The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II
Book 500 of The Forgotten
Language: English
1939-1945 1939-1945 - Aerial operations 1939-1945 - Search and rescue operations - Yugoslavia 1944 Aerial Operations Airmen Airmen - United States American Biography Eastern Eastern Europe - General Escapes Escapes - Yugoslavia Europe General History History - Military Military Military - United States Military - World War II Operation Halyard United States War World War World War II World War II - Europe
Publisher: Penguin
Published: Sep 1, 2007
Description:
The astonishing, never-before-told story of the greatest rescue mission of World War II—when the OSS set out to recover more than 500 airmen trapped behind enemy lines in Yugoslavia.
“An amazing, riveting tale of unsung heroes who went above and beyond.”—James Bradley, New York Times bestselling author of Flags of Our FathersDuring a bombing campaign over Romanian oil fields, hundreds of American airmen were shot down in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia. Local Serbian farmers and peasants risked their own lives to give refuge to the soldiers while they waited for rescue, and in 1944, Operation Halyard was born. The risks were incredible. The starving Americans in Yugoslavia had to construct a landing strip large enough for C-47 cargo planes—without tools, without alerting the Germans, and without endangering the villagers. And the cargo planes had to make it through enemy airspace and back—without getting shot down themselves. Classified for over half a century for political reasons, the full account of this unforgettable story of loyalty, self-sacrifice, and bravery is now being told for the first time ever. The Forgotten 500 is the gripping, behind-the-scenes look at the greatest escape of World War II.