Beyond the Call: The True Story of One World War II Pilot's Covert Mission to Rescue POWs on the Eastern Front - Hardcover

Trimble, Lee; Dronfield, Jeremy

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9780425276044: Beyond the Call: The True Story of One World War II Pilot's Covert Mission to Rescue POWs on the Eastern Front

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 042527604X ISBN 13: 9780425276044

Publisher: Dutton Caliber, 2015

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This is the inspiring true story of Captain Robert Trimble, who laid his life on the line to rescue hundreds of World War II POWs, including women and children, on the Eastern Front.
Near the end of World War II, thousands of Allied and civilian ex-prisoners of war were abandoned to wander the war-torn Eastern Front. With no food, shelter, or supplies, the POWs were at great risk of perishing. As the Red Army advanced across Poland, the Nazi prison camps were liberated. In defiance of humanity, the freed camp inmates were discarded without aid. The Soviets viewed POWs as cowards, and regarded all refugees as potential spies or partisans. Thus many including civilians, were rounded up again and put in detention camps.

The United States repeatedly offered to help, but were refused. With relations between the Allies strained and the crisis growing, an eleventh-hour plan was conceived for an undercover rescue mission. In total secrecy, the OSS chose an obscure American air force detachment stationed at a Ukrainian airfield. The man they picked to undertake it was veteran 8th Air Force bomber pilot Captain Robert Trimble.

With little covert training, Trimble took the mission. He would survive by wit, courage, and determination. This is the compelling true story of an American hero, who risked everything to bring his fellow soldiers and abandoned civilians home to safety and freedom.
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From the Author:

During my childhood, I was told nothing about my father's covert wartime exerience. He was just a typical dad. In 2006 when he was 86 years old, I decided to ask him about his wartime exploits. He told me the stories I expected, about piloting heavy bombers over Germany. But then he slipped and mentioned his depression about Russia, and a mission for the OSS. Suddenly he became someone I hardly knew. At first I was unsure what to make of it. Could such an incredible story really be true? After his death, I began to look into the story, beginning an in-depth research project. I uncovered supporting documentary evidence which proved that Captain Trimble's story was true in every detail.

About the Author:

Lee Trimble was born in 1950, the son of Captain Robert M. Trimble. He was educated in science and technology at Pennsylvania State University and received an MS at Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey. He worked in research and development on lasers, electronics, and semiconductors, and has been a scientific writer and reviewer for various scholarly and professional journals. He has lately retired from the tech world, and works rehabilitating problem dogs, including work in conjunction with SPCA International and the U.S. military on “Operation Baghdad Pups.”

Jeremy Dronfield is a multi-faceted writer, biographer, and novelist, with a special interest in WWII aviation. He began in archaeology, gaining his PhD at Cambridge University. In 1997 his debut novel, The Locust Farm, was a bestseller in the United Kingdom. He is also the author of Resurrecting Salvador, Burning Blue (a novel about the experiences of a U.S. pilot in WWII), and the critically acclaimed The Alchemist’s Apprentice. He is also coauthor of several historical biographies, including one about the life of the Russian spy Moura Budberg.

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