Rybin, Y. Luftwaffe ace Walter Schuck researched / Christer Bergstrom, Yuriy Rybin. - Sweden : [s. l.], 2019. - 190 p. : ill.

WALTER SCHUCK eastern course, and promptly shot it down. Everywhere in the area around Kirkenes, vengeful Me 109 pilots hunted single A-20s and Il-4s which escaped in various directions after the strike against the Norwegian port. Ehrler claimed three and Dorr two “Bostons”. Schuck was credited with the destruction of an Airacobra which attempted to attack Ehrler from below. When III./JG 5’s pilots landed after the bitter com­ bat, they had been in combat for nearly an hour, and most of them were too exhausted and tense to speak. The many victories they had achieved was a poor consolation compared with the loss of two own pilots and two of the freight ships in the port of Kirkenes. During the next two days, the German convoy lost another freighter, the 3498-BRT Colmar, and two escort vessels. On 23 August, the Soviets repeated the tactic which had proved so successful on the 17th. Shortly before noon, two dozen Airacobras and Kittyhawks from the naval 2 GIAP and 78 IAP flew against Petsamo’s air­ field. Meanwhile, twenty-six Douglas A-20s flew along the coast in the north to bomb Vadso, the Norwegian port town on the northern edge of the Varanger fiord, northwest of Kirkenes. However, the Germans also had learned and were better prepared. Eight Me 109s led by Oberleutnant Dorr - a fresh Knight’s Cross holder since four days - engaged 2 GIAP and 78 IAP over Petsamo. By shooting down a Kittyhawk, Dorr scored his 100th victory. The rest of III./JG 5 went against the Soviet main attack force. But the Soviet fighter escort - 255 IAP with thirty-four Airacobras - involved the Me 109s in a stiff fighter combat which enabled the bombers to slip through to Vadso. After reportedly shooting down a “Yak-9” - prob­ ably a misidentification for one of 255 IAP’s Airaco­ bras - Schuck ran out of ammunition. He raced back to Petsamo, only some twenty miles to the southeast, for a quick landing. Other Me 109s also came in to land. The ground crew refuelled the aircraft and reloaded the guns in a few minutes, and Schuck took off again. Piloting the Me 109 with call-code “Black 10,” Leutnant David Wollmann joined in as Schuck’s wingman. Oberleutnant Dorr also was among those who took off to rejoin the combat. Via radio, they were informed by their comrades of the whereabout of the air combat; it had drifted towards the east, out over the sea, as the German fighter pilots were pursuing the withdrawing Soviet bombers. The Me 109s raced above the tundra’s rocky ground and crossed the coastline. Over the sea just northwest of the Rybachiy Peninsula, they clashed with a formation of Airacobras. Dorr and Schuck tore into the Lend Lease fighters, and turning wildly just above the grey waves they claimed three Airacobras each. When they landed afterward, Schuck expressed his gratitude to Wollmann for his great feat as a wingman. Schuck immediately selected Woll- man as his new wingman. In David Wollman, whom he called “Fritz,” Schuck had finally managed to find a new pilot who would always remain faithfully in his back, no matter what happened in an air combat. However, from the Soviet point of view, the oper­ ation against Vadso had been a complete success. The port area was completely destroyed, as was the ''Soldat­ ensender in Vadso. Luckily, although half the little fisher town with around two thousand inhabitants was burned down to the ground, the number of civilian casualties was limited to thirteen. Later that afternoon, the Soviets repeated their dou­ ble strike tactic. Thirty Airacobras and Kittyhawks of the Northern Fleet’s 2 GIAP and 78 IAP attacked Petsa­ mo’s airfield, drawing III./JG 5 into combat. In the ensu­ ing combat, Schuck was credited with the destruction of one Airacobra. Meanwhile the main Soviet aviation force attacked Vardo, destroying the port installations at that place too. Again, the Norwegian civilian population was saved from too heavy losses, with the number of killed civilians limited to ten. T