Duerr H Schuh

Military
media-35313.jpeg UPL 35313 Lt. Col. Duerr H. Schuh, Fighter Pilot, 352nd FG, 487th FS Lee Cook Collection

Correspondence from Lee Cook, Author, relating to the 352nd Fighter Group .

Object Number - UPL 35313 - Lt. Col. Duerr H. Schuh, Fighter Pilot, 352nd FG, 487th FS

Duerr H. Schuh joined the 487th Fighter Squadron in July 1944, flying 71 missions and 281 combat hours. He was transferred to Asch, Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944.



Extract from his letter:



"I shot down my first ME-109 on 11 September 1944, between Einbeck and Rottingen.

I was flying Blue 2 at 27,000 ft. when shortly before rendezvous with bombers I observed two ME-109s at approximately 35,00 feet. One of them peeled off and came diving at our flight, passing below and to the left. (a lousy Bounce). Blue Leader and I followed. Blue Leader overshot. I got on the tail of the ME-109 and fired a burst at about 200 yards. I observed strikes on the left wing root and engine. He had a belly tank and it blew up and caught fire. The pilot jettisoned his canopy and bailed out.



November 2, 1944, I was Green2 flying at 30,000 feet. Green flight encountered 12 plus ME-109s coming 180 degrees to the flight. We broke them up and one started thru a cloud. I went after him and when we came out of the cloud I was about 200 yards behind the ME-109. I fired and saw strikes in cockpit area and pieces flew off the tail section and almost hit my plane. He rolled off to the right and began to spin out of control, then burst into flames.



26 December 1944, I was White 3. The squadron was flying at approximately 12,000 feet. White 2 called in ME-109s on the deck. There were approximately thirty in three waves. White Leader dove down on them and pulled out behind the second wave. I pulled in behind the third wave with White 4 on my wing. I fired a 30 degree deflective shot at 300 yards and saw strikes in the cockpit area of ME-109. It dove into the ground and exploded. I pulled over to the left and fired at another 109 at 20 degrees deflection and observed strikes in the right wing root and belly.

White 4 overshot me and tacked on to two ME-109s. I flew his wing while he destroyed one of them.

I had to break hard right at this time because 4 ME-109s were turning onto my tail. I pulled around hard right and got on their tails and shot at tail end Charlie. I observed strikes on his right wing root and he snapped to the right and plowed into the ground.

I was above an calling for help and had only one gun firing, so I broke off and slowly climbed, headed for my base. I had my radio checked when I landed and found out that the transmitter was not functioning, so no one heard my call for help.



I finished my tour in later part of March 1945".

Connections

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Units served with

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
  • Nicknames: Babylon Panther, Dutchess, Millie
  • Unit: 352nd Fighter Group 487th Fighter Squadron

Revisions

Date
ContributorBombay
Changes
Sources

fix spelling

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An original letter written to Lee Cook from Duerr Schuh

Date
Changes
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Correspondence from Lee Cook, Author, relating to the 352nd Fighter Group .

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Ted Damick, VIII Fighter Command pilots list / unit history

Duerr H Schuh: Gallery (3 items)