New Military Thriller Based on WWII's Operation Halyard

Kensington Books is set to publish a WWII historical thriller based on a landmark event in aviation history - RED BURNING SKY: A WWII Novel Inspired by the Greatest Aviation Rescue in History, (on-sale Feb. 22, 2022 / HC, $27.00).

The book is based on Operation Halyard, a heroic and dangerous mission to rescue hundreds of Allied airmen caught in Nazi-held Yugoslavia. The operation brought together American special ops officers, airmen, and local guerilla fighters in Yugoslavia’s green hills. Facing overwhelming odds, it’s considered the greatest rescue operation of World War II.

Air combat veteran Tom Young’s ability to write vivid, astonishing scenes of airborne combat and military strategy come from experience: A decorated air combat veteran who flew in Afghanistan and Iraq, he has logged more than 5000 hours and retired as Senior Master Sergeant from the Air Guard after over 20 years. His military honors include three Air Medals, three Aerial Achievement Medals, and the Air Force Combat Action Medal.

Young contributed to the anthology Operation Homecoming: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Home Front, in the Words of U.S. Troops and Their Families, published in 2006. His narrative in Operation Homecoming, “Night Flight to Baghdad,” was excerpted in an article in Stars and Stripes.

The book opens with a thrilling sequence: Pilot Bill Bogdonavich’s B-24 Liberator has just been shot. He is forced to eject and parachutes down into a land of two wars. Yugoslavia isn’t just at war against Nazi occupiers, but at war with itself – embroiled in a gruesome civil war.

Simultaneously, Lieutenant Drew Carlton is instructing new military pilots on training sorties at Bergstom Airforce Base, Texas – a job he considers the ultimate humiliation. His flying proficiency is the only thing sparing him the disgrace of a discharge. When the opportunity arises to volunteer for an operation requiring short-field takeoffs and landings in German-occupied territory – a mission for which there may be no return – he easily signs on.

Of his previous military thriller, Silver Wings, Iron Cross, Publishers Weekly noted the book is “Exciting… Genre fans will find a lot to like.”

“One of the most exciting new thriller talents in years!” —Vince Flynn

“Young has a gift for allowing the reader to experience the emotional aspect of being a soldier . . . Military-thriller fans should make Young’s work an essential addition to their reading lists.” —Booklist, STARRED REVIEW

More about the book is here: Amazon.com: Red Burning Sky: A WWII Novel Inspired by the Greatest Aviation Rescue in History: 9781496732941: Young, Tom: Books

 

I never knew B-24's had ejector seats. You learn something new every day!

 

There is an extensive Wiki on this: Operation Halyard - Wikipedia and a 2021 documentary:

Plus a long article: Operation Halyard, One of the Great Rescue Stories of WWII

 

One airman, Richard Felman, recalls later that pilots were advised to avoid sebian chetniks since ", they were German collaborationsts" and if were caught chetniks would cut off their ears (??), and to find partisans who are the allies.

Chetniks never harmed any allied person, despite they were very angry with British since they hold them betrayals to satisfy Stalin's appetites with switching support to comunist partisans.

They did everything they could to help airmen, hid, fed them and protected them.

David Martn collected airmen testimonials in the book " Patriot or Traitor".

Truth was also that partisans helped evacuation of many, maybe more than 2000 allied personel as well. Some of them weren't treated well, since communists regarded them political enemies (capitalists), but in general, airmen in most cases returned safely to their bases if captured by chetniks or partisans.

And both resistances sacrificed lives of their own people in some instances to protect allies.