Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1944-05-14
the Nazis Their Biggest Surprise

"Shantytown.' 1t covers a lot of acre
age.
some day, presumably, flock of these
thlngs, flying on silent wings. will dron
IN Europe. probably at several places
From them will move lot of men and
equipment. The gliders carry Teens
oulldozers and other engineering eo,,in-
ment, and men, fighting men and men
OF supply and maintenance. If the on
erations are carried out over Europe
as the training operations are carried
OUT IN the States, the gliders will come
In low. The men will quickly unload
their equipment even UP to field pieces
ana prepare for long stay in jerry
land.
We are puzzled about what we do
then," said glider pilot. "Of course we
are Trained to fight like ground troops
We know the fundamentals of all the
weapons, and I guess we're in pretty
good shape physically. We ought to he
we've had enough Zeal exercise. But
glider cannot take off again once If hos
landed. Where does that leave us? Well
De right there, on the ground. But what
the hell. We came into this war to fight.
and fight Well do
around the Nissen hut in which live
the pilots of one squadron you see a lot
OF razor-sharp knives. The bows keen
them to keen edge. They Use them 70
peel potatoes, and other things. THEY'LL
take them to Europe, they say. They
nave been accommodating knives a long
tnne' and have fancy collection.
Trained to Fight.
Ghoer pilots are bunch apart. They
are In the air force, but they don't fly air.
planes as such, Many of them can pilot
the big Cats which pull them through
the air at the end of long nylon rome
All OF them are good with all the wean-
ons used by the infantry, and all of
them are trained to fight. for q glider
pilot once he hits the ground, becomes
a foot soldier.
L guess that's the reason for those
lo-mile hikes they give us everv once in
while" said one pilot. "We1l be in
1antry once we hit the ground. which
Is 'okay with me. We came here to fipbt
didn't we?"
Inc boys nave an aversion to sleen
Ihey get plenty of it, but not at tn.
usual times. They sit up half the night
cooking potatoes over an inadeo,iate
stove, IN an inadequate collection of
I'm cans, and hot grease They get I'D at
o:oo IN the morning, which, under
BRUSH double summer time, is 4 40
greenwich time, and unless they are q,
the Hylng line or on mission thew ro,,
oacA lnto thelr blankets. They sleep half
tne Gay, and stay up half the NIGHT
kloolng and joshing and spinning warns
as american kids do. BY now the Jokes
nave worn thin, but the ribald songs %
on lar into the night. This bunch have
peen together quite a while Thev
trained In Florida and North Carolina
1hey took part in big maneuver iob in
North Carolina late last year, and did
all right. "''
Battle couldn't be tougher tbo,
'iose maneuVers,' they say. They gave
Us the works down there in Carolina "
Just Waiting.
Ihey come over in astonishing num-
bers, fresh from the training camns in
the States. met pilot from Richmond
Va boy named 1t. Floyd Moselev.
VINO had just come to this base.
Nearby the glider base is one of those
quaint little English towns with a river
running through it, few little hotels
and lot of tea shops, and a lot of
Americans hanging around the streets
looking for something to do. That's the
boring part of getting ready for war, the
endless doing nothing, and waiting for
something to happen.
But the glider pilots are getting along
okay. Theirs is a specialized and impor-
tant job, and they realize they are being
held for big part in the invasion show.
1t will be concentrated and very tough,
but they are equipped to take 1t.
But those 10-mile hikes get us" they
say. Here We are In the Air Force and
we have to walk 10 miles. with equip
ment."