Getting the Story

In Europe's "fluid fighting" last week, such rearguard baggage as censors, press camps and corps headquarters jumped about almost as much as the front did, or were left far behind. TIME Correspondent Sidney Olson, who interviewed Lieut. General George S. Patton Jr. for last week's cover story, cabled this description of his trials & tribulations:

"To reach the Patton story I jeeped from Paris to the Group, flew a Piper Cub to one airfield, flew a Stinson to another, slept on the floor, saw Patton, wrote the piece riddled by censorship rules, slept on the floor, jeeped to the XII Corps Headquarters, slept on the floor, changed jeeps for a 125-mile ride through spearhead territory, slept on the floor, jeeped back to Corps Headquarters through towns that exactly 20 minutes later were reoccupied by 5,000 Germans in a moving pocket, reached Corps Headquarters to find I had only 35 minutes in which to write the piece, on a German typewriter with letters in the wrong places, in order to catch the courier airplane back to the Army press camp.

"In three days I missed five meals, was strafed by jet planes twice, narrowly missed capture once, was kissed by at least 500 Russians and Frenchmen, was absolutely lost in Germany twice, ate four candy bars in one afternoon after not eating candy for 15 years at least, got myself three pairs of German binoculars and found a champagne factory, which a general commandeered next day after tasting some of my loot, was waved at by bevies of German civilians as if they were happy at being liberated, saw at least 5,000 German prisoners and flew back from Corps Headquarters in weather so rough the Piper Cub pilot's sweat visibly rolled down his neck, while I counted the wings to see if they added up to two. When we 'crabbed in' for a landing the pilot said: 'If you ever have a rougher flight you'll never write about it.' "

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