Page 8 of A Call to Home (Women of the Resistance #3)
Cairo
April 1943
Leo carried the transcript of a message into Davidson’s office.
‘Message from Colonel Bailey. He thinks the Partisans have broken through the Chetnik defences along the River Neretva. Mihailovic has moved to Foca and is refusing to have any contact with the British mission.’
Davidson looked up in exasperation.
‘What the devil does he think he’s playing at? Does he want our support or not?’
‘There’s more,’ Leo told him. ‘Bailey says Mihailovic is openly collaborating with the Italians.’
‘Well, I should think that just about cooks his goose as far as British arms supplies go,’ Davidson said. ‘I’ll have to pass this information on to London and see what the powers that be think about it.’
William Deakin had listened to all this. ‘So does this mean Tito is in control in Herzegovina, and possibly Montenegro?’
Davidson shrugged. ‘Who knows? Bailey is obviously being kept in the dark about the full extent of the Partisan breakthrough.’
‘Perhaps that’s why Mihailovic won’t see him,’ Leo suggested. ‘He’s just too humiliated by being defeated by Tito.’
‘If Tito does take control in that area,’ Davidson remarked, ‘it’s going to change the whole complexion of a possible Allied landing there. There’s no way of knowing whether it would be welcome or whether we might find ourselves having to fight the Partisans as well as the Huns and the Italians.’
‘Which is why we need to get someone in there to talk to Tito,’ Deakin pressed.
‘We shall have to wait and see how London reacts to the latest news,’ Davidson said. ‘Leo, can you draft a signal?’
‘Of course.’ Leo went back to her own office wrestling with conflicting emotions. Was this good news for Alix or not? Obviously there had been fighting, but if Tito’s forces had been victorious surely that must mean there was a good chance she had not been hurt? Better to be on the winning side than on the losing one. But there was a wider context to think about. If the Partisans were to end up controlling large parts of Yugoslavia, what did that mean for the future? Would they ever allow King Peter to return? And what about the men who served him? Suddenly the realisation came to her that even when peace came, they might never be able to go home. A vision of Kuca Magnolja, their beautiful country house, came into her mind and with it a sudden surge of homesickness. She was English and she still had a home there, but it was in Serbia that she had made her life with Sasha. And what of him? She might be able to reconcile herself to living in England, but he would never be happy there. She sighed, shook her head and forced herself to concentrate on the job in hand.
Over the last weeks Bill Hudson had sent a series of messages analysing in detail the weakness of the Chetnik organisation. This, while it provided valuable information to the War Office in London, was also a source of comfort to Leo. If Bill could not be brought back to Cairo, at least this regular contact assured her that he was still alive, though with the latest news it seemed the whole British mission might be in danger.
Over the following days, messages from London kept them informed of developments. Churchill had sent a personal note to Professor Jovanovic, the Prime Minister of the Yugoslav government in exile, expressing his dismay at the situation. Jovanovic had responded by sending a message to Mihailovic telling him that it was vital he return to Lipovo and renew contact with the British mission. He told him that the gist of his speech at the christening had been relayed to him and that as a result he had received a sharp rebuke from the British Prime Minister. After some delay Mihailovic responded complaining that the arms he had received so far would not be enough to equip even two hundred men and denying any collaboration with the Italians. Jovanovic replied with a much longer message warning him that if he did not change his ways the British government might withdraw all support, which would in the end be much more valuable than that of the Italians, and reminding him that it was the Germans and the Italians who were tearing his country apart and it was against them that his efforts must be directed.
The message must have had its desired effect because the next day Leo carried a message from Bailey into Davidson’s office.
‘He says Mihailovic has come back to Lipovo but he’s on the run. The Partisans are at Savnik, which is only about twenty miles away. They may have to evacuate Lipovo.’
Deakin came into the office. ‘I’ve just had a brainwave. We’ve got those Canadian Yugoslavs kicking their heels in that villa out in the desert. They are desperate for some action. They are all ex-pats, with friends and family back home in Yugoslavia. If we were to drop a few of them to areas close to their home villages, they would have an immediate back-up and they could melt back into the landscape without alerting the Huns. They are all communists, so they would be acceptable to Tito, and if we send them with a radio set they can give us up-to-date, on the spot information about the situation. What do you think?’
‘I’m getting hints from London that they are coming round to the idea of co-operating with Tito,’ Davidson said. ‘Get out there and talk to the Canadians. If some of them really do have good contacts on the ground, and they are willing to go, we’ll see what can be arranged.’
‘You’d better take James Klugmann with you,’ Leo said. ‘They won’t listen to anyone else.’
‘You’ve been there, haven’t you?’ Deakin said. ‘Fancy coming along for the ride?’
‘Brace yourself,’ Leo said as they drew up outside the villa. ‘The décor is… well let’s say not quite in keeping with its current use. It used to be an upmarket brothel.’
They found Klugmann already at the villa, addressing a dozen or so large, hard-bitten men whose appearance contrasted comically with the pink satin lampshades and soft furnishings of the villa. With his ever-present cigarette between his lips and the smoke curling up to cloud his glasses, he was engaging them in a discussion of dialectical materialism. Deakin apologised for the interruption and asked if he might have a few words. Klugmann yielded the floor and the assembled Canadians regarded Deakin with gloomy suspicion.
‘I understand you are all desperate to see some action,’ he began. There was a stir among his audience and a subtle change in the atmosphere. ‘I’m here to offer some of you a chance of that. How many of you still have family or close friends living in Yugoslavia?’ Nine or ten hands went up. ‘And how many of you could be sure that if you were to suddenly reappear among them no one would either deliberately or accidentally give you away to the occupying forces?’ One or two hands wavered and then dropped. ‘And would those of you with their hands up be prepared to be dropped “blind” somewhere near your home villages?’ There was a growl of eager affirmation.
Deakin spread a map on the table and asked the remaining volunteers to come up and show him exactly where their families lived. Leo made a note of their names and the locations and when they were finished Deakin said, ‘I’m not making any promises. We shall have to take this information back to HQ and see where we go from there. But if the plan works out, some of you may be going home sooner than you expected.’
Back at Rustum Buildings, the map and the names were laid out and possibilities were discussed. Messages were sent back to London and replies were received. Finally, the decision was made. Two missions would be sent, one designated Operation Fungus, the other Operation Hoathley. Their objective was to contact local Partisan leaders and if possible find out where Tito’s headquarters was situated. The Canadians had all been through parachute training before coming to Cairo, so all that remained was to organise transport.
The two missions were dropped into Bosnia and Croatia on April 21st and 22nd. A day later, one group made radio contact. They had dropped successfully and had arrived at the main command centre of the Partisans in Croatia.