higher Call has mostly five-star reviews. This is perhaps one of the best books I have ever read, and to make it all the more so is the fact that it is true. The book combines an edge of your seat momentum, history (I never really looked at World War II from the eyes of the so-called enemy), human endurance, wisdom and honour. It also brings home the point that it’s not planes which were shot down but people – albeit in the planes or flying the planes but nonetheless people.The story of these two pilots is nothing short of remarkable and will leave an indelible impression and lesson on your mind. To be honest, this whole story is so striking it really makes you wonder how bomber and fighter pilots do what they do. But most of all, A Higher Call shows there was honour in the skies. If people today (or dare I say politicians) had but a fraction of these two gentlemens’ honour and integrity, truly it would be a different kind of world.

⭐History is written mainly by the victors and often colours our understanding. I wasn’t sure what to expect from an author used to writing for an audience of American air force veterans. I needn’t have worried. I believe this to be a well researched and authoritative work of great merit, blending facts with exciting and sometimes visceral description. The book is a worthy addition to the library of anyone with any degree of knowledge or expertise in the subject. The lifelike descriptions of operational flight in a B17 are gripping (although the nearest I have ever come to experiencing a flight in a World War Two aircraft is being frightened half to death by my ex-battle of Britain fighter pilot uncle who decided to give me an aerobatics lesson at the top of a stationary big-wheel at a fair some fifty-nine years ago). So, who am I to say? You’ll have to read the book for yourself and see if you agree. The emotional ending and views expressed are thought provoking. Highly recommendable.

⭐I liked this book. Maybe not all the German fliers were as chivalrous as those in the story, but it was interesting to know details of the aircraft and how the German Air Force was run, not least by its nastier commanders. Also illustrates well the desperation that must have been setting in towards the end of the war, when survival hung by a thread. Even though, at times, it read a little like a boy’s own yarn, its heart is in the right place, and the genuine emotions of the American & German pilots shone through. I found myself really rooting for the two men and was delighted that their journey had such a positive end.

⭐This book, written from the reminisces of two veterans, is surprisingly readable. The author admits his journey to writing this was long and unexpected. Going from Germans bad, Americans good, rest of the Allies ignored. To finding out there was a range of opinion even in the Luftwaffe!It does seem to focus heavily on the Germans’ story, but that’s no bad thing. It’s interesting and not many books have covered that side. The story of the B-17, is straight out of Memphis Belle and sadly detracts significantly from the believability of the encounter.It only loses 2stars because it claims to be true.I still enjoyed it though and DEFINITELY don’t regret reading it.

⭐Having read and studied a lot of material concerning the Luftwaffe and its pilots this is a most interesting, and to say the least illuminating book. It has obviously been well researched and is extremely well written. It is quite intriguing to read the first hand stories of a number of the well known named “Aces” and to realise that the Nazi heirarchy was as much despised by the more enlightened members of the German forces as they were by the Allies.Of particular interest is the “audience” with Hitler himself, where on his return the pilot declared “The man is a raving lunatic!”I can thoroughly recommend to anyone with an interest in WW II history and flying in particular.

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