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

WALTER SCHUCK The 457th BG crew o f the B-17G Moon Light Mission, which, piloted by Lt Thomas P. Thomp­ son, Jr., was shot down by Walter Schuck on 10 April 1945. Sgt. William A. Peltoma, the left waist gunner, is thefirst man on the left in the fron t row. out, I was afraid to attempt to stop the spiralling or steer in any direction. As I approached the ground, I could see quite a number of people converging on my probable landing area. I, of course, made a terrible landing with my back pain and the torn parachute. For­ tunately, an elderly unarmed German man was very near where I landed - he saw that I was in pain, and motioned for me to give him my gun. Somewhat reluc­ tantly I gave it to him - knowing that I had no choice - I could see people approaching from all directions. To my surprise, he waved my gun and shouted at the approaching people, and they stopped.” The second of these 457th BG planes - the fourth shot down by Schuck in this attack - was the B-17G, Serial No. 43-38606, Callsign “P”. The Mission Narra­ tive reads: “Plane s/n 43-38606, named Moon Light Mission, and piloted by Lt Thomas P. Thompson, Jr., was flying #2 position in the high box and was hit by a number of 20 mm shells from the ME-262’s that were attacking. The plane immediately nosed down, and burst into flames. One wing came off and the ship exploded at about 15000 feet. Four of the crewmen did not survive. It is reported by some of the survivors that the Germans took Keith and Lewis to the site of the crash and made them carry the bodies of there fellow crewmen to a nearby cemetery.” Lt Thomas P. Thompson, the pilot, survived and was captured - as were F/O Charlie P. Keith, the nav­ igator;Sgt Keith V. Shinault, the radio operator; Sgt William A. Peltoma, the left waist gunner; and Sgt John W. Lewis, the tail gunner. But four men were killed - the co-pilot, F/O Max E. Felder; the toggleer, Sgt Alfred F. Waichunas; Sgt Thomas E. Smith, the aircraft engineer; and Sgt Walter J. Basara, the ball turret gunner. The impact of Schuck’s ravaging among the heavy bombers must have been terrible. In a short while, four B-17s were blown out of the sky, and at least one of Schuck’s compatriots destroyed a fifth during the same pass. There were hundreds of witnesses to the scene. One of them was barely 20-years old 1/Lt Joseph Peter­ burs of 20th FG. He was flying his P-51D Mustang - bap­ tised Josephine after the woman of his life, positioned about 5,000 feet above the bombers when he saw the Me 262 which blew down several B-17s in a row. Afterward, Peterburs wrote this report: “I was in ‘B’ group led by Capt. Riemensnider. I filled the #4 position in Black Flight flying wing to Capt Dick Tracy. The bombers visually bombed the target at oranienburg at 1438 with excellent results. Then all hell broke loose with 10-15 Me 262s barraling through the formation. I saw one Me 262 hit at least two B-17s and I proceeded to attack it. I had about a 5000 foot altitude advantage and with throttle wide open and .50 caliber machine guns blazing I engaged the jet from the 6 o’clock position and was getting some hits and saw T