Evening star., 1941-09-24

for visit to a Soviet air base. We
got there just at dusk and so per-
fectly were the field and the planes
camoufaged that we did not realize
that we were anywhere near them
until we drew up in front of parked
fighting plane.
A flight of 10 ships had just re-
turned from an attack on German
air field near Smolensk and the
pilots-fit looking youths between 10
and % years of age-gathered around
to talk with us.
One of the planes had a jagged,
fst-sized hole through one wing. Its
pilot, 1t. Alex Rodin, 10, described
with relish how it happened.
1T was a good raid. The Fascists
weren't expecting u.s. We sWooped
down out of the clouds from 5000 to
300 meters onto their planes and
headquarters and let them have it
with bombs and machine guns. We
started at least a dozen fires. Oh,
yes, that hole. A German gun got
me at the bottom of my dive, but
spurted."
George Zakarov, the commander
of the group, is fighting man of
| the best type. Blond and square
| jaWed, he is, at 81, one of the young
est officers of his rank in the Soviet
! army.
Returning to the hotel we left
| instructions to be awakened at 7:3C
this morning. But we had not reck-
oned with the LuftWaffe. Sharply
at 7:20 we were Jared out of our
sleep by a tremendous crashing OF
guns all around the hotel. The Ger
mans had come to seek retributior
for that little affair at SmolenSk
The drone of motors overhead COM
pleted the process of our awakening
Colleagues on Floor.
I scrambled out of my bed which
was dangerously close to the win.
doWS and dove into the hall where
Cyrus L. Sulzberger Of the New Yorl
Times, Erskine Caldwell of PM
Margaret Bourke-White of Lift
Magazine and the others were fat
tened on the floor in various stage
OF undreSs.
The most unpleasant of all sound!
the sigh of falling bombs-camt
almost Immediately. Bombs crashed
a half block away and the window
panes of our hotel crashed witt
them. No bodily harm was done
any member of our party, though
one late riser, sitting on the edgt
of his bed, was startled to find I
window frame tossed into his lap.
We went into the street to havr
a look. The sidewalk was Uttered
with broken glass. A few door
away three bombs had hit anc
wrecked a cluster of buildings, kill
ing 8 and Wounding 10. Several O
the dead were women and twt
young girls.
Efficient young women arrived
quickly to tend the wounded ant
remove the dead The townspeopl
gathered TO watch, but their Slavi
faces, lined with suffering, Wer
impassive.
That was the LuftWaffe's revenge
but it was short-lived. The Russian
fighters winged one of the min,
raidlng bombers It made a crasi
landing Hours later. riding towart
the front. we encountered it
Junkers- -88-in field with fata
wounds through its propellers.
Reckoning With Nazis.
Tonight, to round out the story
we had our reckoning with the Ger
mans who had bombed us. The cap
tured crew of a bomber-three 0
them were doWned-Were brough
to US at a schoolhouse where "
were spending the night and wer
seated facing long table lined witt
II rather pugnacious correspond
!; ents.
1t is hard to be polite to mer
who have tossed bombs at you ant
there was a note of indignation il
the questions We fired at them.
The Germans still wore theil