Operation Halyard

Operation Halyard was a secret mission during World War II in which Allied forces, primarily American, helped rescue thousands of downed Allied airmen trapped in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia. The operation involved coordinating with local Chetnik guerrillas to locate and transport the captured pilots to safety, often through difficult terrain. Conducted from 1944 to 1945, it saved around 500 Allied soldiers from imprisonment, torture, or execution, and remains one of the largest rescue efforts of its kind behind enemy lines. The mission demonstrated effective cooperation between military and local resistance groups in complex wartime circumstances.