They were far ahead of the other combatants in jet-powered flight, had amazing tanks, and created awesome examples of prop aircraft. So the Allies may have lifted a few of their better vehicles in an effort to see how best to destroy them and, in many cases, how to rip off the technology to use for American equipment.

Here are seven times Allied troops stole Nazi vehicles and technology:

1. British engineers hunt a Tiger tank

A German Tiger in Sicily, 1943. (U.S. Army photo)

During the North African campaign in World War II, a small group of engineers, some of them with little combat experience, were sent on a dangerous mission, to capture one of the feared Tiger tanks in combat. The four men were on the mission under the direct orders of Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Hunting went badly at first. The crew arrived in North Africa in February 1943. Heavy combat in Tunisia caused a lot of Tiger tanks to be wounded, but most were destroyed by British troops or withdrawing Germans before they could be captured. But the big day came on April 21 when the men spotted a Tiger with a jammed turret.

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They raced their Churchill Tank around the back of the Tiger and attacked the crew, killing them with machine guns, and captured the Tiger. Churchill and British King George visited the tank in Africa before it was shipped back to England for further study.

2. An American POW escapes Germany in a stolen Nazi plane

Robert Hoover, one of America’s greatest test and fighter pilots, is in the bottom row, second from right. (Photo: U.S Air Force)