Odyssey to freedom: Remembering a daring escape from behind enemy lines

Published Nov. 8, 2013
By Judith Taylor, Senior Historian, Air Force Medical Service
Air Force Medical Operations Agency

Joint Base San Antonio, Lackland -- In November 1943, a plane carrying 26 flight nurses and technicians crashed into the hills of Albania, which began a months-long odyssey toward freedom for the downed Airmen. The C-47 transport plane carrying the medics of the newly formed 807th Medical Air Evacuation Transport Squadron veered off course in a storm and the pilot was forced to ditch the plane in the countryside.

The trip overseas had already been a near-death experience for the medics. The ship, Santa Elena, which was carrying them to North Africa had come under assault from German fighters. Before leaving Africa for their new headquarters in Catania, Sicily, the group was again attacked by enemy planes, sending them scrambling for cover.

A month before the crash, the medics and nurses had settled into their new duty station and had started flying. In their first three weeks of evacuations, the 807th flew 1,651 patients to hospitals around the Mediterranean. On November 8, after being grounded for three days, they boarded a plane that was to carry them to Bari and Grottaglie to pick up a large number of patients that had been stacking up waiting for transport. The 807th's commander, Capt. William P. McKnight had never sent so many medics on one flight, and he never did again.

Once airborne, the fates seemed to conspire against them. Storms, fog, faulty compass, a loss of radio communications, looming waterspouts, coupled with the lack of required communication identification codes left the flight crew scrambling for options as flight conditions deteriorated. Climbing above the storms was out--the enlisted medics only had light field jackets and the outside temperature at higher altitudes was 30 degrees Fahrenheit, besides the wings would begin to ice at higher altitudes. The plane didn't carry enough parachutes to bail out (most of the medics parachutes had been stolen on the trip from the U.S.). The medics and flight crew eventually decided to make a water landing even though they were two life jackets short. But then, the crew spotted an airfield about five miles away.

The pilots circled the field and prepared to make a landing when someone on the ground shot at the plane. What the crew thought was an abandoned German airfield wasn't abandoned at all. The pilot jammed the throttle forward in an attempt to make a hasty exit as the fighters on the field began to power up. Although they eluded the German Fw190s by staying in the clouds, the pilots knew they couldn't stay hidden forever. They found a small patch of ground and set down. Amazingly everyone survived the crash although the crew chief, Sgt. Willis Shumway was badly injured.

They were met by Hasan Gina, a partisan leader who took the shaken medics and aircrew to safety. The Americans grabbed what they thought they could carry, including the single gun on the aircraft, and destroyed the classified coding equipment to keep it from falling into German hands--then made a hasty retreat before the Germans arrived.

Before them now was a 600-mile winter trek across half of Albania and back again.
For the next two months, the group dodged Germans, and members of the Balli Kombëtar (a rival group also fighting the Germans), and walked most of the 650 miles to freedom. They crossed over Mount Ostrovicë during a blizzard and even traversed Mount Nemëçkë, which rose 8,100 feet above sea level. These were particularly hazardous times for the enlisted men as they were still wearing only light field jackets. The group took shelter where they could find it and existed only on what food locals could spare, which most of the time was very little.

The U.S. Army had realized quickly that they had a problem when the plane didn't appear at its destination. With little to go on, there was no way to begin searching for the missing aircraft--they just didn't have any idea where it was.

About three weeks into their ordeal the stranded group learned that British agents were operating in Albania. When British operatives Lt. Gavan Duffy and Sgt. Herbert Bell, heard about the medics whereabouts, they immediately set out to intercept the group and lead them to the coast. In the meantime, having been notified that the medics were alive and safe, the U.S. government sent OSS agent Lloyd Smith, to meet the weary medics and accompany them home.

Christmas came and went, and the team was still in Albania. During the last week of December, the medics learned that the Army would attempt an airlift--and they would soon be safe behind allied lines. The group made it to the rendezvous point and watched in awe as 31 P-38s, one British Wellington bomber, and two C-47s circled the field. Hope turned to despair as the awaiting medics were forced to remain hidden, unable to signal the planes, because German troops were in the area. Eventually the planes returned home. Now, the only course of action for the sick and exhausted medics was the continued trek to the coast.

On January 9, 1945, the ragged group finally made it to the coast and onto a boat that would carry them home, but they were missing part of the team. On November 15, while the medics were hiding in Berat, the town came under attack from the Germans. Three of the nurses were separated from the group and remained trapped in the village. On January 6, two British operatives attempted to extract the three out of Berat, but were betrayed by a local leader. The agents were warned ahead and were able to escape, but the nurses remained behind.

Finally, on March 19, the three remaining nurses joined up with agent Lloyd Smith. Two days later the last of the group made their daring escape from Albania.

USAF. (U.S. Air Force Graphic by Rosario "Charo" Gutierrez)