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

WALTER SCHUCK О THE SECOND POLAR SPRING Spring arrived in the Far North. The spring thaws actu­ ally caused a greater disturbance to the air base at Pet­ samo than ever the Soviet air attacks accomplished. There were days when two or three Me 109s crashed during take off. Petsamo’s main runway was the plain sand ground, and frequently the slim wheels of an Me 109’s undercarriage got stuck in the soft ground, which tore off the whole landing gear. After the first of these take off accidents in March and April, it was decided to use the specially prepared “thaw season runway”. That was the plank covered runway, 60-foot wide and about 1,500-foot long, which throughout the winter had con­ scientiously been kept snowfree through the relentless work of a snow-blower. But that runway had its particu­ lar danger. There always was the risk that a sudden gust of wond would hurl one of the light Me 109s into the ten- feet snow walls which lined the plank runway. Missions were flown with rising frequency. The Germans were intent to make use of the longer days to increase the pressure on the Soviets. On 14 April 1943, Schuck and four other 9./JG 5 Me 109s escorted three Fw 190 fighter-bombers to attack the airfield at Varlamovo. They found the target area covered by thick clouds, and instead decided to attack the airfield at Vayenga. At that place they were received by a heavy antiaircraft fire. The three Fw 190s made a diving attack from 5,000 metres altitude, but failed to inflict any other harm than some damage to an unserviceable Soviet aircraft. Schuck and the other Me 109 pilots were more successful in their task. They warded off attempts by Soviet fighters to intercept the Fw 190s, and claimed to have shot down two Hurricanes and an Airacobra - the two former by Schuck. Both Hurricane pilots - the naval 78 IAP’s Leyt­ enant Vasiliy Strelnikov and Serzhant Ivan Mikhailuk - survived by bailing out, although the latter was injured. Strelnikov, who had been in action only since January 1943, would develop into one of his unit’s aces, eventu­ ally reaching a score of six victories and obtaining the honorary title of a Hero of the Soviet Union. By this time the technical gap between the opposed air forces in the Far North successively was narrowed. On 15 April, German aerial reconnaissance reported that the new Soviet fighter type Yak-7 had been spotted at an airfield near Murmansk. That day also, some pilots of JG 5 returned from an air combat north of Murmansk, reporting that the aircraft they had fought were Airaco­ bras wearing British insignias. A rumour spread that the RAF had stationed a unit near Murmansk. This was not true. Actually, the fact that two RAF fighter squadrons had operated in the Murmansk sector in the autumn of 1941 was unknown to the Germans throughout the war. In any case, Schuck and his mates noticed that the air fighting grew more difficult. On most occasions they still felt a considerable superiority towards their oppo­ nents. This was both due to inferior Soviet aircraft and a prevailing low standard of Soviet pilot training. But from T