Evening star., 1941-12-05
By A, T. STEELE,
~ 80 - ~ sAh~t
war Correspondent OF The Star anC

Chlcago Daily News.
KUIBYSHEV, Dec. 5-Hitler, old
hov if YOU think your troubles IN
Russia are near an end send some
BODY over to take a look at the re-
serve armies which are taking shape
here far behind the fighting lines.
I went out for more than 100
miles to one of these places today
an air descent school" where hun
dreds of Young men are being hard
ened and drilled for the Job of lead
ing parachute attacks and for dl-
versionist activities back of the
German lines. This kind of job
requires iron-nerved men. The
shaven headed disciplined youths l
saw TODAY looked the part Clad
in the white hooded gowns which
are part of the equipment Of all
front line Russian troops during
the winter. they went through real
lStic maneuvers intended 10 rep
resent a raid on an ammunition
dump behind the enemy front
Crawling on ones belly for hun
dreds of yards through snow at
zero temperature is not my idea Of
fun. but these chaps seemed 10
relish their game When they lay
still. as they did occasionally, they
were indistinguiShable from the
glistenlng white terrain Creeping
through the paths OF frosted for
est lust before the final assault.
they looked like herd Of weird
polar animals.
Leaps Are Just Minor.
Three explosions. which sent the
earth and snow sky high. symbol
lied the successful completion of
their mission.
This was only one OF several eX-
ercises which the diminutive, pep
perry. 40-year- old commandant, Col.
Dimitri Vieyshosov put on for us.
We saw the cadets in bayonet praC-
tice. in the gymnasium, in bar
racks and in the classroom and
receiving practical instruction in
the use of the parachute and air.
borne artillery.
There was no parachute jumping
on this occasion, but the command
er informed US that leaping from
an airplane is only a minor phase
of the intense training a para
chutist is obliged to 60 through.
He himself wore an enameled dec
Grafton in the shape of parachute
with the number "25" attached in
recognition of the fact that he had
made more than that number of
parachute leaps.
Although little hitherto has been
heard about the activities of air
borne troops in the Russo-German
war. Col. VieyshoSov informed us
that the Russians utilized para
troops on a number of occasions,
especially southwest of Moscow.
Parachutists. he said, may serve
one of three purposes:
l. Impede the bringing up of
enemy reserves.
2 During an advance 70 assist in
break-through in any given dl-
rection.
3, DiSorganize the enemy rear.
Nazi 'ChutiSts Wiped Out.
When employed against an ad-
vancing army the chances of such
diverslonistS ever rejoining their
own main forces is very small.
This is one reason why the Red
Army accepts the toughest and
most dependable candidates for this
hazardous job.
In this school. which is one of a
number devoted to the training of
parachutist officers. there is a vast
ly higher percentage of party men,
bers than in most other branches
of the army. Under the Bolshevik
system it is traditional to put party
members in the most difficult and
most hazardous jobs. Their party
background makes their loyalty un-
questioned.
The commandant said the Ger
mans have tried parachute descents
on various occasions in this war
but never with more than 400 men
in one landing. One Of the biggest
he recalled, was the descent Of 300
Germans near Darocobush. west of
Moscow. shortly after the opening
Of the October offensive toward the