Gillanders, Lindsay Frontline Medic & SOE Agent

The WW2 Memoir of William Gillanders MM

When World War II broke out, a young Scottish professional athlete who competed in the Highland Games enlisted in the army. Because he could drive a truck, Bill Gillanders was assigned to a blood transfusion unit of the Royal Army Medical Corps. He learned how to perform transfusions and was eventually sent alone on a journey to deliver blood and plasma to a casualty collection point in Dieppe, France. The war became horribly real for Bill when German tank divisions unleashed Hitler's blitzkrieg and overran northern France. His arduous journey home ended with a dramatic escape under fire and his return to Britain aboard a Royal Navy destroyer. However, Bill's war had only just begun. As the tide turned against the Axis powers in North Africa, Bill was unexpectedly recruited by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) for a secret mission in the Balkans. After intensive training, he was parachuted into Yugoslavia with the rank of sergeant as part of a team led by Major Dr Lindsay Rogers, a New Zealand surgeon with whom he had served in the desert. In this harsh and brutal environment, Lindsay's SOE team infiltrated enemy-occupied territory as part of Mission Dafoe to support Tito's partisans. In makeshift hospitals in the mountains, with minimal supplies, his small unit cared for the wounded while political tensions simmered beneath the surface. Bill recounts many dramatic and now historically fascinating events he witnessed, such as a massive German air raid to destroy Tito. Although their hospital was bombed in the middle of an operation, they fearlessly advanced into besieged Drvar to help wounded partisans and British SOE agents. Bill was awarded the Military Medal for his actions during these events. As Bill reveals in this book, he also led a group of about 100 downed American airmen on a 100-mile winter trek through German-controlled territory to a hidden airfield, from where they were evacuated to Italy. This is not just a soldier's account of his war or a gripping adventure story it is both.