The Wilmington morning star., 1943-08-14
CHAPTER IL

AT Tile Start 1nCenQed TO write
more about Russians and battles
than correspondents and cocktail
parties, but in this case all four
tecame SO inextricably mixed that
it would be- impossible to escape
the latter. The activities of the
correspondents on this occasion,
moreover, deserve a place in. any
ores history of the war, for it
was an historic occasion, the first
formal visit ever paid to- the Red
army by any foreign correspond
ents, and it was, a precedent, .es-
tablishiagi the rules Tor the future
trips which gave the world its eye
witness accounts Of the war on
4he eastern front. ~ .E5 = :
We met in front Of the, Narko-
minded at 8. am, September IS,
ic beWildering assortment OF cos
tunes. We were met by a staff
colonel, a brigade commissar, and
q censor. We climbed into five
vary little MI automobiles n d
were off, down the Mojhaisk
chauSsee. T.. .
We drove that, morning to Viaz-
ma, a typical behind the lines
to wn, h'1stling with the military
life added to its peacetime activi-
ties. Siruated in a pleasant valley,
Wanna, celebrated for its making
of gingerbread, was at that time
a base for the Red air force, as
it was to become later for the
I uftWaffe. ....t.o ...,.
We could see examples of the
craftsmanship: or lack Of it, in
German bomhings out there, where
they were meeting the full opposi-
ton of the Red air force. A tow
el ing warehouse and conspicuous
bridge had been the objectives OF
four raids, an officer told us, but
they still stood intact. The fields
around them were pitted with crat-
ers, the nearest more than a hun
cred yards away from the targets.
At nightfall,, ), we bumped across
tte fields to an expanse of land,
which seemed to be just another
empty space. studded like any 9TH
er with clusters of shrubs, but
which turned out to be an air
drome. Just being covered with
branches, and hardly to be dis.
tinguished IN the darkness, was a
squadron of 10 planes which had
just bombed The Snnolensk airport.
The Officer in comm and, Major
General Georgy Zakharov, a burly
young man in fleece-1ined flying
suit and plle-banded cap, showed
us around his field. = 80
The planes were long, low-Wing-
ea, water-coo4eds fighter-bombers,
carrying four racks for bombs OF
% to 50 Kilograms under e c h
wing, a cannon and several ma
chine guns Gle .of,them, already
nesting under pine boughs, had a
gaping hole directly through The
red star in its right wing, evidently
,he result of enemy aircraft fire
The pilots still bundled in thei
flying suits, came out to tell III
about their raid Like any grour
of boys, meeting visitors, III e J
talked all at the same time, then
all basnfully became silent, and
lad to be prompted, one by one
to tell their stories: Ten of them
had gone over =. they went il
ct a thousand feet .. they me
no opposition until after they
cropped their bombs they saw
y or IS fires on the enemy airpor
=. building which they hae
been told served as quarters to
Nszi officers was wrecked :. the,
all returned safely. d:
BY then, complete darkness hae
fallen, and in the gloom we were
given an unusual demonstration
One plane was trundled out of it
h,ding-place, TAXED into a c1umI
Of trees. and" faced across the
field. An order was shouted, ant
it fired four times. v Its shell:
screamed past US, and burst, max
ing what seemed to me to be. {
later double olast and leaving tw
sparkling flares. We were so star
lied by The exhibition that everyone
had different version Of it.
THE Germans are afraid o
that" Genelal Zakharov com
1nented lacon,cally. We wanted t,
know more about it, what it wa
end how it worked. He would onl.
say that it was new weapon
us ed both against planes and tank
and aimed so that it exploded .ol
both sides of its objective. Later
I as told, that was the "littl'
Katiusha. If it was, that was tn
nearest ever came to solving hel
mystery. --t
We drove away under a velvety
black SKY, studded with stars, tt
the International Hotel, Wanna
We were soon to regret that beau
tiful clear sky, and even ha
bombing Of Smolensk. But tha'
evening, we had other business
IN, rNEoiar Ca.aro1 Vasi11v SOkOlOV