Me-262A-1a, P-51D skins by Emel, August/Spetember 2012. 


Twin Pack No 4 - Olt. Walter Schuck's last combat mission in WWII on 10.4.1945.

1. Me 262A-1a, W.Nr. 500217(?), 'Yellow 1' flown by Olt. Walter Schuck Staffelkapitn of 3./JG 7, Oranienburg, April 1945.

2. P-51D 44-15078 KI-B "Josephine" flown by Lt. Joseph A. Peterburs, 20 Fighter Group, Kingscliffe, April 1945.

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"When I saw from above how one of the Jets was sweeping right through the B-17 formation and shot down bomber after bomber, I just knew I had to stop that sob..."

Joseph A. Peterburs of Walter Shuck's attack on the B-17s.

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10.4.1945. Oranienburg area.

On 10 April 1945 Lt. Joseph Anthony Peterburs, then a 20 year old fighter pilot serving with the 20th Fighter Group, was escorting a large formation of 400+ B-17s of the 1st Bomb division with his unit the 55th Fighter Squadron at Oranienburg area. At that day he flew as wingman to Captain Dick Tracy in B group led by Captain Reimensnider. 
  The bomber formation reached the target area at Oranienburg at 14.38 hrs and the bombing results proved excellent. But after that all hell broke loose when ten to fifteen German Jet fighters suddenly appeared and sped through the bomber formation. 
  Peterburs saw at least two bombers quickly being shot down by one of the Jets during the first pass. Peterburs had an altitude advantage of 1,600 meters and infuriated by what he had just witnessed he rammed the throttle and together with that pushing down the nose of his Mustang into a dive he managed to close in with the fast moving Me-262. He fired his .50 calibres and saw some strikes and smoke coming from the Me. The jet was now evading and trying to get into safety Peterburs following in hot pursuit. All this time Captain Dick Tracy had been following Peterburs close behind. The pair soon spotted an airfield crammed with enemy aircraft of all kinds. Peterburs called Dick and they gave up chasing the solitary jet and instead headed for the airfield in order to give it a good beating. In the mean time the damaged Me-262 had disappeared in low stratus.
  The pair then strafed the airbase filled with parked enemy aircraft. Today the base is known to have been Jterbog some 60 km South of Berlin. After some three or four passes both pilots were shot down by the airfield flak. They managed to bail out in time but were captured becoming POW. Both pilots were eventually freed by the advancing Red Army and they returned back to England to their unit.


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"When I saw the salvo of bombs exploding at Oranienburg I remembered the charred ruins of Hamburg. In that split moment I no longer cared what terrible deeds the shells from my cannon's would inflict the crews of the bombers. Fury, anger, revenge? No, those words really weren't enough to describe the boundless rage caused by the killings of hundreds of thousands of innocent German women and children. That rage I now concentrated towards the nearest bomber with my weapons.." 

Walter Schuck of his last combat mission in World War II.


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10.4.1945. Oranienburg area.

30 mm shells fired from the Me-262 avidly struck the tail of the bomber with a sensational effect. The entire tail piece fell of clean, like a branch would fall off from a tree, cut off by a chainsaw. Schuck immediately pulled up in order to swing back again towards the box formation. He fired the next bomber between the no 3 and 4 engines. Just before it fell Schuck believed he had seen the words 'Henn's Revenge'* painted on the nose of the doomed B-17. Then he had to pull up hard to avoid collision as the bomber now practically filled his windshield.
   In the mean while the bomber's had completed their job and the formation now steadily droned towards east despite of the intense flak exploding all around. One bomber was falling out of the formation and headed North trailing a plume of black smoke. Schuck ment to finish it off but approaching the damaged plane there were second thoughts when he saw the amount of damaged the large plane had suffered from flak. The shell's had torn open the cabin all the way to the wing trailing edge. As the bombers fate had been already sealed Schuck only made a large circle around it and did not open fire on the helpless crew. The copilot appeared slumped forwad in his seat. The rest of the crew had gathered in midships apparently preparing to bail out. The turrets no longer were manned. Once Schuck pulled away from the stricken bomber he saw men jumping and counted nine parachutes.
   The third B-17 fell when Schuck's Me-262's deadly cannon fire tore straight into the huge wing as pulled in by a magnetic force. The heavy bomber tilted sideways with a gaping hole in its wing and fell burning. Continuing straight for the next bomber, the fourth, Schuck could see a black triangle with the letter U on the large horizontal stabilizer. Once Schuck had pulverized the inner engine with his cannon fire, large chunks of metal pieces hurled by and then suddenly the entire wing departed from the bomber. Schuck later found out this B-17 was the "Moonlight Mission" and that most of its crew still managed to bail out of the doomed bomber before she exploded in midair at 5000m. 

By this time Schuck had spent his ammunition and he was searching for the rest of his Staffel. Finding none he decided to head back to base. It had been a very succesful mission for him, time to go home...
  At that moment there was loud noise from outside and sudden bright flashes on his port wing. Holes appeared all the way to the frontmost turbine wheel. Schuck put his stricken Me to a dive to the right to get himself out the line of fire and at the same moment he saw a Mustang passing by all guns blazing. Quick glance at the gauges and Schuck realized he was still flying at 8,200 meters altitude and that the port engine was failing. He then tried to reach Jterbog airbase. At 1,500m he reached the cloud deck. No Mustangs were nearby anymore but the port engine now emitted a long ominous plume of smoke. In the next moment the metal sheet rolled up vividly reminding of a can of sardine opening. Apparently the fueltank of the Riedel-starter had been hit. Next there was a loud thud and the entire rear turbine from the port engine flew away. It was time to abandon faithful 'Yellow 1'. Walter Schuck bailed out succesfully and landed safely. Despite of sprained ankles he returned via Berlin back to his base at Oranienburg.
  Other pilots weren't so lucky. Many Luftwaffe pilots perished in the air battles of April 10 1945 and that day is known as the 'black Tuesday' in the annals of JG 7.

After the war Walter Schuck was convinced Peterburs' perfect bounce on that day in fact saved his life. Because of his strained ankles Schuck was incapable of using the rudder pedals of the Me 262 and thus no longer could take part in the senseless combat sorties of those last few weeks of the war. 


*The name 'Henn's Revenge' also appears on another book describing the events of April 10 1945. It's a book written by William N. Hess the official historian for the American fighter aces association - German Jets versus the U.S. Army Air Force. Here it says 'Henn's Revenge' was flown by Lt R. L. Murray and that the top turret gunner was the sole survivor of the crew after Schucks devastating attack. It actually does not directly mention the attacker as being Schuck but as the book concentrates more on US fighter action against the Jet menace and not German action this is understandable. But It's more than likely this incident is the same that Schuck was involved on 10.4.1945. 

Sources:

The stories of W. Schuck and J. A. Peterburs are translated to English from the Finnish translation of the Memoirs of Walter Schuck: Abschuss! Von der Me 109 zur Me 262, Erinnerungen an die Luftkmpfe beim Jagdgeschwader 5 und 7. Aircraft illustrations were from the same source.

Additional information of 'Henn's Revenge by German Jets versus the U.S. Army Air Force, William N. Hess.       

Additional information of J. A. Peterburs' P-51D by http://www.littlefriends.co.uk. If you want detailed information about 8th AF Mustang units and pilots, this is THE PLACE to go. Great site!
                            

Slip the BMP files into their proper folders in your Il-2 Sturmovik/Paintschemes/Skins folder. The skins should work the next time you start the game.

The templates were redrawn from the void files. 

The mechanical layer for the Me-262 and P-51D were redrawn from the void files.

These skins are not to be uploaded further without my permission. You are permitted to use and publish the skins in this pack with IL-2 Sturmovik missions & campaigns, also you may rework these skins for your private use. No commercial use in any form is permitted. Please do not remove credits. 

Thank you for downloading these skins and happy flying.

Contact by PM: at Mission 4 Today

Emel