2013 - "The Secret Rescue" by Cate Lineberry

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

This book is open for a buddy read commencing in May 2013. Please join and discuss the book here:


by Cate Lineberry
Description:
The compelling untold story of a group of stranded U.S. Army nurses and medics fighting to escape Nazi-occupied Europe.

When 26 Army nurses and medics-part of the 807th Medical Air Evacuation Transport Squadron-boarded a cargo plane for transport in November 1943, they never anticipated the crash landing in Nazi-occupied Albania that would lead to their months-long struggle for survival. A drama that captured the attention of the American public, the group and its flight crew dodged bullets and battled blinding winter storms as they climbed mountains and fought to survive, aided by courageous villagers who risked death at Nazi hands to help them.

A mesmerizing tale of the courage and heroism of ordinary people, THE SECRET RESCUE tells not only a new story of struggle and endurance, but also one of the daring rescue attempts by clandestine American and British organizations amid the tumultuous landscape of the war.

[Cate]

Thanks to Aussie Rick for setting up this thread! I am the author of "The Secret Rescue," which comes out on May 7. I would love to participate in the buddy read, and answer any readers questions. - Cate

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Thanks Cate for agreeing to join in, I am sure the members will really appreciate the opportunity to chat with you about your very interesting book.

[Laurel]

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Thanks Cate for agreeing to join in, I am sure the members will really appreciate the opportunity to chat with you about your very interesting book."
Rick
I pre-ordered Cate' s book, looking forward to reading it.

[Darcy]

I too am looking forward to reading this book.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Excellent news, you will have the author with you as you go and she will love to answer any questions you may have.

[A.L.]

It sounds like an amazing story. I've heard bits and pieces about what happened and I'm looking forward to reading a more complete version, and to discussing it with all of you!

[Courtney]

Oh, this book looks fascinating!! I can't wait to read it!

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Hopefully you can join the folks reading it sometime in May-June :)

[Darcy]

This arrived today. But I'll wait a bit until others have sourced theirs before starting.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Good to hear your copy arrived OK D. Hopefully the others can join you shortly and you can get started, it sounds like a very interesting book.

[Cate]

Thought I'd let the group know that I'll be answering questions about the book on Twitter this Tuesday (the book's pub date) at 1 pm EST. Little, Brown will moderate the chat. Thanks to everyone who is planning on reading The Secret Rescue! @littlebrown @catelineberry

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Sounds like an excellent opportunity to catch up with the author and ask some questions :)

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Has anyone started reading this book yet? If so what do you think of it so far?

[Laurel]

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Has anyone started reading this book yet? If so what do you think of it so far?"

Hoping to start it soon, but want to finish my "bulge" book first.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Good to hear Laurel, no rush, enjoy your reading :)

[Darcy]

I'll be starting it on Monday if all goes well.

[Cate]

Hope you like it. Happy to answer any questions you may have in the course of your reading.

Cate

[A.L.]

Laurel wrote: Hoping to start it soon, but want to finish my "bulge" book first."

Me too--still working (OK, barely starting) my bulge read. Maybe my kiddos will let me read a bunch over the weekend and I can start next week with Darcy?

[John]

Cate wrote: "Hope you like it. Happy to answer any questions you may have in the course of your reading.

Cate"

I was just going out to look for the book, but I would be interested to hear how you found out about this story.

[Cate]

Hi John,

I discovered the story in a historic newspaper article while doing some other WW2 research. Once I found out one of the medics was still alive and willing to work with me exclusively and after doing some extensive research, I decided I had enough to tell the full story.

[John]

Hi Cate

How fortunate to find one still alive! Every year there are less of that generation still around. Thank goodness you and others keep these stories alive.

John

[Cate]

Thanks, John! Harold Hayes is 91 and has an incredible memory. I spent a lot of time interviewing him in person but he's also great on email! He's an amazing man.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

I missed this as I was reading other items but have added to my TBR as it looks very interesting. Good for you Cate to join in and answer people's questions too.

[Colin]

It is amazing that some of these guys have great memories. I have interviewed many in their 80s, 90s and a few over 100. I have three Luftwaffe pilots, 2 Me-262 jet pilots, over 90, still very mentally active.

[Darcy]

It struck me that Shumway was the de-facto leader on the plane, but once they were in Albania, leadership among the group isn't all that clear, at least not within the first 80 pages. I am amazed at (view spoiler)[how trusting the nurses and medics were of the partisans. True they were in an unknown place and didn't have a lot of choice, but despite their suspicions, they seemed to defer to Gina. (hide spoiler)]

ETA: if I'd just waited 2 more pages...

[A.L.]

I'm just starting the book. I enjoyed this story from chapter one:
(view spoiler)[ Col. Florence Blanchfield, the assistant superintendent of the ANC, had ordered flight nurses who were wearing the more practical men’s one-piece flight suits without authorization back into their regulation skirts. That policy changed after Blanchfield showed up at Bowman Field wearing the popular “pinks and greens” dress uniform, an olive-drab jacket with a taupe skirt. Having never flown before, the colonel accepted the offer of a demonstration flight. As she awkwardly tried to put on the required parachute while wearing a skirt, the nurses on board explained to her that she would only need to lace it into position in an emergency. Soon after takeoff, the plane experienced engine trouble and the pilot announced that all on board should prepare to jump. Blanchfield fumbled with fastening her parachute until the pilot was able to restart the engine. Shortly after, flight nurses were allowed to forgo their skirts and given slate-blue uniforms consisting of short Eisenhower jackets with waistbands and matching pants and caps. (hide spoiler)]

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

That's a great story from the book A.L., thanks for sharing.

[Cate]

Hi Darcy: Yes, the leadership in the group was not clear. That may have been because Thrasher, the pilot and senior officer, was only 22 and the ages of the group ranged from 19-36. The co-pilot Baggs, who was 28 and had more experience, often seemed to step in as the leader, according to Harold Hayes. I too was amazed at how trusting the group was at the beginning but I don't think they felt they had any alternatives with the Germans close by and they were pretty shaken from the crash-landing.


A.L.: I loved that anecdote too. Can you imagine if the nurses had been in skirts while climbing mountains and facing blizzards?

If anyone has questions, I'm happy to answer them.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Hi Cate and thanks for those details, very interesting and thanks again for your offer to answer questions from those members reading your book.

[John]

In all the WW2 books I have read I don't know if I have ever heard of any mention of the MAETS group. This makes the book all the more interesting.

[John]

Just finished the book and thoroughly enjoyed it. A well written, interesting story. Thanks Cate! Can't wait for your next book.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Thanks for the feedback John, I'm sure Cate will be most pleased to hear you enjoyed her book.

[Cate]

Thanks, John! Glad you liked it. I found the info on MAETS interesting too. I'd never heard of it before researching the book.

[A.L.]

I'm curious if anyone knows more about the BK. Did they have much in the way of central leadership? Or was each band free to work with whoever they wanted, as long they worked against the communists?

I was also amused by the nurses' habits of pulling their make-up out for a quick "freshen-up" before entering villages.

[Laurel]

I am a bit late finishing Cate's book, but I am really glad that I had the chance to read it. Like many others, I had never heard of MAETS, nor did I know much about Àlbania. It's amazing to think that they could endure such an ordeal and not lose a member of their group. When I started the book, I assumed that at least a few would be killed, or die from illness or exposure.

I was also surprised that it took such a long time for the details of their story to come to light. Cate has done an phenomenal job telling their story. I did learn a few other interesting items. For example, I had never heard about the sinking of the ship that resulted in the release of poison gases. Additionally, hearing about Sterling Heyden and Anthony Quayle was especially interesting. Ironically, while I was reading about the group hiking through the mountains, and not knowing which Albanians they could trust, reminded me of parts of "The Guns of Navarone", while they were hiking through the Greek countryside, hiding from the Germans.

It was helpful to have the evolution of medical evacuation by air transport, outlined in Cate's book. This was another area I was interested to learn about.

I think it is a little sad that these men and women never really got the public acclaim they deserved. I am so glad, for their sake and their families, that Cate has brought their story to light. My review of the book is here. http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Colin]

Albania was really the forgotten front in the Balkans during WW I. King Zog and his collection of zealots were a real strange bunch. Ironically they did provide enough volunteers to create an Albanian Waffen SS regiment.

[Laurel]

Colin wrote: "Albania was really the forgotten front in the Balkans during WW I. King Zog and his collection of zealots were a real strange bunch. Ironically they did provide enough volunteers to create an Alban..."

Hi. I just added my review of Cate's book to the post you just read. I had posted it elsewhere, but decided to add it here, too.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Hi Laurel, This may interest you and others who enjoyed Cate's book as it cover's Britain's book Special Operations Executive (SOE) in Albania and also makse mention of Anthony Quayle by Roderick Bailey

[Laurel]

Geevee wrote: "Hi Laurel, This may interest you and others who enjoyed Cate's book as it cover's Britain's book Special Operations Executive (SOE) in Albania and also makse mention of Anthony Quayle [bookcover:Th..."

Thanks for the suggestion, Geevee. I will check it out.

[Colin]

Geevee wrote: "Hi Laurel, This may interest you and others who enjoyed Cate's book as it cover's Britain's book Special Operations Executive (SOE) in Albania and also makse mention of Anthony Quayle [bookcover:Th..."

My old book German Anti-Partisan Warfare in Europe also has a section on SOE in Albania, with reports from the declassified archives at Kew.

[happy]

for those interested Cate was on BookTV last weekend

Here is a link to her speech/Q&A

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/31...

The program will be reaired this Sunday Jun 23 at 9 AM EDT

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Thanks for the link Happy.

[Cate]

Just wanted to let the group know that for today only "The Secret Rescue" is a Kindle Daily Deal - just $2.99

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html...

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Excellent news Cate, fingers crossed a few members grab a copy at that price :)

[Mike, Assisting Moderator US Forces]

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "Excellent news Cate, fingers crossed a few members grab a copy at that price :)"

I did!

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Should have figured!

:-)

[happy]

I finally got around reading this one and here are my thoughts

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Another good review Happy, thanks for sharing.

[Mike, Assisting Moderator US Forces]

Like the review, happy.