The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II

Chapter 9 explains why the Allies came to regard Mihailovich as untrustworthy. From the British perspective, the civil war between Mihailovich and Tito is a nuisance compared to the Nazi threat. British agents in Yugoslavia report that Tito’s forces fight the Germans more often than do Mihailovich’s troops. This leads to false rumors that Mihailovich either has collaborated with the Nazis or would be willing to do so to save Yugoslavia from Communism. Mihailovich hurts his own cause in February 1943, when he declares that the British are “fighting to the last Serb in Yugoslavia” (134), that the Western democracies cannot be trusted, and that his first priority is to deal with Tito’s Partisans and other Yugoslav enemies. This speech rankles Churchill and fuels anti-Mihailovich sentiment in British officialdom.

Vujnovich knows too much of Yugoslavia’s history and internal politics to accept the anti-Mihailovich position at face value. At his urging, Musulin investigates the situation from inside Yugoslavia in 1943 and concludes that the Chetniks represent a loyal and viable fighting force. Furthermore, Musulin notes that the Serbian people love Americans and will risk their lives for the Allied cause despite receiving little support from the British.