Blushes and Bombs

Major Valentina Grizodubova, 31, is a she-falcon of the Red Air Force. She has a son five years old, nicknamed "Little Falcon." She is pretty, she is dark and she has dimples. She is also dangerous in a military sense, and so, by her account, are her feminine colleagues.

Major Grizodubova said last week that the squadrons of women bomber and fighter pilots and air crews were growing by scores, that many were already taking part in operational flights. Some go out alone in Hurricanes, some even take bombers out at night. Some women have flown 1,000 hours. "One friend of mine, Vera Lomako," said Grizodubova, "who has shot down one Nazi plane, was flying a month before the birth of her daughter and soon afterward she shot down another plane. ... I know girls so quiet and apparently timid that they blush when spoken to, yet they pilot bombers over Ger many without a qualm."

An R.A.F. pilot read Grizodubova's statements in a London paper last week and commented: "Christmas Crackers! A man's not safe in any job now. But gosh, I'd like to meet them."

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