Rendezvous with Destiny

Abstract

In Denmark there is a memorial dedicated to 10 American flyers from World War II. This book describes their last mission.

On the 24th of February, 1944, 867 bombers of the 8th Air Force were heading for targets on German territory. One of these B-17s named "Just Elmer´s Tune" did not make it home to base again; its 13th mission was going to be its last. Several German fighter planes attacked them during their mission and finally they crash landed in Denmark.

This documentary follows the different crewmembers' destiny that day, minute by minute and during their imprisonment in Germany until the liberation. It was possible for the author to track down the German pilot who shot down "Just Elmer´s Tune" and so it is possible to tell his side of the story too.

On June 27th, 1998, Fritz Ulrich set up a meeting in Berlin where Günther Sinnecker, the German pilot, and Edwin Hays, the tail gunner from "Just Elmer´s Tune", met for the first time face to face 54 years after they had shot each other's plane down.