Hard on Morale

At Antung, seven miles across the Yalu in the sanctuary of Manchuria, 'the Communists have a big air base which U.S. pilots can see as a great, pale scar on the brown landscape. From that base, the enemy's fast, swept-wing MIG-15s have been harrying the U.S. air effort in northwestern Korea. U.S. bomber crews eye it with fear, fighter pilots with disgust and frustration. "We can look over the river," one jet pilot said, "and see 'em taking off. My God, that's hard on morale. A fighter pilot loves to get a guy taking off."*

With the Yalu's frozen surface thawing rapidly, the enemy can no longer send troops and vehicles across, the ice. Consequently, his MIG airmen have recently redoubled their efforts to defend the lower Yalu's bridges. Moreover, Red antiaircraft gunners sitting across the river have been putting their deadly black puffs in the sky without fear of harassment by U.S. planes.

Cannons v. Machine Guns. Since a fighter, once off the ground, is most vulnerable while it is gaining altitude, the standard practice of the MIG pilots is to climb to 30.000 feet over their sanctuary. From that height, they can barrel down on U.S. bombers, fire a few bursts and scuttle on back over the river in a matter of seconds. Lately they have been less skittish and have given the U.S. fighter escorts a better chance to shoot back.

The MIG is usually armed with one 37-mm. cannon and two smaller cannons. These weapons do not fire as fast as the .5O-cal. machine guns with which U.S. jets are armed, but enemy cannon shells wreak havoc on U.S. bombers when they hit. U.S. pilots have often wished for heavier armament--if they could get it without sacrificing rate of fire. In marksmanship, tactics and air discipline the MIG pilots are no match for Americans.

Over the Bridge. Last week 32 B-295 bored up "MIG Alley" to hit the enemy bridge at Sinuiju. They and their escort of 100 jets were jumped by 100 MIGs. Eight MIGs were reported destroyed (confirmed kills), seven more scored as "probables," and eleven damaged. Captain Jim Jabara of Wichita, Kans., a small, cigar-smoking man who loves air combat, got one MIG, knocking so many chunks of metal out of the enemy's sleek hide that the Red pilot bailed out. "It really was a good scrap up there this morning," said Jabara, contentedly puffing.

But the U.S. bombers suffered heavily. Two were shot down, carrying crewmen to death or capture. Several others were damaged; though they got back to friendly territory, there were killed and wounded among the crews.

The Pentagon disclosed that four other Superforts had been previously downed in the Korean war, three by enemy planes and one by antiaircraft. Lieut. General George Stratemeyer, commander of the Far East Air Forces,* indicated that, under present rules, the bombers were headed for an increasingly rough time. "Our only recourse," he said, "is to blunt the attack once it is launched. Blunting a determined aerial thrust by air-to-air combat is uncertain and inconclusive."

* In World War II, of 20,419 enemy aircraft destroyed in Europe, 6,796 were smashed on the ground. On March 30 and 31, 1944, the 6th Japanese Air Division based on Hollandia was practically wiped out on the ground (208 planes destroyed).

* Stratemeyer announced a total of 184 U.S. planes lost in the Korean war. In addition to the six B-295, the list included 143 fighters, 18 B-26 light bombers, four transports, 13 miscellaneous.

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