The Guardian - Open Edition

The aviation art print 'The Guardian' by Niclolas Trudgian depicts Franz Stigler in his Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 alongside a badly damaged B-17 Flying Fortess. The German fighter pilot took a big risk at that time. He had seen the faces of the wounded crew members and decided to spare the damaged B-17 in order to escort the aircraft out of German airspace.

If a civilian or soldier on the ground had reported him, the fighter pilot would have been confronted with a firing squad. During the war he would have been blamed as a traitor by those in power at that time in his country. But to the defenseless American crew, he was their guardian.

Now they had the hope to reach England again, thanks to the mysterious German ace, who did not fire with his weapons. Many years later, the aircraft crew found out his name: Franz Stigler. In 1990, they invited Franz to their bomb group reunion where they introduced their families to the man who gave them the greatest of gifts—the chance to live.