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

WALTER SCHUCK The aide looked at Schuck with an unfriendly grin and replied: “That can’t be done, Herr Oberleutnant. Due to an order by the Reichsmarschall we are entitled to use women as typists.” Schuck hardly could believe his ears. The Haupt- feldwebel was arguing with his Staffelkapitan! He asked the aide where he could find Major Rudorffer’s head­ quarters. The aide gave Schuck the direction. As Schuck stepped outside, an officer arrived on a motor cycle. It was Oberleutnant Trtibsbach, the Grup- penadjutant. “Herr Trtibsbach,” the aide moaned, “the new Staf­ felkapitan wants to take away our typists!” Schuck started to wonder if this was a circus and not a military unit. When he entered the motor cycle, which the adjutant had left, Oberleutnant Trtibsbach at first tried to prevent him from using it. Only after some harsh exchanges of words, was the Staffelkapitan allowed to use the Staffel’s vehicle. At the Gruppe headquarters, Schuck was informed that Major Rudorffer just had left to the command post at the airfield. Just as Schuck was about to leave, Ober­ leutnant Trtibsbach stood in the door. Apparently the instructions the aide had given Schuck was a detour. “Goodmoming, gentlemen!” OberleutnantTriibsbacb said with a broad smile, positioning himself in the door opening. Schuck had to push himself past the adjutant “I have no time for you now,” he hissed. “You’ll have to wait until I’ve reported to the commander!” At the airfield he was unable to find Rudorffer. Instead he decided to deal with the men of his Staf­ fel. He gathered them all. With sullen faces, they lined up. Schuck walked along the line. Then he stopped in front of a pilot and asked if there was a haircutter in the unit. When the man said there was a haircutter, Schuck ordered him to go and get him. Schuck continued to walk along the line. The faces of his pilots grew even more sullen. Schuck stopped in front of a man with a week-long beard. “Tell me, does your gas mask fit tight with all that beard?” he asked. “Yes... Herr Oberleutnant, ” came the answer. Schuck mumbled a reply back and turned to a man with a quite long hair: “Tell me, does your gas mask fit tight with such a long hair?” he asked. “Well, y e s .. . ” Schuck’s eyes narrowed and with a very sharp, threatening voice he asked: “What do you think? Maybe the haircutter would be able to cut your hair?” The man looked confused, and when he saw Schuck’s furious face, he understood that something serious was going on. “Jawohl! - Yes, sir!” he yelled. Then Schuck turned to the man with the long beard and asked in the same threatening tone: “At which altitude can you fly with that beard? With oxygen mask!” The bearded man stared at Schuck with fear in his eyes. Schuck stared back and shouted: “Luftwaffe Storm battalion - that’s a place where you will fit, but not in a fighter plane at high altitude!” “Herr Oberleutnant, I will immediately remove the beard!” the man stuttered, totally pale-faced. In that moment, the haircutter arrived. Schuck ordered him to bring his scissors and shaving equipment and place a chair next to the command post bus. “Haircutting and shaving for everyone!” Schuck demanded. “Which are your instructions, Herr Oberleutnant ?” the haircutter asked. “Matchstick length!” Schuck replied. Matchstick length - in other words, the same hair length as the breadth of a matchstick. During the next two hours, the whole 3rd Staffel stood in line to get a haircut and shaving outside the command post. Schuck returned to the Gruppe headquarters, but Rudorffer could not be found. Instead he was received by Oberleutnant Triibsbach. “All personnel matters are taken care of by my office,” Trtibsbach said. “To transfer the women is out of the question!” But Schuck would not give in. Leaning across Trubsbach’s desk, he said with a low but sharp voice: “Look here, I happen to know what you don’t know. Not long ago, I talked to General Kammhuber. I can only recommend you to follow my advice and have the women transferred!” Those words had an immediate effect. Fearing that more than just the two women was at stake, the adjutant suddenly became very complaisant. “Jawohl, if that is the case, of course I shall see to it that the two women are transferred to Berlin!” Through those measures, Schuck quickly brought 3./ JG 7 back into order. By all means, he gained a strong respect from all his men. However, deep inside Walter Schuck was no more motivated to fight the war than his men were. By this time, it was obvious that the war would soon be over. Even if there still were a handful of diehards who believed in Hitler’s talk about a last minute miracle, most had given up the hope that the war could come to a successful end for the Third Reich. Many felt that they did not wish to die in the last. If it had not been for a very particular impression, Schuck probably would have stopped firing his guns in anger. On 30 March 1945, Good Friday, I./JG 7 was scrambled from Kaltenkirchen. Fourteen hundred American heavy bombers, escorted by nearly nine hundred Mustang and Thunderbolt fighters, were flying in across the North Sea. T