A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II

The Afrika Korps was the German expeditionary force in North Africa commanded by Erwin Rommel, tasked with supporting Italian forces against the British. In A Higher Call, the Afrika Korps forms the backdrop for Franz Stigler’s early combat experience with Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27), shaping his views on leadership, camaraderie, and survival in harsh desert conditions. The book uses these North African campaigns to contrast the pilots’ sense of honor and their growing doubts about Nazi ideology, setting the stage for Stigler’s eventual moral turning point.

The B-17 was a four-engine heavy bomber used extensively by the U.S. Army Air Forces in daylight strategic bombing over Europe. The B-17 “Ye Olde Pub” becomes the centerpiece of the narrative’s moral confrontation, as pilot Charlie Brown fights to keep his shattered aircraft and crew alive over Germany. The aircraft’s damaged state, its vulnerable crew, and Brown’s leadership serve as vivid symbols of human fragility in mechanized warfare, while the bomber’s survival after Stigler’s intervention embodies the possibility of mercy even amid total war.

Chivalry refers to a warrior code emphasizing honor, restraint, and respect for the enemy—even in combat. The book interrogates this ideal through Stigler’s refusal to shoot down Brown’s crippled bomber, depicting his decision as an act of personal honor rather than military duty.