Evening star., 1941-08-03
Red Ambulance Pilots
Penetrate Far Behind
Nazi Front Lines
Carrying Aid Is Aerobotie
Feat; Necessitotes Flying
Close to the Ground
By ENGENE PETROV,
Foreign Correspondent of The Star a

BY ENGENE PETROV,
Foreign Correspondent of The Star and
North american Newspaper Alliance.
often meet men never mentioned in
the communiques. They are the
flyers of the civil air fleet. They
jokingly call themselves air coach
men. Their job now is to bring con-
served blood to the front and take
wounded to the rear.
Practically every day they have to
fly two or three hundred miles be-
hind the German lines. Their Doug
lases were very good and comfort
able in peacetime, when they landed
at a Moscow or Stockholm airport
right on the minute. Today they
remain civilians who happen to be
on the firing line In the capacity
of ambulance planes they carry no
arms. At the beginning they flew
with a Red Cross insignia, but
German fighters showed special
to swoop down on them.
One of these ambulance pilots,
the well-known flyer Rybin, told
me that each of these flights to the
front might be considered record
breaking. Not only record-breaking
but a real acrobatic feat. The pilots
paint their planes the colors of
woods and fields and fly close to
the ground. They are hardly notice
able from the air.
Story of Last Flight.
Rybin f1yes at night to pick up
wounded behind the German lines.
At dinner he told me the story of
his last flight.
I'VE took of late in the evening""
he said. I'VE few over a lake and
then close to the treetops. That's a
very difficult task, you know. In
about 40 minutes we reached the
German lines. Searchlights flared
up. headed directly for them and
few close over anti-aircraft guns,
almost touching them. They started
aimless fire when I was already
away.
Il landed at the designated spot
picked up the wounded and started
back. At this point flames burst
from the left engine. I had to slow
down. AS you see I arrived safely"
/ couldn't get anything more out
of him and I did not think 1t would
be right to poster a man who gets
only about two hours sleep a day
and that in brief snatches.
A truly remarkable feat was per-
formed by Pilot Gruzdin few days
ago. He headed for one of the front
airports with a load of conserved
blood. AS he swooped down for a
landing he noticed the complete abb
sence of men and machines at the
field. But he made landing and as
soon as his plane rolled to stop
man came up to him and shouted:
There's an air raid alarm! The
Germans are expected any minute.
Take off at once"
Wounded Taken Aboard.
Wounded soldiers waiting for the
plane lay in tents. Some of them
crawled out and looked at the plane,
which represented their only chance
of getting to the rear. Gruzdin
decided to take the wounded along.
I'VE had to turn stevedores," he
said. 1--WE handled 100-pound boxes
as if they we're fire"
In a few minutes the plane was
unloaded and they started carrying
the wounded aboard. Some were able
to hobble in without assistance.
But now new problem confronted
the pilot. The plane had accomo-
dations but the take-of space was
short. Gruzdin needed all his skill
to get the overloaded plane into the
air.
Just as 1t SKINNED over the tree
tops several loud explosions were
heard. The Germans had launched
their attack and were bombing the
field and empty tents. Then
Messerschmitt sighted the ambu-
lance plane and swooped down to
attack him from above. Several
bullets pierced the wings of Cruz
din's plane but he got into a low
cloud and changed his course. An
other Messerschmitt swooped down
but before it had a chance to attack
a Soviet fighter arrived on the scene
and shot down the German.
The wounded arrived safely at
their destination.
They hardly noticed anything
amiss," said Gruzdin, "only one
woman doctor became seasick. But
that was of minor importance, don't
you think?"
Self Denial Outstanding.
Were I asked what is most char
acteristic of the Russians in this
war, unprecedented for scope and
bloodshed, I would say self-denial.
At the front and at the rear,
every one does his or her job, big
or small, not sparing life itself in
order to accomplish the allotted
task. And it is this self-denial, this
readiness to- give ones life to ac-
complish a big or small task that
lends to Soviet resistance its uni
versal and heroic character.
Unlike the French generals of the
Gamelin brand, who surrendered
whole army corps to the enemy. not
forgetting to utter some historic
phrase suitable to the occasion at
the same time, Soviet generals when
they are surrounded merely con-
tinue to fight. Nor do they take
occasion to utter historic phrases.
And this natural desire to fight to
the end has created new defensive
tactics against tank attacks which
battle the Germans.
Urbanites and peasants in Ger
man. occupied districts arm, with
draw to the forests and become
guerrilla fighters. Women in the
rear do mems jobs, with workers
wives operating their husbands
lathes and peasant women taking
charge of tractors and combines.
Girls after hard days work re-
port in the evening to give their
blood for the wounded. Boys and
aged men in the most diverse pro-
fessions stand on roofs during night
air raids, prepared to smother in
cendiary bombs with sand.