Rybin, Y. Luftwaffe ace Walter Schuck researched / Christer Bergstrom, Yuriy Rybin. - Sweden : [s. l.], 2019. - 190 p. : ill.
WALTER SCHUCK Petsamo, early 1944. Petsamo, early 1944. voy in a lapse between two groups of escort fighters. Shortly before half past eleven in the forenoon, twelve Kittyhawks of 27 IAP/VVS SF managed to perform a dive-bombing against the ships in the Pers fiord without any interference from JG 5’s fighters. In consequence, almost the whole III./JG 5 was hurriedly sent to the con voy. Half an hour after the first attack, several forma tions of Soviet aircraft - A-20s, Yak-9s, Airacobras, Kittyhawks, and Il-2s, altogether thirty-three aircraft - appeared at various altitudes in the northeast. Just as they were approaching the convoy, Hauptmann Ehrler’s Me 109 dived out of the overcast and attacked a forma tion of eight Yak-9s of the Soviet fighter escort. One of the Yak-9s caught the full burst from Ehrler’s guns, and 20 IAP’s Mladshiy Leytenant A. V. Vasiltsev fell towards his death. Ehrler’s wingman, Leutnant Bern- hard von Hermann, pursued another Yak-9 which made an evasive turn into the clouds. When this Soviet pilot, Leytenant I. Z. Shcherbak, came out from the cloud, von Hermann was waiting for him and easily shot him down. Meanwhile, Ehrler, Schuck and a couple of 9./JG 5 pilots dived to attack the A-20 torpedo planes which came in just above the grey waves below. The first A-20, on the left flank, was set burning through Ehrler’s gun fire. By the time it splashed into the sea, Schuck was in position behind the third “Boston” from the left, opened fire, and saw it go down with thick black smoke belching from the right engine. A third A-20 was shot down by an Unteroffizier in the 9th Staffel. Having overshot the torpedo planes after his first attack, Schuck climbed and turned back to pursue the last remaining A-20, which was escaping towards the east with one engine on fire. Without any difficulty, Schuck destroyed this one too. In fact, all four A-20s from 9 GMTAP which participated in this mission were shot down. The Germans claimed five shot down, so one must have been a duplicate claim in the confusion of the battle. The four 255 IAP Airacobras which were tasked to provide the A-20s with close escort were effectively taken care of by Oberfeldwebel Jakob Norz, Unteroffizier Fritz Hain and Oberleutnant Georg Beyer of the 8th Staffel. Since the loss of Mayor Pavel Panin in late August 1943 - through a 9./JG 5 pilot - 255 IAP had been commanded by Mayor Nikolay Chertov. However, when he arrived at the unit, Mayor Chertov had no combat experience. Due to the long Polar winter, he had no possibility to gain any experience before 17 March 1944, when he took off on his first combat mission. It was his bad luck that he was attacked by such a skilful German pilot as Jockel Norz. Oberfeldwebel Norz pursued two Airacobras as these turned left to evade his attack. Obviously panicking, the pilot of the leading Airacobra suddenly broke off to the right. Norz had no difficulty to shoot down the Airaco bra, which more or less was “hung” in the air in front of his Me 109. Starshiy Leytenant Vladimir Burmatov, x
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