European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 13, 1945, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Red army troops in Austria have come from a devastated land and there bitter about the German farms still untouched by by Ira Freeman yank staff correspondent Austria i cant get any place with these the Captain in charge of the last British outpost Here said with a when i go to see them about Overes tending their for they wont pay any attention to they throw their arms around you and drag you in for a toasts Are proposed in a language you cant understand at but the Vodka starts and in a Little while what you came for just fades i wont Prink with them but i dont seem to have much greater Success there were two Road blocks on the main High Way to the Large austrian City held by the one was set up Here at a Petlach by a company of London Irish with armoured support at the limit of the British zone of occupation the a double was maintained by a russian unit at the Road blocks were erected soon after the Junction of the British eighth army with the third ukrainian army of marshal Feodor Tol in Between were two Miles of no manic where there were no troops at at the russian a Lone sentry waved vehicles to a Stop with a Little Square red like a danger the sentry was one of those grizzled riflemen we saw often among the red troops a Man about 50 with a drooping these older soldiers stood or directed traffic with semaphore or Drew housekeeping details at even these Middle aged soldiers looked with the ruggedness that comes of hard labor rather than athlete with considerable Yelling in the Road guard passed us on to a colonel in Blue Riding breeches other officers and enlisted men wore who ushered us into a farmhouse the unit had we were seated at a cloth covered table and the colonel said to us a up Hammer a we were seated at a table and the colonel said a up with a big White apron on him began loading the table with Chow and yank the army weekly july 1945 with a big White apron Over his uniform began loading the table with Chow and he clicked his heels and stood at attention each time he put Down a we ate Good russian Rye Sweet Salami and a kind of Plain the Vodka was served separately by a Young who got bawled out by the colonel because the first round want Good enough after that he put out powerful True to the reputation of the russian the colonel and four or five officers surrounded us for the wet Welcome All foreigners apparently must the lieutenant kept filling our three ounce glasses with each shot was chased by a Goblet of austrian Beer and a Tumbler of excellent White wine from in the we got none of the Champagne and caviar the red army is supposed to live the colonel said he was from Sibirsky in there were also ukrainian and Don Cossack units in this part of this unit was a guards infantry in contrast to the enlisted men and some Low Erra King officers we saw these rus sians were the was so anxious to make a Good appearance that he slipped away for a Quick the russians expressed pleasure that Hitler and Mussolini were regret that Roosevelt and Willkie were also they mentioned Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Ford and Paul the negro baritone whose son was brought up in the soviet Union apparently they wanted to show they knew something of current history in the with one the russians we met in this area seemed very enthusiastic about one red army Man who spoke German said America had Given the red army Tiraco other vehicles and Mil Lions of All of which Vas the russian officers and enlisted men wore their medals All the not just the nowhere could you see an undecorated and most of the pm had medals the russian medals Are five pointed stars in red with the profile of Lenin or Suvo Rov or whomever the order is named for engraved in the the colonel had the colonel gave us a pass to go through numerous Road guards on our Way to where we hoped to get permission to continue to Vienna and pick up a red army the pass was not necessary the seeing the White Star on the Hood of our snapped to attention and saluted As we roared on the Way we stopped at a Small russian bivouac to change a a red i Mechanic provided tools and pitched in to help without being we walked through his bivouac in a Large Yard behind a the Canvas Shel ters looked inferior to our shelter gear was scattered Over the and food Lay uncovered in the warm apparently russian gis dont have to police the area As much As american the Mechanic was working in his regular of were be Grimes with automobile we noticed no All the austrians we met were terrified of the russians occupying the country and they told horror tales about russian offences against i but British pcs who had been liberated by the russians said the red maps maintained strict discipline among soviet troops and added that the russians treated them and the american pcs Fine  do enough for id Graz had been fairly Well worked Over by Al lied but was not too badly As we drove looking for an austrian woman ran to the crying in English americans thank you have come the americans will come to Graz the Prusski will go a russian girl traffic cop directed us to the command amur in the City Hall on the main Platz of the those female maps must have been classified by the red army personnel Section for their efficiency they certainly were no and with huge the girls packed automatics on their hips and tended strictly to the male even those directing carried on their the Center of the main Platz was full of red army mostly i jeeps and trucks we had sent to Russia on patrols varying from a squad to a platoon in size were marching through the streets of armed with rifles and Tommy the men carried their weapons at Sling even when marching in close order at arid they were just As they do in the singing made it As Well As impose to count they Sang in not All on the As american troops do on the rare occasions when they sing at the tenors and typically rus Sian baritones could be heard giving out with their different when a patrol had to pause to let Cross traffic the men marked time and kept rus ski never several austrian families in a Village outside Graz they March on the roads All night past our singing at the top of their they do it just to keep us awake and and driving through the Countryside 11 Oclock at we passed a company tramping the Highway and shouting their slavonic but the red army had the singing habit years before it reached sometimes they made whoopee that kept the neighbors up once some cossacks climbed on their horses with a bottle or two and Rode around the edges of Koe Flach firing into the the Entrance to the ornate City Hall at Graz was blocked by a Large group of russian gis hanging some lying on the sidewalk in the apparently awaiting a they looked shabby by our perhaps because their Blouse was so full and was gathered loosely at the Waist by a Garrison and because of the baggy pants and spiral but the red army had come Miles Cross country from Stalingrad to fighting for every Inch you would not expect much spit an polish on the russian Soldier in nazi land right after the sentry on duty at the command amur directed us to the second outside the office of the town commander it was the House found in military government offices Dur ing the first hectic weeks of any Allied occupy re army officers were bustling in and while a lot of bewildered civilians wandered about waving applications and other who had apparently Given were sitting dejectedly on benches around the a couple of Young austrians who wore red Arm bands were doing Liaison in spite of their nervous inefficiency we got in to the town a major the general was the Only fat Man we saw among the red he was he must have weighed 250 a huge barrel of a Man about 60 years his round head was entirely not one hair even at the he Chai smoked Jerry cigarettes and gave frequent grunts As he listened to our he had the biggest collection of fruit salad of any russian officer we unlike the russians we met the Gen eral did not Welcome us with embraces and while we were explaining what we want the general closed one Eye and bored a Hole through us with the in the we did not get clearance to Vienna or anywhere else in russian we got the bums Rush Back where we came the British lines at As we left Graz a Small Parade of ukrainians headed by a band passed through the most of the men in line were Many with the shaven head characteristic of the russian their rifles were the Metal parts finished Nickel right rather than contrary to stories you used to the bayonets welded to the muzzle to keep the men from using the Blade As can the bayonets were some of the infantrymen carried Tommy said to be their favorite their guns had drum clips and looked the russians use a lot More horses than we in the Parade there were cavalrymen Wear ing High leather followed by horse drawn antitank there were some water jacketed machine similar to the Brit ish Vickers of the same but these weapons were mounted on heavy steel two wheeled carriages instead of the tripod the British and american armies weve got to run out to see our russian friends the British Captain in charge of the Kef each outpost said the next they came Over the mountains during the night and put up a new Barrier that seems to be three Miles within our the British jeeps and two Light tanks found the new red Barrier on a secondary Road at a Hamlet near a hard bitten Cossack cavalry platoon had set it up and had moved into a farmhouse the British got the usual noisy and the russians crowded thank no the Captain Wiy have you set up this Road Block when this was translated into German for True Cossack who knew Only a Little of that he said Ruedi mein Posta and he turned to show the British his equipment and to examine the British while the fruitless conference was going the came weeping because the russian horses were grazing her the dark skinned Cossack major howled at the horses to startle them out of the then he hammered the air with his fists German bomb Dnepropetrovsk kaput Rostov kaput Sevastopol Stalingrad kaput houses farm people gone he looked angrily at the undamaged austrian the army publication issued weekly by Branch information education 205 East 42d new York reproduction rights restricted As indicated in Masthead on the editorial entered As second class matter july at the Post office at new under the act of March subscription Price printed in the Page 4 this red army i belongs to a Cossack unit holding a Road Block at the limit of the russian zone of his head is ukrainians Parade through the streets of As seen from the office of the town commander in the City these outfits had horse drawn guns and equipment Page 5