SOE Aid To Evading Airmen - Yugoslavia

Emoryk

New Member
Greetings,

I am researching what I hope will eventually be a book about downed Allied bomber crews and fighter pilots evading in Yugoslavia. I currently have much better information about the downed airmen than I do for the British SOE, ISLD, and IS 9 personnel and missions who aided their evasions.

Many airmen evading from northwest Yugoslavia and northern Italy traveled a very indirect route from Chiapovano (today Cepovan, Slovenia) to Skrad, and then to Glina and Topusko (south of Zagreb). From there, they traveled to Slunj and Korenica (Croatia), eventually reaching Zara (today Zadar, Croatia) on the Adriatic for evacuation by aircraft or ship. This is my main focus - Any information about British personnel or missions stationed along these evasion routes would be much appreciated.

More specifically…

1.) British Captain Richard Byrd appears in numerous Escape and Evasion reports. Evading US airmen consistently had very high praise for his efforts in Glina and Topusko. (Winston Churchill’s son Randolph and the famous writer Evelyn Waugh were also in this area for intelligence-gathering and liaison with Tito’s Partisans, as was Major Franklin Lindsay of the OSS. But it was Byrd who primarily aided airmen there.) Unfortunately, I have found almost no information about where Richard Byrd came from, where else he may have served other than Glina and Topusko, and what became of him after the war. Who was this man?

2.) The British mission in Skrad was headed by a Captain Harrison, and he also aided numerous evading airmen. I don’t even have a first name for this man, although one Escape and Evasion report said he was with the Royal Engineers, possibly meaning that he had been recruited from the Royal Engineers for special operations in Yugoslavia. Can anyone further identify the Captain Harrison at Skrad, or provide information about the British mission there?

3.) Here’s a real challenge: A British corporal was based at Mrkopalj. His main duty was to operate a drop zone for supplies, but he also helped evading bomber crews who were hiking to Captain Harrison’s mission at Skrad via Mrkopalj. Several crewmen mentioned him when they gave their escape statements, but he is only identified as a “British corporal” or “radio operator.” Can we identify this corporal or learn more about his drop zone at Mrkopalj?

4.) I.S. 9 had a mission at Chiapovano (Cepovan, Slovenia), but I am not finding much information about this operation. I have just a wee bit of information about a Captain Hugh Gibbs there, but I would like to learn more about him. (Gibbs eventually hiked all the way to Crnomelj with some evading airmen, and departed Yugoslavia from there.) One Escape and Evasion report instead mentions a Captain “Sogar” at Chiapovano/Cepovan. The spelling of “Sogar” cannot be trusted, as evading airmen would often mishear a name and then later mispronounce it to the interviewer preparing their escape statement, who in turn would invent a bad phonetic spelling. Who is Captain “Sogar,” and what adventures did he have around Cepovan?

There was a drop-zone mission at Circhina (today Cerkno, Slovenia) that received supplies for the Partisans. Cerkno is rather near Cepovan. Were these two entirely separate missions, or were they connected?

5.) I found one reference to the “Crayon Mission.” Any idea which mission (which town) this was?

I have several more of these puzzles if anyone is interested, but this is probably more than enough for one message. Any information or suggestions about British special-operations personnel interacting with downed airmen in Croatia and Slovenia would be welcome - particularly for airmen who went to Skrad, Glina, Topusko, and Zara in late 1944 or 1945.

Thanks,

Emory Kimbrough
 
Evading Aircrew were also airlifted out on landing grounds ran by the BATS = Balkan Air Terminal Service manned by RAF personnel. Up to twelve aircraft could be turned around in a very short time-span bringing out used parachutes, partisan wounded, as well as evaders. 6 BATS teams were formed. Transport for them were Welbikes and air landed jeeps.
 
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