The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II

The smooth flowing narrative follows a story that we should all be aware of. The facts explain what happened, how it happened, the main characters involved, and the sequelae after the fact. Hardly a textbook, it is moving and engaging and reveals a story that every American, and for all that, every Brit, too, should be aware of. If not for one young lady whose letter to her husband piqued him so much that he investigated it and kicked off a series of events, the rescue outlined in this book would never have happened, and further, that despite the best efforts of the British (who'd a thunk?) to quash the rescue, the Americans pulled it off anyway. A thrilling and engaging read, I'd recommend this book to all history buffs, OSS buffs, WWII buffs and students of inquiry. Well written, easy narrative, and well put together.

Many World War II stories have been told over the years but The Forgotten 500 is a story lost in time. Author Gregory Freeman has done an outstanding job of bringing this back and telling a tale of heroism that should never be forgotten. Like so many stories wrapped in political intrigue this account was buried because of political maneuvering in Yugoslavia between Tito and Mihailovich. Our government, rather than offend Tito, prohibited any news of this remarkable story as they mistakenly believed Mihailovich, who helped our men, was a Nazi sympathizer. Little did they know that Tito was a Communist with ties to Stalin and Russia. His fight against the Germans was nothing compared to Mihailovich's efforts. The story concerns the brave airman who flew countless missions over Romania bombing German oil reserves and supplies. The Germans relentlessly protected their supplies and shot down several bombers, forcing our men to bail out of their crippled aircraft. The route home was over Yugoslavia and most of these men landed in the farmland of that country. They were immediately taken in by the Yugoslavian people, protected, fed, housed and looked after. As more and more of our fliers arrived, Mihailovich took it upon himself to gather these men together and protect them until he could figure out a way to get them back home safely. This was an incredible undertaking as Germans were everywhere throughout Yugoslavia. Subsequently a U.S. government agency, the OSS, upon learning of these hundreds of airman sent secret agents into the country to make contact with our men and figure out how to get them back. You will be amazed as this rescue mission comes together and ask "how could they ever have done such a thing?" Over 500 men were rescued and sadly, after the war, they were told not to say anything about it because of the political events racking Yugoslavia. Mihailovich, in spite of his heroic efforts for our men was tried by Tito as a war criminal and executed. Only in later years was his contribution recognized by our government. Yet, those rescued airman never forgot and in spite of being told to say nothing, they fought for years to get the truth of the story out to the public. This is a remarkable story, filled with engaging characters, both our fliers and the brave Yugoslavian people. I highly recommend this book and know you will find it a great read!

It's both a thrilling adventure and a depressing look into British and American duplicity and stupidity in dealing with Stalin at the end of WWII. During late days of WWII Yugoslavia was occupied by the Germans but two bands of "patriots" occupied much of the countryside. Hundreds and perhaps thousands of Allied airmen had crash landed or bailed out over Yugoslavia. About 500 were being protected by General Mihailovich and his patriots. Civilians faced death or torture if the Germans even suspected that someone in the village had assisted the airmen to evade capture. Opposing Mihailovich were both the Germans and Gen Tito. With the war nearing its end the Soviets were looking to assure their control over Eastern Europe at the end of the war. Tito was their guy. Unfortunately British intelligence, foreign service and Churchill's staff were heavily infiltrated with Communists. Only many years after WW2 would the extent of the infiltration become evident with the defection of Burgess, McClean and Philby to the USSR. The evidence against others was overwhelming. In the US there situation was the same with Roosevelt's staff and State Dept filled with Russian agents and sympathizers including Alger Hiss. A plot was hatched by Stalin to discredit Mihailovich by accusing him of collaborating with the Germans. If he could be removed the USSR would gain control of Yugoslavia. After many attempts to contact the allies, an improvised code was used to send a message to an Army Air Force group that would be able to decode it. The message informed the Americans that there were several hundred US airmen, injured and near starvation, under the care of Mihailovich. It was not that he was denying food to the Americans but rather that there was no food for anyone. Decoded the message created a real problem for the communists in the Churchill and US governments. They had been accusing Mihailovich of delivering American airmen to the Germans but in fact he was trying to save far more than the allies thought existed. The book details the betrayals in the attempts to get team into hookup with the Americans. The author believes that British intelligence attempted to sabotage the effort but it's very possible that both British and American traitors were involved. After several efforts an all American effort resulted in success in getting agents on the ground with Mihailovich's forces. However, they were instructed to promise nothing, offer no help and just get the airmen out. The operation was a success but Mihailovich was betrayed by the allies and left to a terrible fate. This is a great book and should open eyes to an important part of American history that's not taught in our schools. Operation Halyard as this was called was matched with other operations designed to assure Soviet control at the end of the war. Secret Betrayal details the little known tragedy associated with Operation Keelhaul and related operations which delivered to several million patriots and former German POW's into Soviet hands to assure Russian control of Eastern Europe and their own territory. It included those who had fought on our side during the war as part of the governments in exile. The lucky ones were exterminated as they were passed into Russian control or committed suicide on the way , the unfortunates went to the Gulags, a near certain death sentence but far worse than death by a bullet.

well told story. principle characters amongst both the OSS and downed bomber crews are developed to provide depth to the story. My only complaint is that the majority of the book is spent leading up to the first round of rescue flights. the remaining flights are mentioned almost as a footnote with no details of note. The story was suppressed because the British resisted the rescue effort to the point of sabotage because communist moles in the British war ministry were diverting aid to Tito and slandering the Serb militant protecting the downed airmen.

Absolutely amazing. A compelling read for any real American. A quick and easy read in plain English. Highly recommended for those who want to know the truth about a heroic rescue mission in WWII.

An excellent account of a little known event

J'ai découvert un événement peu/pas connu. L'attitude des alliés vis à vis des partisans ou résistants yougoslaves est survolée mais n'est pas le but du livre. En revanche les mouvements de soutien au départ des Etats Unis dans l'immédiate après guerre est une découverte. Mais il reste encore tant de choses à découvrir sur cette époque. Anecdotique.

I was amazed at what the Allies did to retrieve the downed, wounded airmen in the Czech region and further amazed at the openheartedness of the friends of the Allies, the townspeople, and how the Partisans were not on our side and really helped to bring in Communism in the region. It was the Chetniks and Mihailovich who were our real Allies there. Tremendous and detailed and thoroughly readable. It was disheartening to hear how the British did not want to help and it was an American effort to get the downed airmen out. The downed airmen who were saved and airlifted out even threw their boots and coats out of the aircraft for the townspeople to wear. Good and fair Americans to the end.

Good book

A true saga of the peopole who have been forgotten, but who can forget their sacrifice and contribution they made to the humanity! A gripping saga from the first page to last.

Very interesting historical facts.