Behind the Lines in Greece
The Story of OSS Operational Group II
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
‘Suddenly for a split second there is an opening in the clouds, an opening so small as to show only the least bit of blue; yet in that split second a plane darts through the aperture and circles over Karditsa. We held our breath lest the ack-ack [anti-aircraft] guns open up on him . . . He unconcernedly inspects the valley looking for our fires. After he decides we are not there he hops the small line of hills separating us from Karditsa and begins a similar systematic search of our little valley. The moment he spots us he tips his wings as if to say “Oh there you are” and circles in for a perfect landing. The tent is already dissembled and the patient [is] by the runway as he taxis up. Loading the lieutenant is a problem since there is a place for head and feet but no support in between. Bob squeezes beneath him and kneeling, held him up all the way to Italy. I yelled to the pilot ,”My gosh, I could kiss you”.
‘“Never mind that now, there’s three Spitties [Spitfires, British fighter aircraft] upstairs waiting for me.” And so they were off and though I will only give him a 50-50 chance of living I am happy to be rid of him.
‘Back at Neohorion I went to sleep in a moment. I would have slept the whole day and night except that I was awakened at 1700 hours by Sergeant Parkin with a wireless message reading: ‘Giannaris arrived here OK. Doctors give you great credit for saving his life.’
‘Certainly, that alone was worth all the trouble and tribulation we went through.’
So recorded Lieutenant Robert Moyers, a 23-year-old OSS dentist from Iowa, who operated a hospital behind the lines in Greece during 1943-44. The date was September 17, 1944. The patient was a badly wounded 1st Lieutenant John Giannaris, commanding officer of OSS OG II, flown from this clandestine airstrip in an unarmed single-engine Lysander, piloted by British Flight Officer Norman H. Attenborrow.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Behind the Lines in Greece is the story of twenty-two enlisted men and two officers of Operational Group II of the Office of Strategic Services, predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency, who served in German-occupied Greece in 1944. All but one of the men were fluent in Greek. (The exception was an Irish-American.) Some were U.S. born, the sons of Greek immigrants; others were recent arrivals in the United States. Some had jumped ship in U.S. ports. A few had previously served in the Greek Army. This non-fiction book is based primarily on documents in the U. S. National Archives, including the official history of OG II. Other Archives sources include a record of the debriefing of the first leader of OG II, Lt. John Giannaris, after he was severely wounded, the diary of Robert Moyers, the OSS dentist serving as a physician who ministered to Giannaris at the clandestine airstrip where he awaited evacuation to Italy, the recently released of the men of OG II, and material from interviews with Giannaris and Nicholas Pappas (second leader of OG II). OG II, alone or with small British forces and Andartes (Greek partisans), participated in 14 operations against the Germans.They destroyed three locomotives and 31 railroad cars, six trucks, mined roads and blew up almost 7500 yards of rail. During Operation 10, Lt. Giannaris was severely wounded by a land mine when he tried to aid one of his men who had been killed. Almost two weeks later, and near death, he was evacuated to Italy from a clandestine airstrip in a single-engine Lysander, a daring daylight rescue flight by British Flight Officer Norman Attenborrow. After Giannaris was wounded, the Group was commanded by Lt. Nicholas Pappas.
About the Author
Robert E. Perdue,Jr., a World War II veteran, was Lieutenant, Platoon Leader, with the 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101 Airborne Divisoon. He has a BS in botany from the University of Maryland and PhD from Harvard University. After retirement in 1989 as a Research Scientist with the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture his interest turned to history. His memoir of his WW II experience, published in part in "After the Battle", led to an interest in OSS events in Greece.