Evening star., 1952-12-06
Big Air Battle On
In Seoul Area as
'EisenhowerLeft
II Enemy Planes -.
Roorine Toward dN%'
Reported RepMed
By th~AsAeiot.d th~ Pres.

By 'ht1LSeiu'.d Pres.
SEOUL. Dec. 6.-The United
States 5th Air Force reported to.
day it repelled the Largest enem,
night air attack of the Korean
war;" while President-elect Dwight
Eisenhower was leaving Korea.
The Air Force said Allied radal
in a three-hour period beginning
at 7:10 pm. last night picked ur
a total of IL hostile aircraft
roaring toward Seoul. Gen. Eisen-
hower's plane took the air at 8:01
pm. and the attack continued
about two hours after that.
The Air Force spokesman said
an earlier statement by Gen. o.
P. Weyland, Far East Air Force
Commander, that mot a single
enemy aircraft of any kind was
able to penetrate south of the
Chongchon River" during Gen.
Eisenhower's visit was based on
earlier information"
The spokesman said, however,
the planes making the attack were
small and propeller driven.
Can Hide Under Haystacks.
1T is highly possible" he said,
that these little planes did not
come from Manchuria or deep in
North Korea. Planes of that type
can be hidden under any haystack
and their home base might have
been in Korea near the spot where
the attack took place.
In that case they would not
have had to fly through the eff
fective air cover further north"
The enemy planes dropped
bombs which "fell close to the in
Stallation from which personnel
were directing the Allied night
lnterceptors." But the spokesman
said security also blacked out any
information on whether damage
was caused.
The sketchy Air Force an
nouncement did not say how close
the Red planes came to the South
Korean capital of Seoul.
The Air Force announced
earlier that one F-86 Sabre Jet
was lost in combat over Northwest
Korea during the week while Jets
threw up a protective screen
against any such Communist
aerial attack.
Allied anti-aircraft fire was di-
rected at the enemy planes from
land-based and U. N. naval units.
Screen Never Penetrated.
The night fighter screen pro-
tecting the Seoul area "was never
penetrated" said the air force.
Radar installations of the 502
Tactical Control Group first de-
tected enemy aircraft" in west
ern sectors of North Korea at
7:05 pm. last night. Radar tracks
heading toward Seoul, were OBJ
served on the scopes.
Allied night fighters and Ma
rine interceptorS which were on
night air combat patrol in the
area were sent out to intercept
tho onoYnu O iroroff
More night fighters quickly took
to the air.
Between Z and 8 pm, five en-
emy aircraft were plotted by the
radar units"
"All contact with the enemy by
the night fighters were made un-
der adverse weather conditions, "
said the Air Force release. "The
night was dark with light snow
and low ceilings prevailing
throughout the contact area"
The Allied planes came from
the 319th Fighter Interceptor
Squadron and the Marine 513th
Fighter -Interceptor Squadron.
Little Action on Front.
The weekly review of Allied
aerial losses highlighted the war
today. Little action was reported
on the frozen battlefront. Sew
|eral Chinese squads probed Sniper
Ridge on the central front but
South Korean troops threw them
back.
The sabre jet went down during
Gen. Eisenhower's Korean visit,
the Air Force said.
The Air Force said five Allied
planes were lost during the week
three to ground fire and Pan
ther Jet to "other causes" pre-
sumably mechanical trouble.
Sabre pilots downed four Rus
sian-built MIG-15s.
The Army said $4,000 Com
munists were killed, wounded OF
captured in ground fighting along
the battlefront in November.
Toll Below October.
Eighth Army headquarters an
nounced the evaluated Com
munist losses were only half the
Red casualties of the previous
month when the White Horse
Mountain and Kumhwa Ridges
fights were raging.
The Reds lost $3.50 killed, $3.50
wounded and 81 prisoners.
Allied Superforts and B-26s
roamed far over Red Korea last
night.
Fourteen Superforts hit a sup
ply and troop area near the east
coast port of Wonsan and four