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

WALTER SCHUCK A Polikarpov U-2 (later designated Po-2). caused on the ground at Petsamo airfield. An Airacobra was lost to antiaircraft fire, and when III./JG 5’s Me 109s intercepted the Shturmoviks, Feldwebel Jockel Norz shot down one of the Il-2s. On 2 March 1943, Schuck attained his 25th victory against a Boston which he surprised while it was about to land at Afrikanda Aerodrome. This is confirmed through Soviet sources, although there cannot be found any Soviet loss report for 2 March 1943. The loss of a Douglas Boston, B-3, by 137 BAP at low altitude as a result of an attack by five Me 109s over Afrikanda is listed on 3 March 1943 (a date when no German claims were made which would match with that loss). By the same time as 258 SAD initiated its airbase offensive, II./JG 5 brought new Me 109 G-2s into action. Until then, the Soviet airmen in the Far North had been lucky to encounter only the old Me 109 F or Me 109 E. The introduction of Me 109 Gs in the Far North further increased JG 5’s technical advantage. On 5 March, 258 SAD was dispatched twice against Petsamo’s airfield. On the second occasion, the Soviet airmen again clashed with III./JG 5. Two of 17 GShAP’s eight Il-2s went down, but in return the Soviet escort fighters shot down three Me 109s, one of which was added to the scoreboard of 19 GIAP’s Kapitan Ivan Bochkov. 19 GIAP’s D. S. Goncharyok became witness to a true tragedy on 12 March, when Weissenberger, Feldwe­ bel Hans Dobrich and four other Me 109 G-2 pilots per­ formed a free hunting mission above Murmashi’s air­ field: “The Germans exploited the absence o f any anti­ aircraft defence of our airfields, and flew provokingly along the airfield perimeters. Our Diviziya’s [258 SAD] commander, Georgiy Refshneyder-Kalugin, ordered one Eskadrilya into the air. Our regimental commander, [Mayor Aleksey] Novozhilov, replied that the airfield was blocked by enemy fighters. But Refshneyder-Kalugin only repeated his order, and Novozhilov ordered the third Eskadrilya to take off [with Kittyhawks], Guards Kapitan I. Miusov was first to start his engine - only recently had he been appointed deputy Eskadrilya commander. To take off against the Germans with a helpless fighter, with its undercarriage down and no combat speed, would be suicidal. Miusov cancelled his take-off and reported engine failure. The commander ordered him to make another attempt to take off. In that moment, Miusov’s wingman - [Starshina] Ivchenko - took off. He was immediately set on fire and fell into the forest. Next, pilot Romanenko took off, followed by Chernov. Another plane took off, but also caught fire. As soon as Miusov had left the ground, he was attacked by two Messerschmitts which set his aircraft burning. While descending towards the forest, Miusov just had time to call out his last words in the radio: ‘Farewell, comrades!’ T