Page 31 of A Call to Home (Women of the Resistance #3)

Bosnia

January 1944

The euphoria engendered by the meeting of the ANVOJ was rapidly dispelled by a threat. The Germans had already taken over all the Adriatic coast and a plea by Tito for the ports to be bombed by the RAF remained unanswered. They had now started to move inland and were threatening the town of Livno. That was too close for comfort to Glamoc, and Walter and Steve were ordered to relocate to Jajce. Alix was happy to have Steve close at hand again but at the military level it was bad news. Within days they heard that Glamoc had been overrun and their prized airstrip, the product of so much hard work, was lost to them. Now intelligence told them that troop strengths were being built up to the east and south of Jajce. It was clear that another major offensive was in preparation.

Alix began to notice a change in Tito. For one thing, he was putting on weight. He had always enjoyed the simple pleasures of life, good food, wine, cigars, and the summer months in Petrovo Polje followed by the stay in Jajce, where food was not in short supply, meant that he was no longer the lean, muscular fighting figure of earlier. Also, he had changed his plain, unadorned tunic he had previously worn. He had got one of the men, who had been a tailor in civilian life, to make him a military-style jacket embroidered in gold thread with the symbol of a laurel leaf encircling a star. It seemed he was transforming himself before her eyes from the leader of a band of outlaws to a prospective Head of State.

She had to admit that she had filled out herself and her periods had returned. She knew that she should be glad of this, but it meant that on the rare occasions that she and Steve were able to make love they had to take precautions, and contraceptives were not easy to come by.

Tito also became more concerned for his own safety. There were frequent bombing raids on the town and he moved his headquarters to be nearer to an air raid shelter. Before long it became clear that the Germans were advancing on Jajce and the Partisans did not have the heavy armour needed to defend the city. There was nothing for it but to take to the woods again. A possible hiding place was identified in Drvar, a small town in the hills to the west, but it was currently occupied by a band of Chetniks, who would have to be dislodged first.

The scouts Tito sent out had identified a small group of abandoned wooden huts deep in the forest halfway between Jajce and Drvar as a possible temporary solution. The little engine that hauled the train from Jajce to Bugojno still functioned and Tito was unwilling to leave it to the enemy. There was a line running from Jajce to Drvar, though until now it had never been necessary to use it, and Tito decided that this would be the best way to travel. So he and the Supreme Council plus the remaining members of the British mission, crammed themselves on board. By evening they had taken up residence in the huts.

Tito was increasingly sceptical about the support being offered by the Allies and Maclean’s prolonged absence did not help. Soon after their move, however, a message was received telling them that he was on his way back, with several new officers, and asking for the coordinates of a place to which they could safely be dropped. The spot chosen was at Bosanski Petrovac, which was in an area held by the Fifth Brigade under the command of Slavko Rodic, so he was charged with the responsibility for receiving the new guests.

For the first time, the drop was to be made in daylight, under the protection of a flight of American Lightning fighters, but Bosanski Petrovac was several kilometres to the north so when the appointed day came Tito and his Staff had to wait anxiously for news. It was nearly midnight and snowing heavily when a party of horsemen rode into the little settlement. Looking out, Alix recognised the horses as belonging to Slavko, who somehow always managed to find good mounts. A familiar figure swung down from his and advanced towards the hut where Tito was waiting.

Tito’s welcome was, Alix thought, slightly less enthusiastic than on Maclean’s first visit but the usual ritual bread and slivovitz was offered and as soon as the formalities were over Maclean opened a canvas bag and brought out an envelope.

‘Marshal Tito, I bring you a personal letter from Mr Churchill, our Prime Minister.’

Tito slit the envelope and drew out a sheet of heavy writing paper, embossed with the address of 10, Downing Street. Alix watched his face as he scanned the contents. A child receiving a much-desired Christmas present could not have looked more delighted and the pleasure was doubled when the envelope was also found to contain a large signed photograph. Tito’s grasp of English was rudimentary and Maclean offered to translate for him but he insisted on puzzling most of the letter out for himself. When he had read it, he looked up at Alix.

‘Your Prime Minister speaks very warmly of our contribution to the war effort. See, here, he compliments me on the prowess of our army and the many victories we have won. And he promises more aid.’ He nodded with satisfaction. ‘At last we are recognised as an ally, and one worth supporting. He invites me to correspond with him directly, through Brigadier Maclean, on all matters of importance.’ He turned to smile at Maclean. ‘Thank you, Brigadier. This is good news indeed.’

‘And I have more,’ Maclean said. ‘I came here at top speed with Slavko, but I have left the rest of my staff in Bosanski Petrovac. They will join us in due course and among them is one person you will particularly wish to welcome. His name is Randolph Churchill and he is Winston’s son.’

Tito stared at him. ‘The Prime Minister is willing to trust his son – his only son I believe – to me?’

‘Yes. And I am sure you will find he is an asset to our company.’

For a moment Tito did not respond. Then he got to his feet and embraced the brigadier with tears in his eyes.

‘You bring me great good cheer, my friend. Thank you!’

After that the talk turned to practical matters. Maclean outlined the greatly increased aid that was going to be delivered through an improved system of air support. He also offered to arrange for men chosen by Tito to be trained as pilots, an offer that was enthusiastically accepted. And what, Maclean asked, of the German offensive? Tito shrugged and smiled.

‘It came to nothing, as usual. The plan, as far as I can make out, was to surround us and drive us together into a smaller and smaller circle and then to come down on us with all the might at their command. But tanks and armoured vehicles need roads to move on and my men know every mountain pass and forest track. They simply slipped past the Boches and regrouped outside the circle. Now they are giving the enemy a taste of their own medicine. But they are short of everything – food, ammunition, clothing for the winter…’

‘Well, we shall soon begin to remedy that,’ Maclean told him.

Randolph Churchill joined them next day, along with the other men who had dropped with Maclean. Alix found him hard to like. Maclean spoke highly of his courage, having served with him in the SAS in North Africa, but she found him loud voiced and self-opinionated. He could be jovial enough when the mood took him with people he liked but he had no time for those he perceived as being inferior to him, either in rank or social standing. Alix herself he ignored, as being a) female and b) merely a secretary.

A few days later word reached Tito that the Chetniks had been driven out of Drvar and it was now safe for him to move his headquarters there. Maclean and his colleagues were invited to travel with him in his special coach. This was a wooden hut on wheels that was attached behind the engine. It had long, rather narrow benches along the sides and a stove burned in the middle. It was a tight squeeze to get everyone in, including Tigger, who took great exception to the whole proceeding and snapped irritably at people’s ankles. After much fussing from Tito the dog finally lay down and fell asleep, only to be woken when Rankovic dozed off and fell on top of him. Chaos ensued.

Drvar itself was a pleasant spot, sitting in a grassy bowl surrounded by forested mountains. It was a centre of the timber industry and Alix’s abiding recollection of it in later times was the smell of freshly cut wood. Tito’s new headquarters was rather different from his previous one in Jajce. It was a cave carved out of the side of a narrow gorge, accessed by a steep scramble up the cliff. At the back of the cave there was a waterfall with ferns growing out of cracks in the rocks and the view from the mouth commanded the whole valley. It was considerably less comfortable but at least it was safe from enemy bombs. The rest of the Staff and the British mission were accommodated in the houses of local villagers and Nikola and the escort made camp in the surrounding fields. Alix was given a tiny room created by a lean-to extension to the house where Djilas was staying.

The British were a source of great curiosity among the local villagers and when it was discovered that most of them now had some grasp of Serbo-Croat they were soon welcomed into the community, a welcome that was enhanced when Slim Farish, who had parachuted back as part of Maclean’s party, proved to have brought with him a supply of American candy, which he distributed among the children who clustered round them whenever they appeared. The greatly increased numbers of British agents were accommodated in rather cramped conditions in one of the village houses, where the owner had installed two tiers of shelves on which they could spread their sleeping bags; but they were soon moving freely between the houses, sleeping in one, cooking in another, eating in a third.

It was a system that did not allow for much privacy but Alix was delighted to discover that her little room had a separate entrance at the side of the house, so Steve was able to come and go without the rest of the occupants being aware. The weather was bitterly cold, with deep snow blanketing the forest tracks and icicles hanging from the eaves. Alix was given a small charcoal brazier but at night she and Steve were glad to snuggle up together for warmth.

In accordance with the agreement Maclean had reached with Tito on his first visit, agents were now being dropped to all the main Partisan detachments around the country. They took with them radio operators with their sets, so there was now regular communication with Tito’s headquarters. The promised supply drops were now arriving in much greater numbers, bringing much-needed food and ammunition and also new, heavier weapons. All these had to be distributed according to need to the various detachments. Walter Wroughton and Steve had now been joined by several more radio operators but they were all kept busy liaising with Partisan commanders and organising the allocation of supplies.

The latest German offensive might have petered out but they had not given up. Intelligence coming in from Cairo suggested that their aim now was to capture Tito himself and there were rumours that specially trained Serbo-Croat speaking troops were being infiltrated to that end. It soon became clear that the enemy knew where he was. Aircraft began to appear in increasing numbers over the village, sometimes bombing or strafing, sometimes just observing or perhaps taking photographs. The valley was well defended. Slavko Rodic’s Fifth Brigade were at one end, at Bosanski Petrovac, and Koca Popovic with the First Brigade were at the other end; but everyone knew that they would not be able to resist a determined onslaught with heavy weapons. The normal Partisan response of melting away into the surrounding mountains was incompatible with the idea of a settled headquarters. Opinions differed about the best course of action.