The Web of Disinformation: Churchill's Yugoslav Blunder

Rating:
Summary: A riveting account of the betrayal of a great Serb ally
Review: Martin provides much need insight into this poorly understood theatre of World War II - the Balkans. Using recently declassified British intelligence documents and radio transmission transcripts from the field, Martin builds a strong case for the defense of General Draza Mihailovich, the Serbian guerilla leader who was abandoned by the British in favour of the Communist leader Tito. British field documents show that Serbian Chetnik forces carried out large scale attacks against German and Croat Nazi units up to 1944 - long after they stopped getting Allied aid. Importantly, they continued rescuing downed Allied airmen, culminating in the rescue in June, 1944 of more than 500 US and British airmen who were evacuated by US Airforce aircraft from Serbia in an operation codenamed "Halyard" - the largest rescue in US Airforce history. All round a tremendous contribution to WWII history. I might add, that just last year, more than 50 years after the fact, the official British archives have admitted that Communist moles working for SOE (Special Operations Executive) manipulated and falsified field transcripts from the Serb Chetniks thereby resulting in official British support switching to Tito. Martin's thesis has been proven correct. Nicholas Tintor Toronto