Brawl in the Alley

Lieut. Colonel William E. Bertram of Chicago was heating water on a gasoline burner--for a bath in the half-shell of a discarded belly tank. Bertram gave his story of last week's first big battle between the enemy's Russian-made MIG-15s and U.S. F-84 Thunderjets: "We were hitting a bridge halfway between Sinuiju and Sinanju. I saw a MIG on the tail of one of our guys and went to help and then four more MIGs went through me. I went up into the sun and skidded around and caught some more tracers going by.

"Then I saw another 84, called for him to team up and we slid over behind two MIGs and went in wide open. I felt better chasing my MIG with some protection behind me. About 2,500 feet out I gave him a burst and it seemed to hit him all over. I got in a close burst and he poured big white smoke and fire. He rolled over at 8,000, hit the deck and blew up."

"MIG Alley." U.S. jet pilots have their own name for the northwestern corner of Korea, where the MIGs have been darting back & forth from their sanctuaries beyond the Yalu. The name: "MIG Alley." Two days after Bertram's victory, speeding up the alley to hit the Red airfield at Sinuiju, 33 U.S. F-84 Thunderjets fought a screaming series of dogfights with MIGs.

Said Lieut. Jacob Kratt, flying top cover: "I rolled over and came down fast, and got in a good long burst on the No. 2 MIG. Smoke poured out of his tail, and he turned to the Manchurian side, and that apparently disorganized their attack, as two more of our flights made passes at the field, and nobody got bounced on his run. My wingman said that when he passed my MIG it was flaming."

Like a Mixmaster. Said Captain Allen McGuire: "We flew east to get out of flak from across the Yalu. Then we turned south and west, and when I looked at the air over the Sinuiju field, it looked like a Mixmaster. We turned north, and I saw a MIG turning in front of us. I don't think he saw us. I gave the MIG a burst from 2,500 feet. My wingman said that he saw MIGs coming in from 6 o'clock and would have to leave me in a minute. Three seconds later he said, 'I am gone.' I followed my MIG from 12,000 down to 4,000, and gave him a burst that knocked pieces off him. Then I turned right. I guess they call it a 'probable.' "

After this battle, the total MIG score for the U.S. was 20 destroyed, ten probably destroyed, 32 damaged. The Air Forces announced that five U.S. jets had been lost since Nov. 1. Said Captain William Slaughter: "Let's admit it--the MIG is all right. It's a damned fine airplane. The F-84 is all right, too.* But if we were flying the MIG and they were flying the 84, I think we would be murdering them."

* The F-84 is somewhat slower than the F-86 Sabre (TIME, Jan. 1), but has a longer range, and hence a longer combat time.

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