Evening star., 1951-05-08
Allies PUSHING
North al Ends
of Korea Line
Patrols Elsewhere on
ProwI for Vanishing
Communist Troops
BY the Associated Press

both ends of the 100-mile Korean
front for the second successive
day.
Patrols hunted in the vacuum be-
tween these points for vanishing
Red troops. Far north of the
theoretical battle line, pilots re-
ported new Communist build-ups
in Red Korea.
Withdrawing and reorganizing
Chinese and North Korean Reds
were reported angry because they
didn't get Russian tanks and
planes to sinew their spring
offensive.
Mortar Duel Fought.
The current limited offensive is
in the hands of U. N. troops. From
West to East, front-line dispatches
gave the picture of today's skir-
At the extreme West, where no
action has been reported for
weeks, U. N. forces on the Kimpo
Peninsula northwest of Seoul en-
gagged in a mortar duel with Reds.
South Koreans making the
Western advance reached points
II miles northwest of Seoul on
the east bank of the Han River.
Armored patrols tanning out from
Uijongbu stabbed to points 20
miles north of Seoul.
Across the rest of the western
and central sectors, Associated
Press War Correspondent John
Randolph reported, there is no
formal front line. Instead, there
is wide shelf Of no-man's land
of varying width. In this belt,
Chinese and United Nations pa
trolls roamed back and forth"
Column Enters Chunchon.
For the second successive day an
armored column rumbled unop-
posed into the hub city of Chun-
chon, As miles northeast of Seoul.
Patrols jabbed north into Red de-
fenses but elsewhere found no
Communists.
South Koreans fighting above
the 38th Parallel battled Com
munist battalion east of Inje.
Northwest of this Red-held city
airmen reported a considerable
build up" of Red troops.
Fifth Air Force warplanes flew
500 sorties, sometimes through
heavy ground fire.
1t. Gen. James A. Van Fleet
9th Army commander, visited the
Western front to award the United
States presidential unit citation
to the heroic British Gloucester
shire regiment.
Hard Feeling Reported.
Reports of Red discomfort came
from Allied officers on the Western
front. Associated Press War Cor
respondent John Randolph said
some U. N. officers believe there
is hard feeling among Chinese and
North Korean troops because they
didn't get tanks and planes from
the Soviet Union to support their
recent Inflated offensive.
The infantry carried the full
burden of that attack, launched
April %. More than 10000 Reds
have been killed or wounded, by
U. N. estimates. Yesterday 2,94O
were reported killed or wounded.
Mr.. Randolph quoted Allied
officers as saying Red offensive
preparations indicated they had
expected both armored support
and air cover. Roads we're
widened. Air fields were put into
condition. But the support didn' t
develop and the Red infantry was
unable to exploit it's gains.
"Took Terrible Losses"
II think that if they had any
air and armor available in North
Korea they would have used them
in the April attack" one officer
said. GAS it was they took some
terrible losses trying to do it all
with infantry.
IF they aren't deliberately
boarding their heavy stuff up
north Tin Manchuria there are
only two solutions-either they
couldn't cross the Yalu River, or
Ielse the Russians WEIGHED on their
promises"
The officer suggested the Reds
could be holding large concentra-
tions of planes and armor in
Manchuria to ward off any pos
Isible Allied blow in that direction.
To reach the front from Man
Ichuria Red tanks have to run a
|gantlet of U. N. aerial bombs and
rockets. And Communist planes
have to sneak past an aerial
patrol by F-86 Sabre jets along
the Yalu River border.
Even bad weather yesterday
failed to halt "the day-by-day de-
'struction of the enemy's war po-
tential," the Far Eastern Air
Forces reported. More than 900
sorties (single Fights were flown.