Title: The Forgotten 500
Author: Gregory A. Freeman
Major Themes: Rescues, World War II, Yugoslavia
Synopsis: Forced to escape their crippled bombers, more than 500 stranded American airmen were involved in an elaborate rescue mission to get them out of Yugoslavia during World War II.
Sometimes, you come across books that look interesting, and happen to have time to fit them in right away. The Forgotten 500 was one of those for me. I find rescue stories fascinating, and due to the unusual setting of this story—Yugoslavia—I was even more interested! I don’t think I’ve ever read a book set in that country before, and certainly not one that told much history, as this one did!
Publisher’s 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.
During 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.
My thoughts:
Though the goal of this book is to tell this little-known rescue story (and that was quite a story!), it of course had to back up some, and tell how the airmen got there in the first place, as well as set the scene for what kind of a political world they found themselves in when they landed on the ground. I found it fascinating to hear of different airmen’s experiences, and the ways and reasons they weren’t able to make it back to base after a bombing run. Usually, their baling out was rather harrowing. It’s hard to imagine the kinds of pressures these young men faced at that time!
One of the larger sections of the book, which I found especially interesting, was the discussion of Draža Mihailović. In some ways, this book is a defense of his actions—and an explanation of how Allied intelligence played a role in how Yugoslavia eventually became a communist country after the war. I looked up the Wikipedia article about this man after reading the book, and found it interesting to see where it backed up what this book said—and where the accounts differed!
The Forgotten 500 is a fascinating tale of survival, hospitality, and the courage of a people who were willing to sacrifice themselves in the hopes that it would make for a better country for their children and fellow citizens in the future. It is about a rescue mission—but it’s much bigger than that, too. If you enjoy adventure stories and learning a little more about history, I’d recommend you check this book out. It’s a good read!
WARNING: (I listened to this book, so I may have missed some warnings.) Chapter 1: Hell. Chapter 2: Best damn, damn. Chapter 3: God-awful, oh, my God, seeing a plane full of men crash. Chapter 4: Man tries to unzip another man’s pants when they’re trying to sleep, [it was a] hellfight. Chapter 5: Girls try to seduce some men. Chapter 7: (Somewhere around here) seeing a tram blow up. Chapter 8: By God, damn, lying. Chapter 10: Bastards, damn, a few descriptions of Nazi torture. Chapter 12: Where the hell, what the hell (twice), the hell, son of a bitch (twice), damned, you God-damn Brits, damn. Chapter 13: Damn, my God. Chapter 14: Damn. Chapter 15: Damn, damnedest. Chapter 16: God knew, by God, giving the Germans hell. Chapter 17: Be damned, what the hell, crap.
Age levels:
Reading Independently—Ages 15 and Above, Adults
Links to buy this book:
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle | Hardcover | Audible Audiobook (unabridged)
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
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