Evening star., 1947-02-14
Newspaper Says Reds
Attacked and Seized
) Crippled B-29s
BY the Associated Press

NEW YORK, Feb 14.-The New
York Times said today that "at
least three B-29s in operational
condition vanished after having
made emergency landings near
Vladivostok," in extreme Eastern
Russia, before the U. S. S. R. de-
clared war on Japan.
"In sat least two instances" the
Times said, Russian fighter planes
opened fire on the obviously friendly
American planes and, in at least one
instance, Russian antiaircraft bat
teries opened up, in daylight, on
stricken Superfortress."
The crews, the Times said, were
interned with other Army and Navy
aviators at Tashkent in South Gen.
tral Russia in a camp that at one
time held 131 Americans.
The Times story was written by
Sidney Shalett of it's Washington
staff, who said that, "whilesthe war
| lasted, 1t was 'top-secret' matter,
and even now War and State De-
partment authorities are extremely
reluctant to see it in print"
Story Hard to Get.
ut was only after persistent in
quiries by this correspondent,
stretching over a period of months,
that the part of the story relating
to the appropriated B-29s was con-
f1rned and the writer received Off
cial permission to interview one of
the survivors, Capt. William j.
Mickish," Mr.. Sharlett wrote.
Possession of the B-29s gave the
Russians, the story said, "an excel
lent working model for long-range
and highly effective strategic
bomber, which they never developed
for themselves during the war" The
Times correspondent listed the su-
per fortresses involved as follows:
One piloted by Maj. Richard M.
McGlinn, now lieutenant colonel
stationed at Williams Field, Ariz.,
who bailed out with his crew when
the B-29 developed mechanical
trouble after a raid on Yawata,
Japan, in July, 1914.
Another piloted by Capt. Howard
r. FARRELL, which ran out of gasoline
after a mission against Mukden,
Manchuria, in the same month.
Omura Raiders Included.
A third piloted by Capt. Weston
H. Price, now a major at Wright
Field, Ohio, after a raid on Omura,
Japan, in November, 1914.
A fourth piloted by Capt. Mickish,
Is, now with the Air Transport
Command in Washington, whose
plane developed engine trouble after
another raid on Omura eight days
later.
Capt. Mickish related that B-2e
pilots 'had a tacit belief that they
could get repairs from the Rus
slams and attempted to make Vladi-
vostok when he saw his plane could
not return to its base at Chengtu,
China. The Times said Mickish
told this story:
when We were forced down, it
was o'clock in the afternoon
broad daylight. First the anti
aircraft batteries started sending
fiack around us, although they could
see we were an American ship and
that I had my flaps down for a
landing.
Then six fighters came up and
the leader began spraying tracer
bullets around our nose. My boys
didn't like it. I had a hard time
getting them to keep their trigger
fingers off their guns
Americans Disarmed.
When the plane landed, Soviet
soldiers with guns ran to it, the
Times account continued. The II
Americans were taken to an admin
istration building where they were
disarmed. They were fed well and
were questioned by three-star gen.
eral who, the Times said, was dis
posed to wink at their story of hav-
ing been merely on training mis-
sion, although his remarks indi-
Gated that he had full knowledge of
the attack on Omura." CThe crew
had jettisoned maps and other evi-
dence of its mission.)
THE general kept demanding why