The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1942-10-27

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German infantry has very little
heart for attacking unless their
bombers can pave the way"
The colonel had promised that !
would get a chance to talk with
some Russian anti-tank men who
had contributed greatly toward
holding Hell's Elbow in more than
one month Of repeated attacks.
Now they came filing into the
dugout. led by young Armenian
lieutenant Of pa dozen hard
muscled. grime-covered soldiers
who had been in front-line posi-
lions only an hour before and had
only had snatches Of sleep for
week or more.
TELLS OF ATTACK
The Armenian lieutenant was q
little fellow as straight as a ram
rod, with burning black eyes,
black hair and a tiny black
moustache to match. In their last
major engagement, his group of
Is had destroyed IA German tanks
and In one fight the lieutenant
had knocked out five tanks him
self.
He spoke very briefly, without
any frills or any dramatic Incl
l..t. Co. Aa11rasgOn NV man
use anto-tank rifles, but in our
unit of course, we also have an
anti-tank cannon. The fascists
started their last attack at in
the morning. Then we counter-at-
tackled and we demolished nine
OF their IS tanks. After that the
Germans retreated, but they tried
again about 40 minutes later. We
were ready and this time we de-
stroyed five more tanks. Since
then the enemy has not made
another tank attack-not for four
days now"
1 noticed that the Armen-
ian lieutenant wore two wound
stripes. In this small group
Of his from Hells Elbow were
privates who spoke Tartar,
Bash kir, Ukrainian and
Georgian. With the lieuten-
ants native Armenian and the
balance Of Russians, that
made six different native IAN
guages In this group Of Is
men.
That Is one of the extraordin-
airy things about the Red Army.
II is made up Of very many races
and some of its men, from the deep
interior of the Soviet Union, may
speak Russian only haltingly, yet
soldiers of every origin have dis
tinguished themselves for valor In
this war.
Among the group was one bull
let-headed bundle Of iron named
Asonov. He was a Tartar and
also wore a wounded stripe. He
was obviously much more used to
fighting battles than telling about
them. All he would say was, Il
saw five German tanks coming
at my position. They were more
than 400 yards away, maybe 500
yards, when I started shooting
at them. I got two Of them. one
after the other" Ltcol. Polevoi
interviewed, as IL afraid that
false impression would be Gre
ated: That's an unusually long
range to knock out a tank with
an apti-tank rifle" he said. "A
really first-class shot can do II.
Usually. though, you have TO have
them closer than that"
NAILS TURN, FLEE
The Armenian lieutenant had
one more thing on his mind: The
Germans lose courage as soon a.
you destroy a few Of their tanks,
he said. When they see their
neighboring tanks burning they
always turn tail and run. We
know that IL we get a few of
them. they will be finished"
The dugout's windows had been
rafting occasionally while we
talked. For some time both Rus
sian and German artillery had
been booming along the front
Now these youngsters would be
going back to Hell's Elbow across
the volgs. Before leaving. LtcoL
Polevoi told how the Russians
defense Of Hells Elbow seemed
To nave the Nazis buffaloed. -All
through September. the fascists
used TO make seven OF eight at
tacks a day, and always with
tanks, Of course" he said. But
their losses mounted steadily and
the Germans don't like 10 have
to pay dearly for what they can't
get. Our mems resistance has
never been broken. So lately. the
Germans have been showing very
few tanks In our sector. They're
lying low again now. ! doubt II
they'll Try another major attack
until they think they've got
big superiority IN forces.
shook hands with one and
all and said good luck In Rus
sia quite a number Of TINES
IL seemed futile. really. 10 try