Operation Halyard
Encyclopedia
Operation Halyard, also known as the Halyard Mission, was the largest Allied
airlift
operation behind enemy lines during World War II. A total of 512 allied airmen who had been downed over Nazi
-occupied Serbia
were rescued by Serbian Chetniks
, led by General Draža Mihailović
. Most of the rescued airmen, who had been shot down during bombing runs on oil-fields in Romania
, evaded capture and made contact with the Chetniks.
, Italy capitulated in the autumn of 1943, the Allies occupied the whole of southern Italy. In late 1943, the 15th Air Force of the United States Army Air Forces
, under the command of General Nathan Twining, was transferred from Tunisia
to an airfield near Foggia
. This airfield became the largest American air base in southern Italy, and was used for attacking targets in southern and Eastern Europe
. The 15th Army Air Force also used the nearby airfields of Bari
, Brindisi
, Lecce
and Manduria
. The 15th Air Force bombed targets in Germany
, Hungary
, Slovakia, Croatia
, German occupied Serbia, Bulgaria
and Romania
. The most important targets were a ball-bearing factory in Austria, and sources of petroleum and the petroleum refineries in Romania. All flights targeting the oil-fields and refineries in Romania, near the town of Ploiești
north of Bucharest
, passed over Serbia. These installations were the driving force of Hitler's war machine and the main targets in the Oil Campaign of World War II
. The Ostro Romano refinery in Ploiești, provided one quarter of the Third Reich's fuel needs and was one of the priority targets.
The route aircraft took from southern Italy to the targets in Romania was repeated every day from the spring of 1944, (over the Adriatic Sea
, Montenegro
, Serbia
and Bulgaria to Romania
). Two-thirds of these flights were carried out against objectives in Bulgaria, Romania and the German-occupied zone of Serbia. The Germans had at their disposal a limited number of fighter aircraft whose most frequent targets were Allied planes that had already been damaged by Axis anti-aircraft defenses in Bulgaria and Romania, planes that because of such damage had to fly slowly at low altitude.
, the other over Toplica. One bomber, damaged by German fighter planes, made an emergency landing between Pločnik and Beloljin. A crew of nine were rescued by the Chetnik Toplica Corps under the command of Major Milan Stojanović Airmen were placed in the home of local Chetnik leaders in the village of Velika Draguša. Another bomber was shot down that same day, the crew bailed out over Mount Zlatibor. They were found by members of the Zlatibor Corps. A radiogram message on the rescue of one of the crews was sent by Major Milan Stojanović to General Draža Mihailović on January 25. Major Stojanović wrote that the previous day about 100 bombers flew from the direction of Niš
towards Kosovska Mitrovica
, and that they were followed by nine German fighter aircraft. After a half-hour battle, one plane caught fire and was forced to land between the villages of Pločnik and Beloljin, in the Toplica river valley.
Major Stojanović reported:
The rescue of American and other Allied airmen lasted from January 1944 to February 1945. The German and Bulgarian occupation forces in Serbia, that had spotted the damaged aircraft and open parachutes pursued the airmen. However, members of the Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland led by General Draža Mihailović
had already reached them. The Germans offered cash to the local Serbian population for the capture of Allied airmen but none of them were betrayed. The peasants accepted the airmen into their homes and fed them for months without Allied help. At the beginning of 1944, General Draža Mihailović ordered all his units to cooperate with the people organizing the acceptance and accommodation of American airmen. Based on these orders, several regional collection centers for the airmen were created in eastern, central and western Serbia. Hospitals for sick and wounded airmen were established in Pranjani
village.
, OSS
, Captain George Musulin
parachuted into the Čačak
area on October 18, 1943 to coordinate activities for the rescued aircrew. General Draža Mihailović ordered Captain Vučković to build an improvised airstrip from which the aviators could be evacuated. Captain Vučković selecting a field near Pranjani
. Construction of the airstrip was managed by Captain Nikola Verkić. Captain Vučković has stated:
The British authorities felt the airstrip was too short. Eleven airmen, including John P. Devlin, wanted to go on foot to the Adriatic Sea. General Mihailovic provided supporting units and they started out on April 19, after a ceremonial send-off in Pranjani. The remaining aviators were unable to walk due to injuries and illness. A few dozen more airmen reached Pranjani in late April. Captain Vučković divided them into two groups. The first, from the Takovo district, was guided by Sergeant Bora Komračević. He had completed the parachute course in Africa and returned to his homeland in 1943. The second group from the Dragačevo district was guided by Mihailo Paunović. He did not speak English, but had attended an air force school before the war.
The 1st Dragačevo Brigade of the First Ravna Gora Corps engaged German forces attempting to capture an American aircrew bailing out over the Čačak
- Užice
road. Captain Vučković reported the deaths of a few Chetnik soldiers in the fight. The fallen Chetniks were buried in a cemetery in Dljin village.
American pilot William Hill was captured in April 1944 by units from the Croatian Legionnaires "Blue" Division. Chetnik scouts observed Hill in the ruins of the village of Gračac
. He was rescued by Chetniks of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Brigade, of the Lika Corps of the Dinara division. The Chetniks approached the Croatian post in darkness and released the pilot during the confusion caused by throwing a grenade into the Croatian camp kitchen. A German patrol failed to find the pilot in Cvetković. Hill dressed in the Serbian national costume and stayed with elements of the Chetnik Dinaric Division until he was transferred to an American base in Italy via "secret channels" in December 1944.
Lieutenant Colonel Todor Gogić, commander of the Morava group Corps sent a radiogram to General Mihailović on April 17:
Charles D. Armstrong, was ready for evacuation by late May 1944. Following agreement with their Bari
headquarters, three Douglas Dakota cargo aircraft (C-47s) landed at Pranjani on May 29. Forty Allied airmen were evacuated to Bari with members of the British and American military missions. With the evacuation, General Mihailović decided to send a political mission to London led by the President of the Socialist Party of Yugoslavia
, Živko Topalović
. Topalović had been a member of the Labour and Socialist International
party before the war. He intended to meet with leaders of the British Labour Party, Clement Attlee
and Ernest Bevin
. He then flew to Italy with Captain George Musulin. After the mission was accomplished, Brigadier Armstrong was a guest of Prime Minister Winston Churchill
at his Chartwell
family estate. Topalović hoped to convince Churchill to revoke consent for the Red Army to take over Yugoslavia. His mission was a failure, the British did not allow him to leave southern Italy. General Mihailović continued to receive no allied support.
. Staff headed by the ambassador Konstantin Fotić, forwarded the report to the US Army, so that the families of airmen, especially their mothers, who were in some cases previously notified that their offspring were "missing in action". The reports almost always contained the names and addresses of the airmen.
Mirjana Vujnovich, was an embassy employee; her husband, Lieutenant George Vujnovich, worked for the OSS in Brindisi
, in southern Italy. He received a letter from his wife which mentioned the American airmen's plight: "there are hundreds...can you do something for them? It would be great if [they] are evacuated". It was the turning point which led to the planning and execution of Operation Halyard.
. A one detachment of Rudnik Corps, led by Commander Captain Dragomir Topalaović, received a combat with the Germans in order to slow down to approach the plane, while the Americans and the Chetniks took off equipment from the aircraft, among other things and the radio station. With this radio station, Major Brooks contacted his own and so the confirmation arrived from the field that the information is accurate OSS Lieutenant George Vujnovich.
General Mihailović decided to send a military-political mission to the western allies during the upcoming evacuation. Heading the mission was the president of the Independent Democratic Party
Adam Pribićević, a second member was Captain Zvonimir Vučković, the third member was Dr. Vladimir Belajčić; pre-war, he was head of the "Falcon
" sports organization and president of the Court of Appeal; he also a Grand master and Commander of the Grand Lodge and Supreme Council of jurisdiction of Scottish Rite "Yugoslavia" 33rd degree. The fourth member was Ivan Kovač, a Slovene; he was before the war, a teacher of King Peter II
.
Meanwhile on Sunday, 6 August 1944, the New York Times published an interview with General Draže Mihailović by journalist Cyrus Leo Sulzberger.
Near Pranjina, Chetnik sentries detained a civilian identified as Ivan Popov; one sentinel had his supicions aroused because he thought he had seen Popov leave a Gestapo building in Belgrade
in German officers' uniform. Captain Vučković ordered the man to be executed. However, the civilian was reprieved at the last minute when he showed Vučković a letter signed by General Mihailović. The incident was reported to the General, who ordered that he be sent to his Headquarters. Popov was a double agent for the Yugoslavs and British in the Gestapo during the war. He was also Dušan Popov
's brother. Popov (British codenamed
Dreadnought, Yugoslav (Chetnik) codenamed Eskulap), was evacuated along with American airmen to Italy. The young aviators had no idea that one of the passengers was a former Gestapo officer.
The largest evacuation based on Pranjani
began at 3 am on August 10. Four C-47s flew in; they were followed by a further six. These aircraft were protected by 50 (P-51 Mustang and P-38 Lightning) fighters. Ground security was provided by the Morava group under Captain Aleksandar Milošević. A total of 237 men were evacuated.
The operation was repeated on August 12, 15 and 18; a further 210 airmen were evacuated. A new OSS unit, under Operation Ranger
, was led by Colonel Robert H. McDowell. Musulin flew out of Pranjani on August 29, in the same aircraft that McDowell had arrived in. Musulin's replacement was Captain Nick Lalich, who flew to Pranjani on August 10.
in September 1944, the supreme command of the Yugoslav Army, along with the Halyard and Ranger missions, left Pranjani and transferred to Mačva
. Another improvised airstrip at Koceljeva
had been built. The runway was 400 meters long, it was constructed between September 15 and 17. 20 airmen, a Frenchman, a few Italians and two US medical officers were evacuated on September 17.
in eastern Bosnia. It was used to evacuate the Supreme Command of the Yugoslav Army and 15 U.S. airmen on September 27. Two C-47s, covered by seven fighters, landed. The evacuees, including Captain John Milodragovich and Lieutenant Michael Rajachich (both OSS), were taken to Bari. McDowell tried to persuade General Mihailović to accompany him to Italy, but he refused, saying:
These aviators had jumped from two damaged aircraft in June 1944 into Milino Selo, in eastern Bosnia. They were accommodated in the houses of Luke Panić and several prominent farmers in the village Boljanić, and rescued by the Chetniks Ozren Corps Major Cvijetin Todić.
Two C-47s, one piloted by Colonel George Kraigher, (a pioneer in the development of Pan American World Airways
), the other by First Lieutenant John L. Dunn, left Italy at 1100 hours on December 27, 1944. Escorted by 16 P-38s, they reached the emergency landing field at Boljanić at 1255. Spotting a hole in the overcast, Kraigher led the way in, to land on a 1,700-foot strip that was frozen just enough to support the weight of a C-47. The transports were met by Captain Lalich. The aircraft were quickly loaded with 20 American airmen, one U.S. citizen, two Yugoslavian (Chetnik) officers, four French and four Italian army personnel and two remaining Halyard team members, Lalich and his radio operator Arthur Jibilian. Lalich tried once more to persuade General Mihailović to accompany them to Italy. Mihailović remained consistent in his intention to stay with his soldiers. The aircraft took off at 1315 hrs
Two C-47s lifted 25 airmen from Boljanić in late February 1945 in very cold weather. This was the last evacuation.
A total of 593 allied airman were evacuated from Chetnik territory.
It is likely that a group of airmen were evacuated with Captain George Musulin on August 29.
Between August 9 and 18, 447 airmen were evacuated from Pranjani.
The OSS planned an elaborate rescue involving C-47 cargo planes landing in enemy territory. It was an extremely risky operation, involving the planes not only entering enemy territory without being shot down themselves, but also landing, retrieving the downed airmen, then taking off and flying out of that same territory, again without being shot down themselves. The rescue was a complete success, but received little to no publicity. This was partly due to the timing, the world's attention being focused on the D-Day
operations in France.
Because of this operation, and due to the efforts of Major Richard Felman, United States President Harry S. Truman
posthumously awarded General Mihailović the Legion of Merit
for his contribution to the Allied victory during World War II. The award was presented to Mihailović's daughter Gordana Mihajlovic by the US State Department on May 9, 2005.
Initially, this high award and the story of the rescue was classified secret by the U.S. State Department so as not to offend the-then Communist government of Yugoslavia. Such a display of appreciation for the Chetniks would not have been welcome as the Western Allies, who had supported the Chetniks early in World War II, switched sides to Josip Broz Tito
's Partisans for the latter part of the war.
On September 12, 2004, five years after the NATO armed conflict against Yugoslavia, four American veterans, Clare Musgrove, Arthur Jibilian, George Vujnovich and Robert Wilson, visited Pranjani for the unveiling of a commemorative plaque. A bill introduced in the US House of Representatives by Bob Latta
on July 31, 2009, requested that Jibilian be awarded the Medal of Honor
for his part in Operation Halyard.
On Veterans' Day, 2007, the U.S. Ambassador to Serbia, Cameron Munter, visited Pranjani and presented the citizens of the area with a proclamation signed by the Governor of the State of Ohio expressing gratitude to the Serbian families that rescued hundreds of U.S. airmen whose aircraft had been shot down by Nazi forces in World War II.
On October 17, 2010, George Vujnovich was awarded the Bronze Star in a ceremony in New York City for his role in the operation. Vujnovich trained the volunteers who carried out the rescue, teaching them how to blend in with other Serbians, by mastering mundane tasks conforming to local custom, such as tying and tucking their shoelaces and pushing food onto their forks with their knives during meals.
The U.S. Embassy in Belgrade, in cooperation with the Euro-Atlantic Initiative and the citizens of Pranjani, initiated a project to construct a library and youth center in Pranjani which will help the education of local children and enhance commemoration of the Halyard Mission. The project will mark a historical bond between the Serbian and American people and the state partnership between Serbia and the State of Ohio, which was established in 2006. The project will include an effort to educate both the Serbian and American public about the Halyard Mission, through photographic exhibitions, an internet presentation and the production of a documentary movie. The library-youth center project consists of the construction of a multipurpose facility. It will serve as a library and the center for multimedia education of young people and farmers from the Pranjani area. It will be equipped with Internet access and as a memorial center for the Halyard Mission which will include a permanent exhibition of photographs, objects and documents related to the evacuation mission of Allied airmen and the wartime alliance between the people of Serbia and the U.S. Part of the Center's exhibits will be given to the National Museum of the United States Air Force
, Wright-Patterson Air Base in Ohio where a special exhibition area will be opened about Serbia's role in the rescue of the airmen in World War II. Similar to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C.
, one wall of the Pranjani center will include the names of all the Allied airmen that were rescued during the Halyard Mission and the Serbian families that hid and cared for them. The Library will be built immediately adjacent to the primary school and Pranjani church, which was the place used for ceremonies of friendship and cooperation by citizens of the area, the Ravna Gora movement (Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland), and the U.S. mission. Another segment will be built on Galovića field in Pranjani where the U.S. Air Force evacuated the airmen. This part of the project envisions the construction of a hangar and the placement of one C-47 aircraft inside it. In addition, multi-language plaques and maps will be erected that will allow history lovers and interested tourists to become acquainted with the Halyard Mission and the historic heritage of the area.
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
airlift
Airlift
Airlift is the act of transporting people or cargo from point to point using aircraft.Airlift may also refer to:*Airlift , a suction device for moving sand and silt underwater-See also:...
operation behind enemy lines during World War II. A total of 512 allied airmen who had been downed over Nazi
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
-occupied Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
were rescued by Serbian Chetniks
Chetniks
Chetniks, or the Chetnik movement , were Serbian nationalist and royalist paramilitary organizations from the first half of the 20th century. The Chetniks were formed as a Serbian resistance against the Ottoman Empire in 1904, and participated in the Balkan Wars, World War I, and World War II...
, led by General Draža Mihailović
Draža Mihailovic
Dragoljub "Draža" Mihailović was a Yugoslav Serbian general during World War II...
. Most of the rescued airmen, who had been shot down during bombing runs on oil-fields in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, evaded capture and made contact with the Chetniks.
Targets in southern and eastern Europe
After the successful Allied invasion of SicilyAllied invasion of Sicily
The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis . It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign.Husky began on the night of...
, Italy capitulated in the autumn of 1943, the Allies occupied the whole of southern Italy. In late 1943, the 15th Air Force of the United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
, under the command of General Nathan Twining, was transferred from Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
to an airfield near Foggia
Foggia
Foggia is a city and comune of Apulia, Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known as the "granary of Italy".-History:...
. This airfield became the largest American air base in southern Italy, and was used for attacking targets in southern and Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
. The 15th Army Air Force also used the nearby airfields of Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
, Brindisi
Brindisi
Brindisi is a city in the Apulia region of Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, off the coast of the Adriatic Sea.Historically, the city has played an important role in commerce and culture, due to its position on the Italian Peninsula and its natural port on the Adriatic Sea. The city...
, Lecce
Lecce Airfield
Lecce Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield in Italy, which is located approximately 5 km southeast of Lecce in the Salentine Peninsula. Built in 1943 by United States Army Engineers, the airfield was primarily a Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberator heavy bomber base used in...
and Manduria
Manduria
Manduria is a city and comune of Apulia, Italy, in the province of Taranto. With c. 30,000 inhabitants, it is located 35 km east of Taranto, and 14 km north of the coast.-History:...
. The 15th Air Force bombed targets in Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, Hungary
Hungary during World War II
Hungary during World War II was a member of the Axis powers. In the 1930s, the Kingdom of Hungary relied on increased trade with Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany to pull itself out of the Great Depression. By 1938, Hungarian politics and foreign policy had become increasingly pro-Fascist Italian and...
, Slovakia, Croatia
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts...
, German occupied Serbia, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
and Romania
Romania during World War II
Following the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939, the Kingdom of Romania officially adopted a position of neutrality. However, the rapidly changing situation in Europe during 1940, as well as domestic political upheaval, undermined this stance. Fascist political forces such as the Iron...
. The most important targets were a ball-bearing factory in Austria, and sources of petroleum and the petroleum refineries in Romania. All flights targeting the oil-fields and refineries in Romania, near the town of Ploiești
Ploiesti
Ploiești is the county seat of Prahova County and lies in the historical region of Wallachia in Romania. The city is located north of Bucharest....
north of Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, passed over Serbia. These installations were the driving force of Hitler's war machine and the main targets in the Oil Campaign of World War II
Oil Campaign of World War II
The Allied Oil Campaign of World War II was directed at facilities supplying Nazi Germany with petroleum, oil, and lubrication products...
. The Ostro Romano refinery in Ploiești, provided one quarter of the Third Reich's fuel needs and was one of the priority targets.
The route
From October 1943 to October 1944, the 15th Air Force conducted about 20,000 sorties with fighters and bombers. During this time it lost almost fifty percent of its aircraft but only about ten percent of its personnel. To carry out combat missions, the Fifteenth Air Force had at its disposal 500 heavy bombers (B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators) and about 100 fighter escorts.The route aircraft took from southern Italy to the targets in Romania was repeated every day from the spring of 1944, (over the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
, Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
and Bulgaria to Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
). Two-thirds of these flights were carried out against objectives in Bulgaria, Romania and the German-occupied zone of Serbia. The Germans had at their disposal a limited number of fighter aircraft whose most frequent targets were Allied planes that had already been damaged by Axis anti-aircraft defenses in Bulgaria and Romania, planes that because of such damage had to fly slowly at low altitude.
Rescue of American airmen
At the beginning of 1944, the USAAF intensified the bombing of targets in Bulgaria and Romania, causing American aviators to bail out of damaged aircraft over Serbia in increasing numbers. Over other countries, such as Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Croatia, they left their planes only as a last resort. A small number of crews fell into the hands of Romanian, Bulgarian, Croat or German troops and were either killed instantly or sent to prison camps in Germany. The first American airmen bailed out over the German-occupied zone of Serbia on 24 January. That day two Liberators were shot down, one of them over ZlatiborZlatibor
Zlatibor is a mountain region situated in the western part of Serbia, a part of the Dinaric Alps.The mountain range spreads over an area of 300 km², 27 miles in length, southeast to northwest, and up to 23 miles in width. The highest peak is Tornik at 1496 m...
, the other over Toplica. One bomber, damaged by German fighter planes, made an emergency landing between Pločnik and Beloljin. A crew of nine were rescued by the Chetnik Toplica Corps under the command of Major Milan Stojanović Airmen were placed in the home of local Chetnik leaders in the village of Velika Draguša. Another bomber was shot down that same day, the crew bailed out over Mount Zlatibor. They were found by members of the Zlatibor Corps. A radiogram message on the rescue of one of the crews was sent by Major Milan Stojanović to General Draža Mihailović on January 25. Major Stojanović wrote that the previous day about 100 bombers flew from the direction of Niš
Niš
Niš is the largest city of southern Serbia and third-largest city in Serbia . According to the data from 2011, the city of Niš has a population of 177,972 inhabitants, while the city municipality has a population of 257,867. The city covers an area of about 597 km2, including the urban area,...
towards Kosovska Mitrovica
Kosovska Mitrovica
Kosovska Mitrovica , is a city and municipality in northern Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous district....
, and that they were followed by nine German fighter aircraft. After a half-hour battle, one plane caught fire and was forced to land between the villages of Pločnik and Beloljin, in the Toplica river valley.
Major Stojanović reported:
The rescue of American and other Allied airmen lasted from January 1944 to February 1945. The German and Bulgarian occupation forces in Serbia, that had spotted the damaged aircraft and open parachutes pursued the airmen. However, members of the Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland led by General Draža Mihailović
Draža Mihailovic
Dragoljub "Draža" Mihailović was a Yugoslav Serbian general during World War II...
had already reached them. The Germans offered cash to the local Serbian population for the capture of Allied airmen but none of them were betrayed. The peasants accepted the airmen into their homes and fed them for months without Allied help. At the beginning of 1944, General Draža Mihailović ordered all his units to cooperate with the people organizing the acceptance and accommodation of American airmen. Based on these orders, several regional collection centers for the airmen were created in eastern, central and western Serbia. Hospitals for sick and wounded airmen were established in Pranjani
Pranjani
Pranjani is a village in the municipality of Gornji Milanovac, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the town has a population of people.In 1944 Pranjani was the site of Operation Halyard.-References:...
village.
Airstrip construction
In early March 1944, 25 rescued pilots were brought to Pranjani. Captain Zvonimir Vučković of the First Ravna Gora Corps was responsible for their security. In a mission directed by American Colonel Albert SeitzAlbert Seitz
Albert Seitz was a French composer and viola player.Seitz was a violist with the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire from 1900 to 1932.-Selected works:...
, OSS
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
, Captain George Musulin
George Musulin
George "Guv" S. Musulin was an officer of the Office of Strategic Services and naval intelligence services, and in 1950 became a CIA agent....
parachuted into the Čačak
Cacak
Čačak is a city in central Serbia. It is the administrative center of the Moravica District of Serbia. Čačak is also the main industrial, cultural and sport center of the district...
area on October 18, 1943 to coordinate activities for the rescued aircrew. General Draža Mihailović ordered Captain Vučković to build an improvised airstrip from which the aviators could be evacuated. Captain Vučković selecting a field near Pranjani
Pranjani
Pranjani is a village in the municipality of Gornji Milanovac, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the town has a population of people.In 1944 Pranjani was the site of Operation Halyard.-References:...
. Construction of the airstrip was managed by Captain Nikola Verkić. Captain Vučković has stated:
The British authorities felt the airstrip was too short. Eleven airmen, including John P. Devlin, wanted to go on foot to the Adriatic Sea. General Mihailovic provided supporting units and they started out on April 19, after a ceremonial send-off in Pranjani. The remaining aviators were unable to walk due to injuries and illness. A few dozen more airmen reached Pranjani in late April. Captain Vučković divided them into two groups. The first, from the Takovo district, was guided by Sergeant Bora Komračević. He had completed the parachute course in Africa and returned to his homeland in 1943. The second group from the Dragačevo district was guided by Mihailo Paunović. He did not speak English, but had attended an air force school before the war.
Ground combat
Due to the collection of rescued aviators near Pranjani, fighting occurred between the Chetniks and German, Bulgarian and Croatian occupation forces. On March 14, 1944 the Germans moved into the village of Oplanić, near Gružа, looking for the crew of a downed Liberator. Captain Nikola Petković's 4th battalion of the Gruža brigade opened fire on the German armored vehicles to lure them away from the portion of the village where the aviators were hiding. Three Chetniks were killed and two more captured during the firefight. After the war the communists destroyed their gravestones.The 1st Dragačevo Brigade of the First Ravna Gora Corps engaged German forces attempting to capture an American aircrew bailing out over the Čačak
Cacak
Čačak is a city in central Serbia. It is the administrative center of the Moravica District of Serbia. Čačak is also the main industrial, cultural and sport center of the district...
- Užice
Užice
Užice is a city and municipality in western Serbia, located at the banks of the Đetinja river. It is the administrative center of the Zlatibor District...
road. Captain Vučković reported the deaths of a few Chetnik soldiers in the fight. The fallen Chetniks were buried in a cemetery in Dljin village.
American pilot William Hill was captured in April 1944 by units from the Croatian Legionnaires "Blue" Division. Chetnik scouts observed Hill in the ruins of the village of Gračac
Gracac
Gračac is a village and a municipality in the southern part of Lika, Croatia. It is located south of Udbina, northeast of Obrovac, northwest of Knin and southeast of Gospić...
. He was rescued by Chetniks of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Brigade, of the Lika Corps of the Dinara division. The Chetniks approached the Croatian post in darkness and released the pilot during the confusion caused by throwing a grenade into the Croatian camp kitchen. A German patrol failed to find the pilot in Cvetković. Hill dressed in the Serbian national costume and stayed with elements of the Chetnik Dinaric Division until he was transferred to an American base in Italy via "secret channels" in December 1944.
Lieutenant Colonel Todor Gogić, commander of the Morava group Corps sent a radiogram to General Mihailović on April 17:
The first air evacuation
The twenty-member British SOE military mission, led by BrigadierBrigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
Charles D. Armstrong, was ready for evacuation by late May 1944. Following agreement with their Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
headquarters, three Douglas Dakota cargo aircraft (C-47s) landed at Pranjani on May 29. Forty Allied airmen were evacuated to Bari with members of the British and American military missions. With the evacuation, General Mihailović decided to send a political mission to London led by the President of the Socialist Party of Yugoslavia
Socialist Party of Yugoslavia
Socialist Party of Yugoslavia is a political party in Montenegro...
, Živko Topalović
Živko Topalović
Živko Topalović was a Yugoslav socialist politician. Topalović became a leading figure in the Socialist Party of Yugoslavia, founded in 1921....
. Topalović had been a member of the Labour and Socialist International
Labour and Socialist International
The Labour and Socialist International was an international organization of socialist and labour parties, active between 1923 and 1940. The LSI was a forerunner of the present-day Socialist International....
party before the war. He intended to meet with leaders of the British Labour Party, Clement Attlee
Clement Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...
and Ernest Bevin
Ernest Bevin
Ernest Bevin was a British trade union leader and Labour politician. He served as general secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union from 1922 to 1945, as Minister of Labour in the war-time coalition government, and as Foreign Secretary in the post-war Labour Government.-Early...
. He then flew to Italy with Captain George Musulin. After the mission was accomplished, Brigadier Armstrong was a guest of Prime Minister Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
at his Chartwell
Chartwell
Chartwell was the principal adult home of Sir Winston Churchill. Churchill and his wife Clementine bought the property, located two miles south of Westerham, Kent, England, in 1922...
family estate. Topalović hoped to convince Churchill to revoke consent for the Red Army to take over Yugoslavia. His mission was a failure, the British did not allow him to leave southern Italy. General Mihailović continued to receive no allied support.
The Democratic Yugoslavia news agency bulletin reports
Reports about the rescued airmen were sent to the 'Democratic Yugoslavia' news agency, which belonged to the High Command of the Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland of General Draža Mihailović. This agency had an office and radio station in New York City. A report was received by the Yugoslav embassy in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. Staff headed by the ambassador Konstantin Fotić, forwarded the report to the US Army, so that the families of airmen, especially their mothers, who were in some cases previously notified that their offspring were "missing in action". The reports almost always contained the names and addresses of the airmen.
Mirjana Vujnovich, was an embassy employee; her husband, Lieutenant George Vujnovich, worked for the OSS in Brindisi
Brindisi
Brindisi is a city in the Apulia region of Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, off the coast of the Adriatic Sea.Historically, the city has played an important role in commerce and culture, due to its position on the Italian Peninsula and its natural port on the Adriatic Sea. The city...
, in southern Italy. He received a letter from his wife which mentioned the American airmen's plight: "there are hundreds...can you do something for them? It would be great if [they] are evacuated". It was the turning point which led to the planning and execution of Operation Halyard.
Establishment of radio links
Of the late of May 1944, the first time since 1941, in the Chetniks, there were no Allied liaison officers. Headquarters of the General Mihailovich was trying to establish direct radio contact with Allied command of the Mediterranean. These attempts failed, but in late July 1944, Radio midfielder one of the rescued pilots, Major Brooks, establishes a connection with its base in Italy. The plane of Major Brooks made an emergency landing near LjigLjig
Ljig is a town of 3,219 inhabitants in central Serbia. It is surrounded by a municipality of the same name, which has a total of 12,730 inhabitants.Ljig is an underdeveloped region of Serbia, surrounded by Mount Rajac and Mount Rudnik...
. A one detachment of Rudnik Corps, led by Commander Captain Dragomir Topalaović, received a combat with the Germans in order to slow down to approach the plane, while the Americans and the Chetniks took off equipment from the aircraft, among other things and the radio station. With this radio station, Major Brooks contacted his own and so the confirmation arrived from the field that the information is accurate OSS Lieutenant George Vujnovich.
Airlift from Pranjani to Bari
At exactly midnight on August 2, 1944, an American plane flew over Pranjani, near Mihailovic's headquarters in central Serbia, where a fire burned as a previous agreed signal. Three parachutes opened just behind and below the aircraft, they supported OSS intelligence agents Captain George Musulin, Lieutenant Michael Rayachich and Sergeant Arthur Jiblian and their radio equipment; they were there to set the operation up. Captain Musulin's first task was to request from General Mihailović that all the rescued airmen be gathered in the area for the forthcoming evacuation. Musulin was assured that the Chetniks had done everything possible for the airmen, including medical care. They were to have armed escorts to the evacuation point. In the meantime, to allow for a possible German attack on Pranjani, General Mihailović was instructed to build a reserve airstrip in the Dragačevo district.General Mihailović decided to send a military-political mission to the western allies during the upcoming evacuation. Heading the mission was the president of the Independent Democratic Party
Independent Democratic Party (Yugoslavia)
The Independent Democratic Party was a social liberal political party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It was established by Svetozar Pribićević as a breakaway faction of the Democratic Party in 1924...
Adam Pribićević, a second member was Captain Zvonimir Vučković, the third member was Dr. Vladimir Belajčić; pre-war, he was head of the "Falcon
Sokol
The Sokol movement is a youth sport movement and gymnastics organization first founded in Czech region of Austria-Hungary, Prague, in 1862 by Miroslav Tyrš and Jindřich Fügner...
" sports organization and president of the Court of Appeal; he also a Grand master and Commander of the Grand Lodge and Supreme Council of jurisdiction of Scottish Rite "Yugoslavia" 33rd degree. The fourth member was Ivan Kovač, a Slovene; he was before the war, a teacher of King Peter II
Peter II of Yugoslavia
Peter II, also known as Peter II Karađorđević , was the third and last King of Yugoslavia...
.
Meanwhile on Sunday, 6 August 1944, the New York Times published an interview with General Draže Mihailović by journalist Cyrus Leo Sulzberger.
Near Pranjina, Chetnik sentries detained a civilian identified as Ivan Popov; one sentinel had his supicions aroused because he thought he had seen Popov leave a Gestapo building in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
in German officers' uniform. Captain Vučković ordered the man to be executed. However, the civilian was reprieved at the last minute when he showed Vučković a letter signed by General Mihailović. The incident was reported to the General, who ordered that he be sent to his Headquarters. Popov was a double agent for the Yugoslavs and British in the Gestapo during the war. He was also Dušan Popov
Dušan Popov
Dušan "Duško" Popov OBE was a double agent working for MI6 during World War II under the cryptonym Tricycle.-Origins of Tricycle:...
's brother. Popov (British codenamed
Code name
A code name or cryptonym is a word or name used clandestinely to refer to another name or word. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage...
Dreadnought, Yugoslav (Chetnik) codenamed Eskulap), was evacuated along with American airmen to Italy. The young aviators had no idea that one of the passengers was a former Gestapo officer.
The largest evacuation based on Pranjani
Pranjani
Pranjani is a village in the municipality of Gornji Milanovac, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the town has a population of people.In 1944 Pranjani was the site of Operation Halyard.-References:...
began at 3 am on August 10. Four C-47s flew in; they were followed by a further six. These aircraft were protected by 50 (P-51 Mustang and P-38 Lightning) fighters. Ground security was provided by the Morava group under Captain Aleksandar Milošević. A total of 237 men were evacuated.
The operation was repeated on August 12, 15 and 18; a further 210 airmen were evacuated. A new OSS unit, under Operation Ranger
Operation Ranger
Operation Ranger was the fourth American nuclear test series. It was conducted in 1951 and was the first series to be carried out at the Nevada Test Site. All the bombs were exploded in the open air, having been dropped by B-50 bombers....
, was led by Colonel Robert H. McDowell. Musulin flew out of Pranjani on August 29, in the same aircraft that McDowell had arrived in. Musulin's replacement was Captain Nick Lalich, who flew to Pranjani on August 10.
Evacuation from Koceljeva
On the eve of the invasion by the Red ArmyBelgrade Offensive
The Belgrade Offensive or the Belgrade Strategic Offensive Operation was an offensive military operation in which Belgrade was conquered from the German Wehrmacht by the joint efforts of the Yugoslav Partisans and the Soviet Red Army...
in September 1944, the supreme command of the Yugoslav Army, along with the Halyard and Ranger missions, left Pranjani and transferred to Mačva
Macva
Mačva is a geographical region in Serbia, mostly situated in the northwest of Central Serbia. It is located in a fertile plain between the Sava and Drina rivers. The chief town of this region is Šabac. The modern Mačva District of Serbia is named after the region, although the region of Mačva...
. Another improvised airstrip at Koceljeva
Koceljeva
Koceljeva is a village and municipality located in the Mačva District of Serbia. In 2011, the population of the village is 4,217, while population of the municipality is 13,155.-Municipality:...
had been built. The runway was 400 meters long, it was constructed between September 15 and 17. 20 airmen, a Frenchman, a few Italians and two US medical officers were evacuated on September 17.
Evacuation from Boljanić
A third improvised airstrip was built between October 22 and November 1 at Boljanić near DobojDoboj
Doboj is a city and a municipality in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina, situated in the northern part of the Republika Srpska entity on the river Bosna. Doboj is the largest national railway junction; as such, the seats of the Republika Srpska Railways, and the Railways Corporation of Bosnia and...
in eastern Bosnia. It was used to evacuate the Supreme Command of the Yugoslav Army and 15 U.S. airmen on September 27. Two C-47s, covered by seven fighters, landed. The evacuees, including Captain John Milodragovich and Lieutenant Michael Rajachich (both OSS), were taken to Bari. McDowell tried to persuade General Mihailović to accompany him to Italy, but he refused, saying:
These aviators had jumped from two damaged aircraft in June 1944 into Milino Selo, in eastern Bosnia. They were accommodated in the houses of Luke Panić and several prominent farmers in the village Boljanić, and rescued by the Chetniks Ozren Corps Major Cvijetin Todić.
Two C-47s, one piloted by Colonel George Kraigher, (a pioneer in the development of Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways, commonly known as Pan Am, was the principal and largest international air carrier in the United States from 1927 until its collapse on December 4, 1991...
), the other by First Lieutenant John L. Dunn, left Italy at 1100 hours on December 27, 1944. Escorted by 16 P-38s, they reached the emergency landing field at Boljanić at 1255. Spotting a hole in the overcast, Kraigher led the way in, to land on a 1,700-foot strip that was frozen just enough to support the weight of a C-47. The transports were met by Captain Lalich. The aircraft were quickly loaded with 20 American airmen, one U.S. citizen, two Yugoslavian (Chetnik) officers, four French and four Italian army personnel and two remaining Halyard team members, Lalich and his radio operator Arthur Jibilian. Lalich tried once more to persuade General Mihailović to accompany them to Italy. Mihailović remained consistent in his intention to stay with his soldiers. The aircraft took off at 1315 hrs
Two C-47s lifted 25 airmen from Boljanić in late February 1945 in very cold weather. This was the last evacuation.
The number of rescued airmen
- 11 men who travelled on foot from Pranjani to the Adriatic Sea on April 19
- 40 men who were evacuated by British planes from Pranjani to Bari on May 29
- 237 men who were evacuated from Pranjani on August 9 and 10
- 210 men who were evacuated from Pranjani on August 12, 15 and 18
- 20 men who were evacuated from Koceljeva on September 17
- 15 men who were evacuated by boat from the Bay of KotorBay of KotorThe Bay of Kotor in south-western Montenegro is a winding bay on the Adriatic Sea. The bay, sometimes called Europe's southernmost fjord, is in fact a submerged river canyon of the disintegrated Bokelj River which used to run from the high mountain plateaus of Mount Orjen...
to Bari in September and October 1944 - 15 men who were evacuated from the village of Boljanić on November 1
- 20 men who were evacuated from Boljanić on December 27
- 25 airmen who were evacuated from Boljanić in late February 1945
A total of 593 allied airman were evacuated from Chetnik territory.
It is likely that a group of airmen were evacuated with Captain George Musulin on August 29.
Between August 9 and 18, 447 airmen were evacuated from Pranjani.
Members of the Halyard Mission
- Captain George Musulin (Head of Mission from August 2 to 29 1944) - Legion of MeritLegion of MeritThe Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements...
.
- Lieutenant Michael "Mike" Rayachich (member of mission from August 2 to 29, then a member of the Renger mission to November 1, 1944) - Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster.
- Radio operator Sergeant Arthur Jibilian (member of mission from August 2 to December 27, 1944) - Silver StarSilver StarThe Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy....
- Captain Nick Lalich (member of mission from August 10 to 28, Head of Mission from August 29 to December 27, 1944) - Legion of Merit.
- Captain and Doctor Jack Mitrani with two medical assistants (Captain Mitrani headed the medical team mission of Halyard from August 10 to September 17, 1944).
Mission
This operation took place between August and December 1944 from a crudely constructed forest airfield created by Serbian peasants in Pranjani. It is little known today, and largely unknown to most Americans. It is the subject of the 2007 book The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All For the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II, by author Gregory A. Freeman. In his book, he describes it as one of the greatest rescue stories ever told. It tells the story of how the airmen were downed in a country they knew nothing about, and how the Serbian villagers were willing to sacrifice their own lives to save the lives of the air crews.The OSS planned an elaborate rescue involving C-47 cargo planes landing in enemy territory. It was an extremely risky operation, involving the planes not only entering enemy territory without being shot down themselves, but also landing, retrieving the downed airmen, then taking off and flying out of that same territory, again without being shot down themselves. The rescue was a complete success, but received little to no publicity. This was partly due to the timing, the world's attention being focused on the D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
operations in France.
Because of this operation, and due to the efforts of Major Richard Felman, United States President Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
posthumously awarded General Mihailović the Legion of Merit
Legion of Merit
The Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements...
for his contribution to the Allied victory during World War II. The award was presented to Mihailović's daughter Gordana Mihajlovic by the US State Department on May 9, 2005.
Initially, this high award and the story of the rescue was classified secret by the U.S. State Department so as not to offend the-then Communist government of Yugoslavia. Such a display of appreciation for the Chetniks would not have been welcome as the Western Allies, who had supported the Chetniks early in World War II, switched sides to Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
's Partisans for the latter part of the war.
Commemoration
Authority to erect a monument to General Draza Mihailovich was given in 1989 by the National Committee of American Airmen in Washington, District of Columbia, in recognition of the role he played in saving the lives of more than five hundred United States airmen in Yugoslavia during World War II.On September 12, 2004, five years after the NATO armed conflict against Yugoslavia, four American veterans, Clare Musgrove, Arthur Jibilian, George Vujnovich and Robert Wilson, visited Pranjani for the unveiling of a commemorative plaque. A bill introduced in the US House of Representatives by Bob Latta
Bob Latta
Robert Edward 'Bob' Latta is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district, the second-largest in the state, includes most of Toledo's suburbs, including Fremont and Bowling Green....
on July 31, 2009, requested that Jibilian be awarded the Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
for his part in Operation Halyard.
On Veterans' Day, 2007, the U.S. Ambassador to Serbia, Cameron Munter, visited Pranjani and presented the citizens of the area with a proclamation signed by the Governor of the State of Ohio expressing gratitude to the Serbian families that rescued hundreds of U.S. airmen whose aircraft had been shot down by Nazi forces in World War II.
On October 17, 2010, George Vujnovich was awarded the Bronze Star in a ceremony in New York City for his role in the operation. Vujnovich trained the volunteers who carried out the rescue, teaching them how to blend in with other Serbians, by mastering mundane tasks conforming to local custom, such as tying and tucking their shoelaces and pushing food onto their forks with their knives during meals.
The U.S. Embassy in Belgrade, in cooperation with the Euro-Atlantic Initiative and the citizens of Pranjani, initiated a project to construct a library and youth center in Pranjani which will help the education of local children and enhance commemoration of the Halyard Mission. The project will mark a historical bond between the Serbian and American people and the state partnership between Serbia and the State of Ohio, which was established in 2006. The project will include an effort to educate both the Serbian and American public about the Halyard Mission, through photographic exhibitions, an internet presentation and the production of a documentary movie. The library-youth center project consists of the construction of a multipurpose facility. It will serve as a library and the center for multimedia education of young people and farmers from the Pranjani area. It will be equipped with Internet access and as a memorial center for the Halyard Mission which will include a permanent exhibition of photographs, objects and documents related to the evacuation mission of Allied airmen and the wartime alliance between the people of Serbia and the U.S. Part of the Center's exhibits will be given to the National Museum of the United States Air Force
National Museum of the United States Air Force
The National Museum of the United States Air Force is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the world's largest and oldest military aviation museum with more than 360 aircraft and missiles on display...
, Wright-Patterson Air Base in Ohio where a special exhibition area will be opened about Serbia's role in the rescue of the airmen in World War II. Similar to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a national memorial in Washington, D.C. It honors U.S. service members of the U.S. armed forces who fought in the Vietnam War, service members who died in service in Vietnam/South East Asia, and those service members who were unaccounted for during the War.Its...
, one wall of the Pranjani center will include the names of all the Allied airmen that were rescued during the Halyard Mission and the Serbian families that hid and cared for them. The Library will be built immediately adjacent to the primary school and Pranjani church, which was the place used for ceremonies of friendship and cooperation by citizens of the area, the Ravna Gora movement (Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland), and the U.S. mission. Another segment will be built on Galovića field in Pranjani where the U.S. Air Force evacuated the airmen. This part of the project envisions the construction of a hangar and the placement of one C-47 aircraft inside it. In addition, multi-language plaques and maps will be erected that will allow history lovers and interested tourists to become acquainted with the Halyard Mission and the historic heritage of the area.
External links
- Galovića field Airport in Pranjani at PanoramioPanoramioPanoramio is a geolocation-oriented photo sharing website. Accepted photos uploaded to the site can be accessed as a layer in Google Earth and Google Maps, with new photos being added at the end of every month. The site's goal is to allow Google Earth users to learn more about a given area by...
- Rescue Behind Enemy Lines by Kevin Morrow, World War II Magazine, March 20, 2008
- U.S. Marines at the Halyard Mission memorial at USMC by Army Sgt. Sean Mathis, Headquarters Marine Corps, February 9, 2009
- Trying to right a wrong WWII airmen honored for role in rescue operation by Jack Kelly, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 31, 2009
- Canton man a big part of greatest untold story of WWII by Jay Turner Citizen Staff (Canton Citizen), November 11, 2010
- The Great Escape by Phil Scott; Air & Space Magazine, January 1, 2011
- Great Rescues of WORLD WAR II by Thomas J. Craughwell
- Bronze Star Awarded to Unsung WWII Hero CBS NEWS, October 17, 2010
- Halyard Mission - Interviews with US airmen
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kcgM_Wl9I8&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIpdhi6Y7Lo&feature=related A Luftwaffe gun camera records an attack on a B-17 and B-24
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOIdnHXyxlE&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFqNfC3agOs The original film from World War II where the see of Chetniks Timok Corps under the command of Major Ljuba Jovanović. This unit rescued 25 American airmen in June and July 1944, in Eastern Serbia. The aviators were then evacuated to Italy