I have heard that after WWII, some pilots of formerly enemy nations would meet up together. This sounds fascinating- were there any instances where two pilots dueled in the skies, then later met each other after the war? Perhaps in some token of reconciliation, for example.
Compared to other forms of combat, dogfighting seems like the most impersonal. I don’t know what exactly a fighter pilot is thinking, but in my own head it seems more of a ‘destroy the enemy’s hardware’ than a ‘kill the guy flying that deathmachine over there’. It would be really interesting to have both pilots meet later in life and discuss what each was thinking at the time.
One striking example that comes immediately to mind is documented in this engaging tale: The Evader: An American Airman’s Eight Months With the Dutch Underground The author of this book wasn’t a fighter pilot tho’; he was crew on a B-24 Liberator. There’s a photo in it of him hoisting a brew in Germany with the German pilot who shot his plane down.
Well, the meeting occurred some 40 years later, so I s’pose he might have mellowed a bit. Really a very interesting book from a rather unique historical point of view.
Well, there were a fair number of German pilots who would have filled the upper ranks of the West German Airforce during the first part of the Cold War - naturally, they met their contempories during Nato exercises.
One story (which, if it isn’t true really should be ) is that during the testing of the Harrier during the '60s, they brought in pilots from various Nato Air Forces to try it out. One of the W. German pilots, who was a WWII veteran, was bringing it to a landing in hover mode, but accidently cut out the engine a little early. The Harrier fell like a like a brick, and the landing crush the landing gear, and damaged the bottom. The German pilot got out of the airplane and said:
“Make that one hundred and fifty-seven Allied aircraft destroyed.”
I have no cite for this, but seem to recall it came from the super-reputatable Armed Forces Journal Monthly.
At a cocktail party in Peking years ago, the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force determined he had shot down his drinking buddy, the Chief of Staff of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force.
In World War One, pilots often met on the ground… Provided they were both alive. If a pilot surrendered, it was still considered to be in good faith to land beside them and have a chat.
Here’s an incident from Manfred Von Richtofen’s book The Red Fighter Pilot (Yes, he was also known as the Red Baron.)
(Quote taken from chapter nine.)
Of course, in this case, the reason they both landed wasn’t simply to chat, but it gets the point across. The way I see it is; “I shot him down. I know it, he knows it, now let’s go home and have a brandy.” Besides, back then it was as dangerous to takeoff and land as being in combat… I think they caused approximately equal casualties. So you’d still get a sense of cameraderie and respect between the pilots, for simply surviving long enough to land and talk.
Unfortunately, I don’t seem to be able to find a bok that I have that contains pictures of the Baron talking with various other opposing aircrews. I think I lost it when I moved.
I remember at the Oshkosh Experimental Aircraft Fly-in some years back, 1983 or '84 I think it was, Pappy Boyington (Marine fighter ace, Medal of Honor winner) had a booth where he was signing autographs and selling copies of his autobiography, Baa Baa Black Sheep. In the next booth was his longtime friend and drinking buddy, Masajiro “Mike” Kawato, who as an eighteen year old rookie pilot had shot down Boyington in 1944. He was selling his autobiography, called “Bye Bye Black Sheep.”
Simon Weston wasn’t a pilot, but was injured when the ship he was on was bombed by Argentinian aircraft during the Falklands War. He has since met the pilot that bombed the ship, and I believe their families meet up regularly.
I remember reading about a case of an American pilot and a Japanese pilot meeting years after the way. One of them had written a book about his experiences, and the other recognized the enemy fighter as himself from the description of what happened. It was in one of those Sunday supplements – “Parade” or something, ages ago.
The inmates from Stalag Luft III (the setting for “The Great Escape”) used to bring over some of the German guards and officers for their reunions, I understand. They were all pilots (It was a Grman Air Force pOW camp)
Naval History magazine recently had an article about a former *Kamikaze * pilot (yes, there are such things) who just died a year or so ago. For many years he attended the reunions of the crew of the U.S. warship which shot him down. From all the propaganda with which he’d indoctrinated, he expected to be tortured and murdered, and was astonished to be treated very well by the crew and kind of “adopted” by them, forming some lifelong friendships.
Jeffrey Archer wrote a pretty good short story, whose name now escapes me, about a pair of guards at a WW2 Japanese POW camp who befriend a British officer who’s a prisoner there (not a common occurrence at the usually-hellish Japanese POW camps, to be sure). Immediately after the Japanese surrender, the British officer vouches for the two soldiers to save them from execution for war crimes. Many, many years later, they’ve become very successful businessmen and the Brit has become an Anglican bishop. They write a big check to save his cathedral as a long-delayed token of their gratitude.
I Bf-109 is flying over the ETO shortly after D-Day. I P-51D pounces on him and the German pilot bails out of his burning aircraft. Upon being captured the German says, ‘I am Oberst Heinrich von Heidelberg! I have one hundred and fifty-two victories. One hundred fifty-two! I demand to meet the pilot who shot me down!’ A pimply-faced second-lieutenant introduces himself. ‘YOU?’ shouts the German colonel. ‘You boy? You puppy? I have one hundred fifty-two victories! How many do you have?’ The 2LT replies, ‘One, sir.’
) is that during the testing of the Harrier during the '60s, they brought in pilots from various Nato Air Forces to try it out. One of the W. German pilots, who was a WWII veteran, was bringing it to a landing in hover mode, but accidently cut out the engine a little early. The Harrier fell like a like a brick, and the landing crush the landing gear, and damaged the bottom. The German pilot got out of the airplane and said: