Orders from On High

Taking prisoners is a rare maneuver in aerial warfare. Last week in North Korea, however, an air force team turned the trick. Four U.S. fighter-bombers attacked a convoy of ten North Korean trucks moving along the road between Anju and Sukchon, knocking out eight of the trucks and leaving two intact. A Fifth Air Force C-47 transport equipped with a loudspeaker and an interpreter then took over, issuing orders in Korean from the air for the truck drivers to turn their vehicles around and drive south.

A few minutes later, an observation plane spotted two more trucks and a column of 300 Communist soldiers on the road. These too were ordered to turn around and fall in. With the transport still issuing orders from on high and fighter-bombers circling overhead like airborne collies, the whole convoy of prisoners was marched sheeplike into United Nations headquarters near Sukchon.