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The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II
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Chapters 9-11Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 9 Summary: “Abandoned Ally”
Chapter 9 explains why the Allies came to regard Mihailovich as untrustworthy. From the British perspective, the civil war between Mihailovich and Tito is a nuisance compared to the Nazi threat. British agents in Yugoslavia report that Tito’s forces fight the Germans more often than do Mihailovich’s troops. This leads to false rumors that Mihailovich either has collaborated with the Nazis or would be willing to do so to save Yugoslavia from Communism. Mihailovich hurts his own cause in February 1943, when he declares that the British are “fighting to the last Serb in Yugoslavia” (134), that the Western democracies cannot be trusted, and that his first priority is to deal with Tito’s Partisans and other Yugoslav enemies. This speech rankles Churchill and fuels anti-Mihailovich sentiment in British officialdom.
Vujnovich knows too much of Yugoslavia’s history and internal politics to accept the anti-Mihailovich position at face value. At his urging, Musulin investigates the situation from inside Yugoslavia in 1943 and concludes that the Chetniks represent a loyal and viable fighting force. Furthermore, Musulin notes that the Serbian people love Americans and will risk their lives for the Allied cause despite receiving little support from the British. Freeman concludes this chapter by revealing that a Soviet spy named James Klugmann orchestrated the anti-Mihailovich plot from inside British intelligence. Documents declassified in 1997 confirm Klugmann’s role in the Allied abandonment of Mihailovich: Klugmann was one of a half-dozen highly placed Soviet assets inside the British government, all of whom were associated with Trinity College in Cambridge, where Klugmann had served as an officer in the Cambridge Communist Party. Klugmann’s espionage contributed greatly to Britain’s abandonment of the Chetniks. All of this remained classified for more than a half century after World War II.
Chapter 10 Summary: “Screw the British”
Churchill insists that Musulin and all Allied operatives withdraw from areas inside Yugoslavia controlled by Chetnik forces, but Musulin rejects the anti-Mihailovich lies being spread by Allied intelligence agents. Vujnovich consults Musulin and finds that they share both a hatred of Communism and an appreciation for Mihailovich. Vujnovich also learns from Musulin that Mirjana’s report of downed American airmen finding refuge with the Chetniks is true.
Freeman devotes the remainder of Chapter 10 to the origins of the OSS. Precursor to the CIA, the OSS was established in June 1942 to address the nation’s intelligence-related needs during wartime. William J. “Wild Bill” Donovan, a law-school classmate of President Roosevelt, organized and led the OSS from its inception through the end of the war. A former football star, World War I veteran, and Medal of Honor recipient, Donovan shaped the OSS with his own no-nonsense, results-driven style. The OSS was relatively autonomous and prestigious for its lack of bureaucratic oversight. When recruiting for the OSS, Donovan placed a premium on strong personal character. Although a “staunch Republican” (152), Donovan did not regard Communist sympathies as disqualifying an agent for service: In some cases, Donovan even sought out known Communists because of their hatred for Nazis.
The OSS trained its agents in propaganda, intelligence gathering, sabotage, hand-to-hand combat, and other essential espionage skills. The OSS also conducted scientific research and developed weapons disguised as everyday items. Field agents were often military veterans while OSS administrators came from business and academia. The OSS, therefore, had enough high-brow appeal to attract well-connected elitists while at the same time maintaining an egalitarian approach to recruitment that capitalized on the talents of people from blue-collar backgrounds, such as Vujnovich and Musulin.
On the broader question of the Yugoslavian civil war, the US government largely followed the British lead. With respect to the downed airmen, however, Donovan pressed President Roosevelt to approve a rescue mission. When Roosevelt balked over possible British resistance, Donovan replied: “Screw the British! Let’s get our boys out!” (166). The president agreed.
Chapter 11 Summary: “Goats’ Milk and Hay Bread”
Vujnovich begins putting together a rescue team. At this point, he still believes that Mihailovich’s forces are protecting approximately 100 airmen. Vujnovich envisions a group of C-47 cargo planes flying into Pranjane in secret, under cover of darkness, and carrying out 12 men at a time. This will require the airmen on the ground in Pranjane to construct an airstrip long enough to accommodate a C-47 though they lack the necessary tools.
Vujnovich wants to lead the mission himself, but Roosevelt intervenes and prohibits Vujnovich from going into Yugoslavia. Churchill knows of Vujnovich’s intense anti-Communism and fears that his appearance might complicate the Allied effort to support Tito’s fight against the Nazis. Vujnovich, therefore, selects a team of three OSS agents to parachute into Yugoslavia and direct the rescue operation from the ground: Musulin, Rajacich, and Jibilian.
Freeman devotes the remainder of Chapter 11 to describing Jibilian’s background and prior experience behind the lines in Yugoslavia. A young man of Armenian descent whose family had experienced multiple tragedies as a result of the brief Turkish-Armenian War of 1920, Jibilian was raised by his cousins in Toledo, Ohio. Drafted into the navy in 1943, Jibilian became a radio operator and for this reason was recruited into the OSS. His first mission involved making a parachute jump into Yugoslavia as part of a three-man OSS team—exactly what Vujnovich would ask him to do for Operation Halyard. Jibilian’s first mission, earlier in 1944, nearly ended in disaster. The Nazis detected Jibilian’s radio signals, so the three-man team spent nearly a week hiding from German dive bombers. Jibilian’s team found refuge with Yugoslav villagers who, though not Mihailovich supporters, “were just as gracious and welcoming to the needy Americans” (180). Tito’s Partisans helped Jibilian’s team find a group of 12 downed airmen. These airmen, along with the three OSS agents, were airlifted out of Yugoslavia on June 16, 1944.
Chapters 9-11 Analysis
In these chapters, Freeman introduces three important actors in Operation Halyard. The first, Churchill, functions as a direct obstacle to the mission. The second, OSS director Donovan, plays both direct and indirect roles for good and ill. The third, radio operator Arthur Jibilian, becomes a crucial member of the rescue team, as well as a crucial source for Freeman’s book.
Freeman focuses heavily on problems in Allied intelligence, particularly how Churchill stood in the way of Operation Halyard. If Soviet agents inside British intelligence possessed both the cleverness and the high-level access required to mislead someone like Churchill, then the Communist infiltration of Allied governments ran deep, in which case anti-Communists such as Mihailovich stood no chance as long as the British, the Americans, and the Soviets had a common enemy in Nazi Germany.
The second new actor is Donovan, founder and head of the OSS. Donovan’s no-nonsense reputation, coupled with his record of wartime service, makes him another unlikely target of the Communists. Nazi Germany was the enemy, and the Soviet Communists were an ally, so from Donovan’s perspective it made little sense to exclude for ideological reasons anyone whose skills might serve America’s needs. Freeman, therefore, depicts Donovan as playing multiple roles in Operation Halyard. On one hand, for pragmatic reasons, Donovan created the one US federal agency that, from 1942 to 1945, was hospitable to avowed Communists. This caused no end of trouble for Vujnovich and Musulin, who despised Communism and fought to defend Mihailovich against his detractors. On the other hand, Donovan personally convinced Roosevelt to authorize the rescue mission that became known as Operation Halyard. Donovan’s overall role in The Forgotten 500 is minimal, but his influence on both the OSS and Roosevelt makes him an important figure.
Finally, the third new actor in Operation Halyard is Jibilian, the young radio operator who will serve as part of Musulin’s three-man OSS team on the ground in Pranjane. Although he is not a historical figure on par with Churchill or Donovan, Jibilian emerges in the second half of the book as one of the story’s most important actors. Critically, Jibilian survived long enough to share his story with Freeman. Furthermore, Jibilian exemplifies the kind of men who impacted Operation Halyard. Jibilian’s Armenian heritage is also significant. One could argue that Vujnovich and Musulin felt sympathy for the Chetniks based on shared ethnic roots, but the same could not be said for Jibilian, who came to love the Chetniks and Mihailovich for their loyalty to the Americans rather than because they shared a heritage.
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