The Forgotten 500: Uncovering the Heroic Rescue Mission of World War II

R. E. Roper: OSS extraction of downed wwii bomber pilots. Well written. Fast reading.

United States on Oct 27, 2023

L Kate Bogart: 500+ American airmen flying from Italy to Germany during World War 2 found themselves falling from downed bombers into the mountains of Yugoslavia. Their rescue has been mostly forgotten, and hidden, a part of history told here with humanity and a whole lot of information. I wish I thought I would be able to remember even the most important facts, but I do know that the importance of the story will remain. The last paragraphs of the epilogue are very important, for those of you who usually skip such things (though I can’t imagine how anyone could).

United States on Sep 22, 2023

Gorbaty Bob: This book was so well written and interesting that I could not put it down. I have read it now two or three times. It ties aspects of World War and the Cold War together and points out how the traitorous Cambridge 5 spy ring affected post-war Eastern Europe. It also tells the story of US Air Force special operations in its immediate infancy. Just a wonderfully written and interesting book.

United States on Sep 14, 2023

rander5746: Extremely well written. Every time I read a book based on WWII events, I realize more and more what the United States did and sacrificed so save world democracy. I learn a bit more after reading this book and others how the British were extremely difficult to deal with. The only critique I would give this book, as a Retired USAF MSgt, on 18 September 1947, the Army Air Forces became the United States Air Force as a separate and equal element of the United States Armed Forces. The author refers to these airman as Air Force.

United States on Aug 27, 2023

Glen A Phillips: A great lesson in history and memorable escapades of hero’s of the past - a incredible story that everyone should read.

Canada on Nov 16, 2022

Amazon Customer: 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.

Canada on Sep 28, 2020

Don Easton: An eye opener for those who are unfamiliar, or perhaps lucky enough, not to have been exposed to the world of politics and the sometimes fatal outcome it has on people. This story caused me to cheer for justice and clench my fist for injustice.

Canada on Feb 27, 2020

mivhk: 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.

France on Apr 10, 2019

Michael N Vanatta: The Forgotten 500
By
Gregory A. Freeman

Every once in a while you discover a book that envelopes your emotions and you wonder how those events could happen. This is one of those stories, a true story.

During WWII one of the Nazis’ main sources of fuel was an oil refinery in Ploesti, Romania. The Allied Powers made it their mission to destroy this refinery by sending countless missions from Brindisi, Italy, over Yugoslavia to Ploesti to bomb the facility. In the course of these missions, many B24 bombers were shot down and hundreds of Allied flyers (mostly Americans) were stranded behind enemy lines in Yugoslavia, a country that most did not know the language or customs.

At that time in Yugoslavia there were two ruling factions. Draza Mihailovich, a staunch friend of the United States hated the Nazis and wanted to free his country from their grasp. Josip Broz Tito, a communist and ally of Russia also hated the Nazis, wanted to get rid of them and, interestingly enough, the two men hated each other. You had a dramatic triad, Mihailovich and Tito, each commanding thousands of soldiers fighting each other for control of Yugoslavia and each fighting the...

United States on Jun 30, 2016

Latour07: "The Forgotten 500" est un grand livre d'Histoire, dans la tradition des ouvrages que je respecte profondément ; ceux orientés vers la vérité, relatant les faits avec rigueur, preuves.

L'action se déroule en 1944, en Serbie. Elle relate la plus extraordinaire évasion de tous les temps; celle portant le nom de code "Halyard". 512 aviateurs alliés dont 432 Américains, furent protégés, nourris pendant plusieurs mois par les troupes et villages combattant le nazisme sous les couleurs du général Draza Mihailovich puis regrouppés en vue de leur récupération.

Dès la libération de l'Italie, Bari sert de base de décollage des escadres de bombardiers alliés (essentiellement américains, 15 USAAF) dédiées au bombardement du centre d'exploitation pétrolière situé à Ploesti en Roumanie.

Ce complexe d'extraction et de raffinage pétrolier est vital pour les forces de l'Axe puisqu'il a fourni entre 40 et 60% de ses besoins. Les bombardements commencèrent en 1942 et s'intensifièrent en 1943. Il était l'un des sites les mieux protégés par l'Armée allemande, avec des canons de flak anti-aériens installés en profondeur sur plusieurs dizaines de...

France on Nov 04, 2009