Evening star., 1942-08-28
Soviet Flyer Under Il
Credited With FeIIinq
II German Planes
Russions Bottle Through
Long Daylight Hours
In Groups Of Hundreds
BY PETER PAVLENKO,
Noted Russian Author.

Noted Russian Author.
MOSCOW, Aug. % CNA.N.A9-
don. know who first conceived
the idea of painting stars on the
fuselages OF fighter planes. There
are n Of them-one for every Ger
man craft shot down-on the plane
OF Senoir 1t. Mihkail Baranov, hero
of the Soviet Union.
Baranov's years number less than
the stars on his plane. He will be
al in October. But he's been n.y.
ing ever since 1899 and has been
| in the war ever since the outbreak
of 1t. He shot down 10 enemy air.
craft himself and eight in group
combats.
| One or two more stars are likely
| to be added any day, for in the
area where Baranov Is now flghting
air battles have been raging for
several days without a moments
pause. The battles last as long as
the hours of daylight and within
any one Of those hours air fighting
goes on for at least so minutes.
These aren't those fieeting duels
which seem so romantic when OBJ
served from the ground. These
are prolonged combats In which
hundreds of craft ons both sides
take part simultaneously.
Rivers Only Natural Defenses.
The Germans are pressing hard
eastward and the only natural de-
Tense lines against them here are
rivers. Battles rage at bridgeheads
and the Luftwaffe is trying at any
cost to dislodge us or at least de-
stroy the bridges
The Germans fight in the air in
mass formations, their bombers al
ways surrounded by strong fighter
conveys. A group of IL or Is junk
er bomhers will be accompanied by
not less than II or 18 Messer-
schmitts.
Hero of the Soviet Union Mikhail
Baranov is almost invariably par
ticipant in these formidable COM
bats, the like OF which is unequaled
in this war. Twice he had to bail
out when his plane was wrapped in
flames, but this youth possesses un-
usual stubbornness and his skill ex-
ceeds those of all the Germans to-
gether whom he has defeated in his
81 air combats.
Baranov has worked out his own
tactics. When he encounters several
German planes, he always selects
one of them and goes for it, ignor-
ing the rest And he doesn't just
swarm for it, but selects some par
ticular part OF its engine, wings. tail
or fuselage.
Assaults Swift.
His assaults are swift, compelling
the enemy to turn tail and it's
while the enemy is banking that he
usually gets him. Here is a brief
account of the latest of Baranovs
combats that we know Of:
Two groups of Soviet fighters, one
commanded by Capt. Masurenko,
the other by Senior 1t. Baranov,
were escorting q detachment OF our
attack planes. AS they were ap-
preaching their objective, Baranov's
group espied four Messerschmitt
109-Fs machine-gunning our in
fantry. Baranoy gave orders to at
tack them. In a brief combat, he
and Sergt. Savinov jointly shot
down one Messerschmitt whose pilot
bailed out, but as the tight took
place over territory occupied by the
Germans, savinov took care the
NaI didn't reach the ground alive.
At that moment another Messer-
schmitt attacked Baranov but was
set on fire by Pilot Serznantov. The
two remaining Messerschmitts fed,
but soon the victors were attacked
by fresh group Of German fighters
and bombers. The advantage of
numbers was on the side of the
enemy. Baranov himself was at
tackled by five fighters and one
bomber. He shot down two fighters
but now his ammunition was all
spent. However, he is never the first
to retire from battle, knowing that
Is fatal. So he decidedso ram. His
plane cut into a Messerschmitt and
both craft hurtled downward, the
German in flames. Baranov bailed
out and, covered by Savinov and
another, successfully landed. Soon
after, MaEurenkos group forced the
Germans to retire.
This combat lasted exactly one
hour. When Baranov returned to
his airdrome, he learned its results.
Thirteen Soviet fighters engaging "a
Messerschmitt 109-Fs, and Is Junker
88s brought down 10 Messerschmitts
and one Junkers. To Baranov fell
one shot down jointly with Savinov
two shot down and one rammed by
himself.