Gathering of WWII aces show rare camaraderie in Oceanside

By: TOM MORROW - For the North County Times
Aviators swap war stories at weekly meetings
OCEANSIDE ---- Two old pilots attending a gathering of their peers earlier this week signed books, posters, photos and magazines like a couple of rock stars.

It mattered not that one was a former German Luftwaffe ace who had been shot down by his American counterpart during World War II.
The two, Walter Schuck and Joe Peterburs, were attending a meeting of the Old Bold Pilots Association, which meets each Wednesday for breakfast at an Oceanside restaurant to regale each other with stories from 60 years ago.

Thirty or 40 turn out, from all over Southern California. The group includes combat pilots from all branches of the U.S. military, as well as those from Canada, Great Britain, Poland, Russia, and Germany. All ranks are represented, including a couple of generals and an admiral.

Any animosity once held by any of the fliers from either side has long been forgotten. What they say they haven't forgotten is that all of them endured the same defining moments of their young lives, regardless of the uniforms they wore or the planes they flew.

They come, even if their health isn't always that good. Some of them are on oxygen, some use wheelchairs, others have to be driven to the restaurant. But if they're able, the fliers meet and greet each other with vigor.

This week's meeting marked Schuck's return.

Now 87, he was a (Messerschmitt) Me-109 and Me-262 fighter pilot who flew over both the Eastern and Western fronts of World War II. With 206 air victories to his credit, Schuck was one of the top aces on either side during the war. But, even he wasn't invincible.

Peterburs, of Roseville, flew in to greet him. The two former air enemies have long been friends, reuniting a number of times here and in Germany.

“I'm taking him (Schuck) back to Roseville with me for a visit,” Peterburs said. “He's a great friend and we have a good time telling war stories.”

Their first encounter was on April 10, 1945. U.S. Army Air Corps 1st Lt. Peterburs, flying a P-51 Mustang, shot down Oberleutenant Schuck, who was flying an Me-262, the world's first operational jet aircraft.

“When I came upon Walter in his 262, I had no idea he had already shot down two B-17s that morning,” Peterburs said.

Schuck had flown more than 500 missions during the war, and even Peterburs wasn't able to keep him out of the air. Schuck parachuted to safety and began flying again before being shot down a second time on the final day of the war, May 8, 1945.

A fellow Luftwaffe pilot recalled their days during the war.

“Walter and I flew together on missions some 200 miles above the Arctic circle near Murmansk, (Russia),” recalled Kurt Schulze, a retired Vista businessman who immigrated to the United States in 1953.

Noting that Me-109 fighters didn't have any heaters, he and Schuck smiled, remembering the cold weather.

“We were young and didn't know any better,” Schulze said.

Schulze, during the war, was a Luftwaffe oberleutnant who commanded several Me-109 squadrons. He flew 103 missions mostly on the Eastern front over Russia, Norway and the Barents Sea.

Luftwaffe night fighter Jorg Czypionka flew Me-109s and Me-262s against British RAF Mosquito bombers. Now a resident of San Gabriel, Czypionka drove down to Oceanside to greet his old comrade, Schuck.

Czypionka recalled the difference in flying the Me-109 fighter and the faster, newer Me-262 jet during those nightly RAF raids.

“When flying the 109s, we had to take off and circle over the targets where the (Royal Air Force) bombers were headed, then engage them when they arrived,” he explained. “With the 262, we just waited until the Mosquitos were spotted, then we'd take off, fly up and meet them without spending much time in the air.”

To World War II history buffs, these men are among the elite aviators of that era still living. One autograph seeker at this week's meeting, a man in his '40s, wore a T-shirt with Schuck's photo on the front.

Another had the latest copy of Fly Past magazine, which features the battle between Schuck and Peterburs. He was seeking their autographs on the brilliantly illustrated cover of their air battle.

“It wasn't much of a battle,” one old flier observed. “Joe came in from behind in his P-51 and caught Walter in his left engine and that's all she wrote.”

Gathering of WWII aces show rare camaraderie in Oceanside - North County Times - Oceanside -

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For the first time I have seen "History" at close quarters,and I know that its actual process is very different from what is presented to Posterity. - WWI General Max Hoffman