OSS Slovenia
OSS / SOE Ops Slovenia 1944
There's little to none known about SOE and OSS Ops in Slovenia during WWII
Rehavam Amir Ziablodovsky
The course must, at the same time, receive additional training for departure. Among other things, he also participated in a parachute course, designed for agents who volunteered to drop behind enemy lines, run by the British ISLD (Inter Service Liason Department).
After delays in the execution of the mission plan, in October 1943, about a month after his marriage, the order was issued and Amir boarded a ship from Alexandria to Bari, Italy. In Italy, he contacted the commanders of Eretz Israel camps in the city of Salerno, on the border of the Allied territory, and transferred them a sum of money from the Jewish Agency. He then returned to Bari, and from there on a torpedo boat arrived at Vis Island (VIS), which was controlled by Tito’s partisans. The mission of the island was to join the ISLD representative on the spot, and establish direct contact with the headquarters in Bari. During his stay on the island, he contacted various forces that passed through him, including with Israeli volunteers. He also met Jewish refugees who were smuggled into the island by partisans. These refugees conveyed the news of soldiers from Israel in Europe, and of the refugee camps set up in liberated southern Italy, and which were handled by Israeli soldiers.
Left on the photo with Yakov Shapira (right )
On Passover 1944, Amir returned to Bari for his departure on the original mission, where he was also appointed a lieutenant . On the night of May 12-13, 1944 he was dropped in an area controlled by partisans Ljubljana, Slovenia. His mission there included: Tracing of a British mission that parachuted into the area and contact was lost with ; Dealing with the refinement of methods of linking partisan headquarters, and training partisans with communication and encryption methods;
Having direct wireless contact with the SOE headquarters in Bari.. He spent several months in the area, after which he flew back to Bari for three weeks, and returned to the area with supplies and new equipment. In late 1944, after 3 missions across enemy lines, Amir returned to his homeland in Israel.
OSS HDQ Bari 1944
Capt. Charles "Charlie" O. Fisher (MIA Dec 27,1944)
Captain Charles "Charlie" O. Fisher at the American Red Cross Club in July 1944 while in Bari. Captain Charles Fisher who was myseriously captured and executed same day on 27 December 1944 in Slovenia. His original mission was to use Slovenia as a springboard into Slovakia and Austria connecting with partisans in that country. Below is a portion of his Distinguished Service Cross Citation, posthumously awarded on January 11, 1946. His remains were not recovered until 1992.
"For extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving with the 2677th Regiment, Office of Strategic Services, Mediterranean Theater of Operations, in action against enemy forces from 27 August 27 to 24 December 1944. With full knowledge of the dangers involved, Captain Fisher volunteered to establish an advance intelligence and operations base with the Partisans in enemy-held Slovenia. As Commanding Officer of this unit, he organized, trained, equipped and carried it safely through an extremely hazardous mission. For four months, behind enemy lines, under constant pressure from the enemy he accomplished the collection of secret intelligence of strategic value to the Allied Forces in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, working at all times under the most difficult and perilous conditions. The continuance of his operations was subject to the further hardships of living in inaccessible mountainous terrain in bitter weather and of constant moving to evade enemy attacks. About December 1944, Captain Fisher was reported missing following a previous attack on the Partisan Headquarters with which he was working, and subsequent attempts to gain further information as to his fate led only to the conclusion that he was killed in action."
OSS HDQ Bari 1944
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