Blog
Often pictured with his pet lion Simba Born into an impoverished Swiss family, Franz joined the Luftwaffe in 1936 and during the first year of WW2 shot down several planes. He was shot down over Britain in 1940 and was...
High Cost of Freedom On the anniversary of Pearl Harbor today, the beginning of WW2 for America, I know everyone knows of the sacrifice of the brave sailors that day. There is, however, stories of uncommon bravery, sacrifice, torture and...
Daredevil Low Level Strafing Missions When Lt. Raymond Knight entered the war in 1945, he was sent on ground attack missions over Italy. Seeing a heavily defended German airstrip, he told his fellow pilots to remain out of danger while...
“Miss Shilling’s Orifice” Saved Spitfires from being shot down Beatrice Shillings was a fix-it extraordinaire. Her talents at fixing all things mechanical finally led her to the RAE Restrictor which prevented Spitfires from engine failure in negative G dives. THis...
Shot down a Mig-17, rescued downed pilots, P.O.W for 6 years Wild Weasel pilot Leo K. Thorsness was on a mission over North Vietnam hunting radar and SAM installations when all hell broke loose. After destroying two missile batteries on...
Awarded Medal of Honor for saving downed pilot When an F-4 Phantom II pilot was shot down in Vietnam, William was sent to find him with the rescue helicopters. Taking fire from an anti aircraft gun, William’s Skyraider was hit...
