Page 29 of A Call to Home (Women of the Resistance #3)

Jajce

November 1943

The optimism of September had vanished and the mood in the old Turkish fortress was tense. The Germans had re-occupied all the Adriatic ports that had fallen to the Partisans and there was no chance of any more supplies being delivered by that route and there was no progress on building the airstrip. More importantly, there was no sign of Maclean returning. Messages from Cairo said that he was enmeshed in a struggle to get the promised deliveries agreed and still hoped to get back to them soon. Tito was unconvinced.

‘I was a fool to trust him. I thought he was a man of honour but it turns out he is just like all the rest; very good with promises but with no intention of delivering on them. The British want to keep us weak, so they can take over and reinstate the king. I’ve told Deakin it won’t work. Mihailovic’s use of his name to push his pan-Serb ideology has turned the people against him.’

He was talking to Lola Ribar but Alix was in attendance as usual and his next remark sent a chill through her nerves.

‘Get a message through to Ott. Give him a hint that we may be prepared to make common cause with his people against a British invasion.’

Leaders of Partisan detachments around the country were summoned to Jajce and intensive consultations were held. Finally, a conclusion was reached and Tito sent a message across the river to Deakin asking him to attend.

‘We have decided that it is necessary to establish our position vis-à-vis the British government. We require formal recognition of our control here and of our future administration. To that end we propose to send a delegation to Cairo for direct talks with your commander in chief.’

Deakin looked uncomfortable. ‘I appreciate what you are saying, but I don’t see at the moment any way that such a delegation could get to Cairo.’

‘What has become of this plan to build an airstrip?’

‘We have been waiting for an expert to supervise the construction.’

‘Well,’ Tito growled, ‘I suggest you wait no longer. I will provide you with whatever labour you need. It cannot be beyond your capacity to create a runway that will accommodate a suitable aircraft.’

In Glamoc, Steve made a new entry in his diary.

November 1st

So we are to build the airstrip ourselves. I don’t know why we’ve

waited this long. Deakin has returned with Captain Knight, who was

dropped in with Maclean and has some engineering expertise. There are

rumours of German troop build-ups in Sarajevo and Mostar. Deakin thinks

they are preparing for a new attack.

November 16th

Heavy fall of snow. Impossible to proceed with work until it has

been cleared.

November 20th

Extraordinary thing has happened. We had just finished clearing

the snow from our part finished strip when a Dornier bomber appeared,

flying very low. We naturally assumed it was going to attack and took

cover, as far as possible in this empty landscape. But instead of

bombing or strafing us it came in to land and the pilot jumped out with

his hands in the air. He is a Croat and explained that he and his

co-pilot and radio operator wished to defect to our side. Deakin is

taking them back to Jajce. Tito has already optimistically set up an Air

Force HQ at Livno. So now they have a plane and a crew and soon the

airstrip will be completed. So what happens next?

Lola Ribar came into Tito’s office with an expression on his face of lively excitement.

‘I have an idea. We want to get our delegation to Cairo. Well, now we have the means to do it.’

Tito looked puzzled. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘We have a plane and a pilot. Why should we wait for the British Air Force to decide that the weather is good enough for their cowardly pilots to fly? We can make our own arrangements.’

Tito frowned. ‘Would it be safe?’

‘Why not? The plane is in good order, I am told, and has enough fuel to reach Brindisi. The Germans have no idea that we have the plane, so there’s no chance of it being attacked. Let’s go for it. We haven’t had any air drops of supplies for weeks and I’m tired of sitting around waiting for Maclean to come back. The British are still pandering to the so-called government in exile and regarding Mihailovic as the Minister of War. We need to get our people to Cairo to make it clear to them that we are the people they need to be dealing with.’

Tito considered for a moment, then he nodded. ‘Very well. The pilot and his crew are in Deakin’s custody. You can tell him that this is the plan and I have agreed to it.’

Glamoc, November 26th

Great excitement! Lola Ribar and a delegation are to be flown to

Brindisi in our captured plane. Walter and I have been busy with

messages backwards and forwards from RAF Brindisi giving detailed

instructions about the course to be flown, precise height and timing,

etc. so as not to be shot down by our own people. I think Deakin was

inclined to veto the whole idea at first, but Lola was so scathing about

‘perfidious Albion’ and the cowardice of our own pilots that he gave in

in the end. I think he is as fed up with sitting around waiting as the

rest of us. The passengers have been whittled down to Ribar plus one

other from the Yugoslav side and Deakin and another British officer,

Weatherby, because there’s no room for more. If this works the plane

will come back for a second load. The Dornier is presently hidden in an

orchard near Livno. It can take off from a field there and the plan is

for it to arrive here at dawn tomorrow. The instructions are not to cut

its engines but to line itself up for an immediate take-off. The

passengers will be waiting and will board immediately. Scouts have been

posted in the surrounding hills to watch out for any enemy patrols and

the pilot reckons the machine guns on the plane will take care of any

opposition they might meet once they are airborne. Walter has been told

to stand by ready to send a message to RAF Brindisi as soon as they have

taken off.

November 27th

This is very hard to write. There has been a great tragedy.

Everything seemed to be going according to plan. The plane landed and

the passengers were about to board when a German Henschel appeared from

nowhere and dropped two bombs. I threw myself flat on the ground and

bits of debris thumped into the soil beside me. The Henschel came back

for a second run and this time he hit the Dornier, which blew up and the

ammunition in its guns went off in all directions. Then the Hun started

to gun us down, circling low over the field and firing at anything that

moved. I was lucky. I was standing close to the edge of the field when

the attack started and I was able to throw myself into a bit of a ditch

where some stone had been excavated. For most of the others there was no

cover of any sort. Eventually the Hun must have exhausted all his

ammunition because he pulled up and flew away and those of us who were

still alive got to our feet and staggered over to the ruins of the

plane. It was a terrible sight. There were dead bodies all around. One

of them was Lola Ribar. Deakin had somehow escaped and had managed to

shelter in a dip in the ground and so had Vladimir Velebit who was

supposed to be part of the delegation, but Weatherby had bought it and

so had Knight, our RAF engineer.

Walter had heard the explosion and had run the mile from the cottage along with a group of local Partisans. We had the grim job of collecting the bodies. They have been taken back to the village for burial, except for Ribar. Deakin will take him back to Jajce. God knows how Tito will take the news.

There was a telephone line between Livno and Jajce and when it rang that afternoon it was Alix who answered it. Deakin’s voice, flat and exhausted, related the tragic events of the morning. Alix listened in silence, unable to process the enormity of what had happened. In the end she managed to say only, ‘Thank you. I’ll tell him.’

As she put the phone down she realised Tito was looking at her. ‘Well?’ he said.

Tears she could not suppress gathered in her eyes and spilled onto her cheeks. ‘Lola is dead.’ She forced the words through a constricted throat.

Tito said simply, ‘How?’

‘The plane was dive bombed before it got off the ground. Deakin is coming back. He will give you the details. He’s bringing… he’s bringing Lola with him.’

Tito got to his feet and walked to the window. He stood in silence for some time, looking out, then he turned back into the room. ‘You can go. I shall not need you for a while.’

Alix desperately wanted to find some words of comfort. She knew that Tito loved Lola like a son and saw him as his natural successor. It was a devastating blow, both personally and politically. But she saw too that at that moment no words could help and Tito needed to be alone to grieve.

A thought struck her like a thunderbolt. Steve was in Glamoc. Had he been involved in the destruction of the plane? Was he, too, dead? She longed to ring Deakin back and ask him but she knew it would be wrong to intrude her personal anxiety into the grief he must be feeling on his own account. Besides, the only telephone was in Tito’s office.

Needing to find someone to confide in she sought out Nikola. Once he would have been the last person she turned to but things were very different between them now. He was as stunned as she had been by the news of Lola Ribar’s death.

‘Such a loss! Lola of all people. How has Tito taken it?’

‘I don’t know. He said nothing and sent me away. I think he didn’t want anyone to see how devastated he is.’ She suppressed a sob. ‘I can’t bear the thought that he’s dead. He was such a warm, lively person.’

‘He was our best hope for the future,’ Nikola said. ‘If anything happened to Tito…’

‘Don’t!’ She drew a breath and swallowed. ‘That’s not all. Have you forgotten Steve is there as well?’

‘Dear god! I had forgotten. Is there any news of him?’

‘No. Just a phone call saying the plane was bombed and Lola was killed.’

Nikola was silent for a moment, then he said, ‘This will be bad for relations with the British. The Partisan leaders are bound to blame Deakin.’

‘I don’t care who they blame,’ Alix replied tearfully. ‘I just want to know Steve is safe.’

He put his arms round her. ‘There’s no reason to think otherwise. He wasn’t going on the flight. He will be okay. You’ll see.’

Alix had to wait until Deakin arrived late that evening, leading a small cortège. Lola’s body was laid in the back of a lorry, escorted by a guard of Partisans with their rifles reversed. Deakin came straight up to the old castle and asked to see Tito. His face was tense and pale and Alix did not dare to ask about Steve. Tito ordered that he should be admitted and closed the door. What passed between them Alix never knew but after a while Tito called her in. His expression was solemn but gave no hint of the internal turmoil he must be suffering.

‘I have been sent a message of sympathy from General Wilson, the British Commander in Chief for the Mediterranean. In it he expresses the hope that it will be possible to arrange a very early meeting with a delegation from us. I need to respond. Take down this message and see it is transmitted immediately.’ Alix took up her notebook and Tito dictated. ‘ The victims who fell on the plains of Glamoc symbolise our brothers in arms. May their sacrifice create a still closer unity between us in our further struggle. ’

Deakin took his leave and as Alix saw him out she was able at last to ask, ‘Were any others killed apart from Lola?’

He regarded her bleakly. ‘Too many. Robin Weatherby, Donald Knight, seven of the Partisan escort…’

‘That’s all?’ Alix asked, breathlessly.

He looked at her as if he wanted to say ‘Isn’t that enough?’ Then his expression changed. ‘Of course, I’m sorry. I should have thought. Steve is fine. I’ve left him to hold the fort with Walter and keep our communications open.’

Nikola was right when he said some of Tito’s officers would blame Deakin, but Tito put an end to that by confirming that it had been Lola’s idea, which had been discussed with him first. Nevertheless, the British contingent was not invited to the funeral. As the coffin was lowered into the ground Alix could not suppress her tears. Lola had been the first friend she had made when she was introduced to Tito’s circle and he had always been ready with a kind word when she was troubled. His death added one more to the list of loved ones she had lost. Nor was she the only one to weep. Djilas sobbed uncontrollably and Mosa Pijade, asked to give the funeral oration, was so overcome he could hardly speak. In the end, he came up with a phrase taken from the French revolution. ‘ All revolutionaries are dead men on leave. ’

Tito buried his grief in work. He was still planning a great congress of leaders to affirm publicly the Partisans’ unassailable position of control. It would be another meeting of the ANVOJ, the Anti-Fascist Council of Yugoslavia, to follow the first that had been convened in Bihac a year previously. There was a building across the river that had been a sports hall. It had been partially destroyed by enemy bombs, but Tito now put to work a large force of carpenters, stone masons and electricians, all trades that were well represented among his troops, to make it a suitable venue for the meeting. Delegates from all over Yugoslavia, the representatives of the regional Central Committees of the Communist Party, began arriving in Jajce. They came from Croatia and Slovenia, Montenegro and Serbia and Macedonia until the town was thronged with new faces. An atmosphere of celebration replaced the general gloom. There were military bands and parades, a ballet and a production of Gogol’s play, The Inspector General.

On the evening of November 29th, they all assembled in the newly renovated hall and the British mission was invited to observe from the gallery.

Alix, as usual, was instructed to take notes. The council was presided over by Dr Ivan Ribar, Lola’s father. A dignified presence, giving no sign of the grief he was suffering over his loss. Over a long night of debate, resolution after resolution was passed. A provisional administration and executive council was set up in opposition to the government in exile. The king was not to be allowed to return when the war was over. Finally, Dr Ribar announced the nomination of Tito as Marshal of the Army. Alix glanced up at the gallery. She had no way of knowing how the British officers were reacting, but she was aware without any doubt that she was witnessing the birth of a new Yugoslavia.