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

WALTER SCHUCK Walter Schuck in the cockpit o f his Me 109 E in IO./JG 3. The crest under the cockpit is Oberleutnant Hans- Curt Graf von Sponeck’s personal crest. Oberleutnant Hans-Curt Graf von Sponeck (centre), relaxing together with afew o f hisfighter pilots. Unter­ offizier Kurt Philipp is secondfrom the left. the plane’s flight engineer. The flight engineer explained that this was a special version, equipped with a pressur­ ised heated cabin and extended wings. “We are able to reach altitudes of around 11,000 metres,” said the flight engineer, and he told Schuck that when they had been flying above Kairo, the Spitfires that were sent to intercept them had been forced to give in at 8,000 metres. Then he added something which surprised Schuck: “We can reach as far as Moscow, and the Russians can’t either reach above 8,000 metres!” Schuck could not understand why the Russians would want to climb to a German aircraft which flew over Moscow. Since August 1939, there was a non aggression treaty between Germany and the Soviet Union, and Ger­ many received regular train loads of wheat and minerals from the Soviets. What Schuck of course did not know was that Hit­ ler and his generals were making their preparations for the coming invasion of the Soviet Union. The Ju 86 he had seen, and the flight engineer who had revealed a bit too much to Schuck, was part of Oberstleutnant Theo­ dor Rowehl’s specialised long-range reconnaissance unit Aufklarungsgruppe Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe (AufklObdL), directly subordinated to the Luftwaffe’s C-in-C, Reichsmarschall Goring. In October 1940, Adolf Hitler personally instructed Oberstleutnant Rowehl to initiate a methodic aerial reconnaissance operation over the USSR. AufklObdL's task was to photograph military installations in the western area of the Soviet Union, with the emphasis on airfields. Operating from Krakow, the Ju 86 P of this unit flew both reconnaissance, and the most secret missions of them all - parachuting of Abwehr agents into the USSR at night time. The intelli­ gence gathered by AufklObdL indeed played a key role to the overwhelming German success during the attack against the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941. The news from the Eastern Front made great impact on the men of Erganzungsjagdgruppe/JG 3 at Krakow. It seemed as though the gigantic Soviet Union was collaps­ ing before their eyes. Most of them lamented the fact that they were not able to participate in the fighting. Instead they continued the training as usual, and nothing else. About two weeks after the opening of the war with the Soviet Union, Erganzungsjagdgruppe/JG 3 was instructed to transfer back west again - to Bergen- aan-Zee in the Netherlands. From that place, the unit carried out several coastal patrol missions. Above all, Schuck became better and better in handling the Me 109 in the air. A strong friendship developed between Schuck and the other non-officers in the Staffel, like Franz Dorr, Franz Strasser, and August Braun. In the Netherlands, Schuck also got the opportunity to devote himself to his profound interest in music - or, more specifically, jazz music. T