Table of Contents Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Chapter - We’ll Get Them Out Chapter - Abandon Ship! Chapter - Counting Parachutes Chapter - Americanski? Chapter - Long Journey to Somewhere Chapter - Escaping Yugoslavia Chapter - Passports, Please Chapter - Man of the Year Chapter - Abandoned Ally Chapter 10 - Screw the British Chapter 11 - Goats’ Milk and Hay Bread Chapter 12 - An All-American Team Chapter 13 - SOS Waiting for Rescue Chapter 14 - Sure to Be a Rough Landing Chapter 15 - Red Red Red Chapter 16 - Going Home Shoeless Chapter 17 - Gales of the World Chapter 18 - Secrets and Lies Epilogue Partial List of Airmen Rescued in Operation Halyard Acknowledgements Notes Bibliography Index Contact the Author ALSO BY GREGORY A FREEMAN Lay This Body Down: The 1921 Murders of Eleven Plantation Slaves Sailors to the End: The Deadly Fire on the USS Forrestal and the Heroes Who Fought It NAL Caliber Published by New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd.) Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi - 110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0745, Auckland, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England First published by NAL Caliber, an imprint of New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc First Printing, September 2007 Copyright © Gregory A Freeman, 2007 All rights reserved NAL CALIBER and the “C” logo are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Freeman, Gregory A The forgotten 500: the untold story of the men who risked all for the greatest rescue mission of World War II / Gregory A Freeman p cm eISBN : 978-1-101-03234-3 Operation Halyard, 1944 World War, 1939-1945—Search and rescue operations—Yugoslavia World War, 1939-1945—Aerial operations, American Airmen—United States—Biography Escapes—Yugoslavia I Title D810.S45Y84 2007 940.54’21971—dc22 2007009950 Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated http://us.penguingroup.com For Nicholas of Congress, 1945 Letters to the Editor: Credit Where Due The Washington Post, February 22, 1945, p Lindsay, Franklin Beacons in the Night: With the OSS and Tito’s Partisans in Wartime Yugoslavia Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1993 Lovell, Stanley Of Spies and Strategems Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1963 Marquette, Sandy “Goodbye to a tireless warrior.” Liberty January 10, 2000 Martin, David Ally Betrayed: The Uncensored Story of Tito and Mihailovich New York: Prentice Hall, 1946 Martin, David Patriot or Traitor: The Case of General Mihailovich Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1978 Martin, David The Web of Disinformation: Churchill’s Yugoslav Blunder Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1990 Mauer, Mauer, Ed Combat Squadrons of the Air Force : World War II Washington, DC: U.S Government Printing Office, 1969 McLachlan, Donald Room 39 London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1968 “Mihailovitch Trial.” The Washington Post, June 17, 1946, p “Mihailovitch Executed by Firing Squad.” The Washington Post, July 18, 1946, p “Mihailovich Under Arrest, Belgrade Says.” The Washington Post, March 25, 1946, p Musgrove, Clare Personal interviews and correspondence with the author Musulin, George Report on the Michailovic’s Cetnik army; suggestions of some Allied support Central Intelligence Agency 1944 Reproduced in Declassified Documents Reference System, Farmington Hills, Michigan: Gale Group, 2006 National Committee of American Airmen to Aid Gen Draza Mihailovich and the Serbian People Press Clippings, Books I, II, III Chicago, 1946 Unpublished collection donated to Library of Congress, 1946 O’Donnell, Patrick K Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs: The Unknown Story of the Men and Women of WWII’s OSS New York: Free Press, 2004 Oliver, Thomas Unintended Visit to Yugoslavia Unpublished manuscript donated to the United States Air Force Academy, 1990 Orsini, Tony Personal interviews and correspondence with the author Pesic, Miodrag D Operation Air Bridge: Serbian Chetniks and the Rescued American Airmen in World War II [English translation from the original Serbian] Belgrade, Yugoslavia: Serbian Masters’ Society, 2002 Petrovich, Nick Personal interviews and correspondence with the author “Ploesti Oil Raid: Operation Tidal Wave.” www.ww2guide.com/oil.shtml “Radio Signal Aids Rescue of 250 Fliers.” The Washington Post, February 20, 1945, p Rebic, Aleksandra “The Living Spirit of Ravna Gora.” Liberty, July 25, 2003 www.sndus.com/Liberty/sm_1843.html Roberts, Walter R Tito, Mihailovic and the Allies: 1941-1945 Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 1987 Roosevelt, Kermit The Overseas Targets: War Reports of the OSS Vol I Washington, DC: Carrollton Press, 1976 Roosevelt, Kermit The Overseas Targets: War Reports of the OSS Vol II Washington, DC: Carrollton Press, 1976 Savich, Carl K “Draza Mihailovich and the rescue of U.S airmen during World War II.” Serbian Unity Congress www.serbianunity.net/culture/history/Draza_Mihailovich/rescue.html Smith, Richard Harris OSS: The Secret History of America’s First Central Intelligence Agency Guilford, Connecticut: The Lyons Press, 1973 The Trial of Dragoljub-Draza Mihailovic: Stenographic Record and Documents from the Trial of Dragoljub-Draza Mihailovic Salisbury, North Carolina: Documentary Publications, 1977 Tompkins, Peter Italy Betrayed New York: Simon & Schuster, 1966 United States Department of State Telegrams related to awarding Legion of Merit to Draza Mihaliovich April 1, 1948, to April 9, 1948 United States Department of War Western Union Telegram to Angiolina Orsini, Jersey City, NJ: August 3, 1944 Vujnovich, George Personal interviews and correspondence with the author Vujnovich, George and Mirjana As told to Theodore Wilkinson Memoirs of a Marriage: Oral History of George and Mirjana Vujnovic Washington, DC: Five and Ten Press, 2001 Vuksic, Velimir Tito’s Partisans: 1941 -1945 Botley, Oxford, United Kingdom: Osprey Publishing, 2003 Wilkinson, Xenia Personal interviews and correspondence with author Wilson, Robert Personal interviews and correspondence with the author Woodward, E L British Foreign Policy in the Second World War London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1962 Index Accra Acheson, Dean ACRU (Air Crew Rescue Unit) (see also Operation Halyard) Adriatic Sea Afrika Korps Air Transport Command Aldis lamp Alexander, King of Yugoslavia American Communist Party Anglo-American Club, Belgrade Ascensión Astra refinery, Romania Aunt Jemima device Austria B-17 bombers B-24 bombers B-25 bombers Ball turret gunners Bari, Italy Bay of Kotor BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) Beano grenade Belgrade, Yugoslavia Benigno, Sam (Banana Nose) Bethlehem Shipyard, Baltimore Bletchley Park Blunt, Anthony Bogdan Bor, Yugoslavia Bosnia Brindisi, Italy British Eighth Army General Service Intelligence (GSI) MI6 Middle East Command Operation Halyard and Special Operations Executive (SOE) Brock, Ray Brooks, Norman Bucharest, Romania Buckler Budapest, Hungary Bulgaria Bunar, Yugoslavia Burgess, Guy C-47 cargo planes in Operation Halyard rescue Cairncross, John Cairo, Egypt California Citizen’s Committee to Commemorate General Draza Mihailovich Cambridge Apostles Cambridge Five Cape of Good Hope Cape Town, South Africa Carl, Sergeant Casey Jones device Catholicism Chachak, Yugoslavia Chamberlain, Neville Chetniks (see also Mihailovich, Draza) Child, Julia Christian Science Monitor Christi, Major Churchill, Randolph Churchill, Winston CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) Columbia mission Committee for the Fair Trial to General Mihailovich Constanta, Romania Corfu, Greece Croatia Dalmatian Alps Danube River Davidson, Basil D-Day invasion Deakin, Sir William Denic, Branco Derwinski, Edward J Dinaric Alps Donovan, William J “Wild Bill,” Doolittle Raid Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia Eaker, Ira Eisenhower, Dwight D Ernst, Morris L Farish, Lynn Farm, the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) Felman, Richard Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria Fighting Mudcat bomber Fleming, Ian Ford, Kirk, Jr Fort Benning, Georgia Fotić, Konstantin Geneva convention Gestapo Ghana Goebbels, Joseph Goebbels, Magda Goldberg, Arthur Goldwater, Barry Gornji Milanovac, Yugoslavia Greece Grottaglie air force base, Italy Ground loop Halverson, Harry A Hayden, Sterling Herzeg Novi, Yugoslavia History of the Communist Party of Great Britain (Klugmann) Hitler, Adolf Hoover, J Edgar Hudson, Duane Hungary Istanbul, Turkey Italy Bari Brindisi Jagodina, Yugoslavia Japan Jerusalem Jibilian, Arthur Jibilian, Oksana Jibilian, Sarkis Joint Chiefs of Staff Jovanovich, Slobodan JU-52 Junker planes Kent, Chetnik commander KGB Kilpatrick, William J Kingdom of Serbia Kingdom of Yugoslavia Klugmann, James Knezevich, Zivan L Knox, Frank Kragujevac, Yugoslavia Kraigher, George Kraljevo, Yugoslavia Lalich, Nick Landing strip construction Lapovo, Yugoslavia Laredo, Texas Lazic, Mirko Lecce, Italy Legion of Merit, awarded to Mihailovich Liberia Libyan Desert Lovell, Stanley Lovett, Tom P “L” pills Lufthansa airlines Luftwaffe Maclean, Donald Majestic (liner) Marko, Kraljevich Martin, David Marxism Today Mato, Paul F Mayer, Israel “Bronx” McKool, Mike Mediterranean Allied Air Force Messerschmitt fighters Mihailovich, Draza Allies, relations with anti-Nazi activities arrest of character of clearing name defense of, by rescued airmen ethnic background of execution of hunt for last words of Legion of Merit awarded to physical appearance of on Time magazine cover Tito and trial of U.S airmen, protection of in World War I Mihailovich, Gordana Milac, Ivan Milankovic, Captain Miljacka River “Mission to Save Mihailovich” Montenegro Moslems Mount Orjen Mueller, Professor Musgrove, Clare Mussolini, Benito Musulin, George Natal National Committee for Defense of Draza Mihailovich and the Serbian People National Health Institute National Movement National Security Act of 1947 Negative information technique New York Journal American New York Times New York World-Telegram Nigeria Nis, Yugoslavia Norden bombsight Normandy North Africa North, John Ringling Norton, Lawrence Novi Sad, Yugoslavia Obilich, Milosh Ogalen, Yugoslavia Oliver, Thomas Operation Halyard August 9th night rescue August 10th daylight rescue landing strip construction last flight of order of evacuation OSS agents dropped into Yugoslavia planning for Operation Halyard (continued) press accounts secrecy surrounding supplies shipped by team chosen for thwarted attempts total number of airmen rescued by veterans of Operation Mihailovich Operation Punishment Operation Tidal Wave Orsini, Angiolina Orsini, Tony Orthodox Church OSS and the Yugoslav Resistance (Ford) OSS (Office of Strategic Services) captured agents Columbia mission devices and methodologies of disbanding of establishment of Operation Halyard and purpose of recruitment for weapons and training Ostro Romano refinery, Romania P-38 Lightning fighters P-51 Mustang fighters Palestine Pan American World Airways Pancho Villa Expedition Partisans Paul, Prince of Yugoslavia Pearl Harbor Peter II, King of Yugoslavia Petrovich, Nick Philby, Kim Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Ploesti oil fields, Romania Poland Popovich, Eli Pranjane, Yugoslavia Pritchett, Leonard “Tex” Purlia, Koka Purlia, Vasa Radar Radio equipment Rajacich, Mike Ravna Gora, Yugoslavia Reagan, Ronald Reed, Philip Risan, Yugoslavia Romana Americana oil refinery, Romania Romania Ploesti oil fields in Rommel, Erwin (the Desert Fox) Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Quentin Sabotage Salapa, George Salvoldi, Jumping Joe Sarajevo, Yugoslavia Sava River Secret Intelligence Service Serb/Croat conflict Serbian-American community Serbian National Federation Shepherd Field, Texas Shore, Dinah Simic, Stanoje Simović, Dušan Sofia, Bulgaria Soviet Union Spanish Civil War Sperry Corporation Stalin, Joseph State, U.S Department of Stefanovic, Miodrag Stuka dive bombers Sudan Svilengrad, Bulgaria Switzerland Syria Taurus Express Tehran Conference of 1943, Thibadeau, John Thurmond, Strom Time magazine Titanic (liner) Tito, Josip Broz Tokyo, Japan Tolstoy, Ilya Transylvanian Alps Trinity College, Cambridge Tripartite Pact of 1941 Truman, Harry Turkey Twining, Nathan Ukraine University of Belgrade U.S Fifteenth Air Force U.S 29th Infantry Division U.S 42nd Divisionh Regiment of U.S 60th Troop Carrier Command U.S 69th New York Volunteers U.S 449th Bomb Grouph Squadron of U.S 459th Bomb Group Ustashe Vasić, Dragisă Vichy French Vidovdan holiday Vujnovich, George background of in Belgrade in Cairo escape from Yugoslavia in Istanbul marriage to Mirjana meeting and courtship of Mirjana Operation Halyard and with OSS postwar career of supplies sent by Vujnovich, Mary Vujnovich, Mirjana Lazic in Belgrade in Cairo escape from Yugoslavia in Istanbul marriage to George meeting and courtship by George Vujnovich, Peter Vujnovich, Xenia Walpusk, Carl J War, U.S Department of Washington Post Wilson, Henry Wilson, Robert World War I, Wuchinich, George Young Bosnia Young Communist League Yugoslav Army of the Homeland Yugoslav Communist Party Yugoslavia (see also Mihailovich, Draza) bombing of Belgrade civil war German invasion of Tripartite Pact of 1941 and Contact the Author For more information about Gregory A Freeman and his work, go to the author’s Web site at www.GregoryAFreeman.com If your book club is interested in having the author participate in a discussion of The Forgotten 500 by phone, send your request to author@ GregoryAFreeman.com ... Balkan Peninsula, also known as the Balkans, a region in southern Europe separated from Italy by the Adriatic Sea Serbia borders Hungary to the north; Romania and Bulgaria to the east; Albania... had to fly westward, usually from bases in the recently liberated Italy, across the Adriatic Sea, then across Yugoslavia to their targets in Romania Then they had to get back again, often limping... B-24 attacked the port area of Constanta, and the remaining two B-24s struck unidentified targets Damage to the planes was minimal The first bombing run caused substantial damage, but it was clear