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

WALTER SCHUCK shot down. Although below 400 feet, the Leutnant man­ aged to bail out successfully, but was shot to death by the Mustangs as he helplessly hung in his straps. Schuck had never even heard of anything similar in the Far North. On 31 March, the whole I./JG 7 - around twenty Me 262s in total - was scrambled when a new report arrived of a large number of enemy bombers which were cross­ ing the North Sea. The jet pilots encountered over four hundred RAF Lancasters and Halifaxes, escorted by Mustangs. The Me 262s broke through the fighter shield and made a furious attack against the bombers. When they had run out of ammunition, the jet pilots counted seventeen bombers shot down. In actual fact, eight Lan­ casters, three Halifaxes, and a P-51 Mustang of US 361st FG were shot down. In return, JG 7 lost four Me 262s and three pilots - including the Staffelkapitan of 2./JG 7, Oberleutnant Dr Heinz Overweg. He was succeeded by Oberleutnant Fritz Stehle - one of the most success­ ful Me 262 aces, credited with the destruction of three four-engined bombers on 31 March 1945. Early on 1 April, a rumour was heard at Kalten- kirchen that someone had heard Soldatensender Cal­ ais - the Allied German-speaking propaganda radio - announcing that Kaltenkirchen’s aerodrome would be the target of a major bombing operation. Based on noth­ ing else, I./JG 7’s rushed evacuation of Kaltenkirchen was ordered. “Evacuation” perhaps is too soft a word; it was more a case of a headlong flight. The whole Gruppe became widely dispersed. Schuck’s 3rd Staffel was sent to Brandenburg-Bri- est. There Schuck met Theo Weissenberger again, and learned that the Eismeerjager veteran Oberfeldwebel August Lubking was dead. During an attack against a B-17, the bomber had exploded, tearing up Lubking’s Me 262 as well. Schuck also noticed that Heinrich Ehrler seemed to be quite depressed. Apparently, he still suf­ fered from the trauma of being jailed and blamed for the sinking of the Tirpitz. Schuck’s 3rd Staffel was stationed in one cor­ ner of Brandenburg-Briest’s airfield, near an old shut down brickyard. The fact that the brickyard was con­ scientiously walled up arose the curiosity of some of Schuck’s men. They broke in and inside the large stove they made a remarkable discovery: A huge amount of tobacco goods of the firm Reentsma had been hidden at this place - probably by some bigwigs who wanted to save this for a sweet life after the war. Needless to say, the men of JG 7’s 3rd Staffel decided to “confiscate” the tobacco goods for themselves. I./JG 7’s Gruppenkommandeur, Major Rudorffer, was removed from his command. Instead of appoint­ ing a new Gruppenkommandeur, Major Weissenberger decided to assume direct command of the Gruppe. The main task was to provide Berlin with air cover. Weis­ senberger’s Stabsstaffel and Oberleutnant Hans Grun- berg’s 1st Staffel remained at Brandenburg-Briest. Ober­ leutnant Fritz Stehle’s 2nd Staffel was based at Burg near Magdeburg, some 70 miles southwest of Berlin, and Schuck’s 3rd Staffel was shifted to Oranienburg on the countryside north of Berlin. Schuck’s 3rd Staffel had already been sent to Ora­ nienburg, when on 4 April Major Weissenberger scram­ bled with his Geschwaderstab from Brandenburg-Briest. Near Stendal they came across a large formation of US heavy bombers. Weissenberger shot down one B-17, and Ehrler knocked down two more. Suddenly Weissen­ berger heard Ehrler’s voice in the radio: “Theo, this is Heinrich! I have shot down two bomb­ ers. No more ammunion left. I will ram. See you in Val­ halla!” Then Ehrler dived his Me 262 straight into a third bomber... Heinrich Ehrler was not alone to ram American bomb­ ers. On 7 April, the Luftwaffe’s suicide unit Sonder- kommando Elbe despatched 183 Me 109s and Fw 190s against the American heavy bombers. JG 7’s Me 262s were tasked to escort the suicide pilots, but were una­ ble to protect them against the swarms of Mustang and Thunderbolt fighters which attacked from all direc­ tions. More than 800 US fighters were in action. In the last major air battle between the Luftwaffe and the US Air Force, 133 German piston-engine fighters were lost, with seventy-seven pilots getting killed. It was an absolute tragedy. This sacrifice resulted in the destruc­ tion of seventeen heavy bombers - seventeen out of twelve hundred! JG 7 claimed several US fighters shot down, and Schuck probably was among the claimants on this day. (Due to one source, Schuck shot down a P-38 Lightning on 7 April 1945. However, according to Walter Schuck himself, he never shot down any aircraft of that type.) At Oranienburg, Schuck made the acquaintance with another desperate “last effort measure” - the Huckepack or Mistel aircraft combinations. These were composed of Fw 190s and Me 109s carrying unmanned and com­ pletely bomb-laden Ju 88s which had been turned into flying bombs. These were mainly used against bridges on the Eastern Front. However, as far as Schuck could judge, without much success. In the evening of the fate­ ful 7 April 1945, a few Huckepack aircraft combinations rolled out on the runway for a combat mission. But the first aircraft was unable to take off, and this blocked the whole runway. The mission was aborted. Demoralisation was evident everywhere. Schuck was particularly concerned about the inability of the maintenance unit at Oranienburg to repair his Me 262s. This led to a conflict between him and the air­ field’s commander, a Major. When this Major countered Schuck’s demands by demanding that the pilots dressed in furlough uniforms instead of pilot overalls when they entered the mess, Schuck had just enough. He grabbed the telephone in the mess and loudly demanded to be connected with General Kammhuber. T