14-06-2018, 10:56 PM
Где је пао овај Хансен?
Цитат:In the early hours of May 8, 1944, a Wellington bomber attacked a railway bridge on the Romanian frontier. Anti-aircraft fire killed the plane’s air bomber and crippled the craft. The surviving crew parachuted into the darkness over enemy territory in Serbia.
Цитат:It turned out the men were Serbian partisans known as Chetniks.
Цитат:He finally reached the headquarters of Gen. Draza Mihailovich, the bearded leader of the Serbian royalists. The navigator was impressed by the general’s “modest manner, humble relations with the peasants and abstemious personal habits.”
Цитат:After 98 days under Chetnik protection, Mr. Reid returned to his base in Italy.
Цитат:After the war, the Chetnik general was put on trial for treason and war crimes by Yugoslavia’s Communist government. Mr. Reid and his crew’s pilot, Tom Bradshaw, also from Edmonton, offered to testify for the defence. The Yugoslav government refused to grant a visa.
Цитат:Operation Halyard was the greatest rescue mission of American airmen in our history. And it was conducted by a three-man OSS (Office of Strategic Services) team dropped into Serbia that was occupied by the Germans. The OSS operatives linked up with Serbian “Chetniks” led by General Draža Mihailović in August of 1944.
Цитат:The Americans had contacted Marshal Tito of the Communist partisans to secure his cooperation. The British considered Yugoslavia as under their sphere of influence, threw their total support behind Tito and were trying to sever all ties with Mihailović, lest they offend Tito and the Communists. They actively tried to rebuff any American attempt to contact Mihailović’s Chetniks.There were rumors, not proved until 1997 that a group of Communist sympathizers inside the British government were poisoning reports of Mihailović’s collaboration with the Germans which submarined any chance of the Chetniks getting any kind of support initially as Churchill and the British were adamantly against any support for them.
Цитат:Musulin, who had spent nearly a year with the Chetniks was livid at the way the Allies, specifically the British were in essence handing over the country of Yugoslavia to the communists. He asked to be court-martialed so that the true story of the Chetniks and their loyalty to the allied cause would come to light.
Цитат:However, in truth, the OSS in the Italian theater was full of communist sympathizers, many of whom naively believed because that Russian was an ally that is just fine.
Цитат:After 74 years — and exactly eight years after his death — Toledoan Art Jibilian was finally recognized March 21 for the vital role he played in rescuing over 500 downed United States airmen during World War II.
Цитат:Germany invaded Yugoslavia in April, 1941, and the Nazis made quick work of the Royal Yugoslav Army. The Yugoslavs surrendered less than two weeks later, but their Gen. Draza Mihailovic never stopped fighting.
Цитат:Цитат:Mr. Jibilian volunteered anyway, joining his team with a unit led by Army Air Corps commander Gen. Nathan Twining. The British attempted to sabotage the rescue mission and tried to parachute American forces into an ongoing battle.The Allied powers were shying away from General Mihailovic, an ethnic Serbian, at this point of the war and backing Croat Josip Broz, also known as Tito.That didn't stop Mr. Jibilian and General Mihailovich from carrying out their plan. On Aug. 9, dozens of airmen were carried out on four C-47s. The next morning, 12 C-47s arrived in Pranjane and lifted another 272 airmen to safety. About 30 P-51s flew cover for the mission, mostly manned by members of the Tuskegee Airmen.
Цитат:General Mihailovic was captured and put on trial by Tito, who headed Yugoslavia’s Communist government after the war, for high treason and war crimes. None of the airmen rescued in Operation Halyard were permitted to testify on the general's behalf, and he was found guilty and executed.
Цитат:Mr. Jibilian and his wife traveled to Serbia in 2004 and 2005 at the nation's invitation. A grandson of one of the rescued airmen accompanied them as an escort.