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

WALTER SCHUCK uge from vengeful Czechs - prepared to evacuate. The road column was held up by a group of armed German soldiers who regarded the whole group as deserters. The situation was saved only when Schuck came forward and showed them the pass which had been issued by General Kammhuber. It said that in the name of the Fiihrer, any German serviceman was obliged to leave the way open for the holder of that paper, who was a special jet aircraft operative. When the column could continue towards Germany, Schuck went back to the airfield. He oversaw the take-off of all the aircraft. Finally there was only Schuck, a mechanic and a radio operator left - and a serviceable single-engined Me 108 Taifun liaison aircraft. Just as they were about to enter the Me 108, the sound of a jet engine was heard. An Me 262 appeared above the treetop. Flying on only one engine, it landed on the airfield. A certain Major of the Luftwaffe’s depleted bomber force climbed out, carrying a suitcase. He came across to the Me 108 and demanded to take over the airplane. But Schuck resisted: “Herr Major, if you are a bomber flier, I’m sure your men will soon be here to pick you up. However, should you wish to fly with us, we can make place for you, but you’ll have to leave your luggage behind.” Realising that the Third Reich, on which his author­ ity was founded, was crumbling, the Major gave in. With three passengers, Walter Schuck took off for his last flight in Second World War. He had started fly­ ing combat missions in an Me 109. At the end he shifted to the revolutionising Me 262 jet fighter, and now his last flight was made in a peaceful and unarmed Messer­ schmitt 108 Taifun. Late in the evening on 8 May 1945, he landed at Fassberg, which was in British hands. The four Germans climbed out of the aircraft and were surrounded by Brit­ ish soldiers. At Fassberg awaited the last surprise of the war for Walter Schuck. A French pilot in an RAF Flight Lieutenant uniform received him. Pierre Clostermann, the great French fighter ace, describes the story in his memoirs, The Big Show: “We suddenly heard the faint noise of a powerful engine. It was a small German four-seater liaison, a Messerschmitt 108, which landed without ceremony. (. . .) [The pilot] carried the luggage into my room with a clicking of heels and a faultless salute - not a Nazi one since fighter pilots in the Luftwaffe didn’t do that - but a classic salute, hand rised to peak. “My Teutonic companion was still in his underwear as he unpacked his case, taking out a pair of polished shoes and an extraordinarily elegant white uniform jacket. In Germany, fighter pilots were the aristocrats of the armed forces. He rummaged around in his things and handed me his log book, decorated with a large gilded symbol of a pilot, eagle and swastika. I glanced at the final pages. It showed over a hundred victories. As I took him to the mess for a drink, he requested, I showed him a Tempest [fighter plane] at close range, I chose mine so that he could see the black crosses on the fuselage. However, they appeared to make little impression. The plane, on the other hand, did. He thought it magnificent. I drank beer in the mess with the German, who sat in a chair looking extremely relaxed.” The next morning, the war was over. Walter Schuck towards the end o f the war. T