Mission Dafoe was a World War II Special Operations Executive (SOE) medical and military expedition to Yugoslav Partisans in Eastern Bosnia.
The group was led by Major Colin Scott Dafoe, a Canadian-born surgeon, and included two young British Sergeants; Frank, a trained operating-room orderly and Chris, an anaesthetist "with limited experience".
By this time, Yugoslav Partisans led by Marshall Tito made significant wins and territory gains against both Italian and German war machines.
At the same time - frostbite, typhoid, scurvy, serious shrapnel and gunshot wounds required surgery, patient isolation and periods of hospitalisation, almost impossible to provide in such a volatile situation and affecting the soldiers' spirit.
[4] "The morale of the army was shown to be dependent, in an intimate and mutual bond between the fighting Partisan and his wounded or sick comrade, on its ability to protect the defenceless and to preserve the unity and order of the whole main body under operational conditions.
[5] Three months later, he was followed by a New Zealand surgeon, Major Lindsey Rogers and his team - Sergeants William (Bill) Gillanders (RAMC) and Ian McGregor (RAF).
With my previous experience I as able to cut out a lot of unnecessary stuff and concentrated, after the bare surgical essentials, on clothes, soap, candles, lamps, and things which make a wounded man comfortable.
There they met Captain Wilson's interpreter, a Canadian miner called George Diklić who arrived in April 1943 as part of Operation Hoathley 1.
[11] The following day Dafoe realised that his carefully selected and packed medical supplies were being opened and distributed by the Partisans before he had a chance to assemble them into a functioning hospital.
Assisted by Diklić, he was received immediately by the Generals Kosta Nađ and Jovan Vukotić, as well as their political commissar Vladimir Popović.
On his return, Dafoe met Mehmed Ramovic "Miki", a twenty-year-old student Partisan with good command of English, who became his local guide and interpreter.
They were provided with horses and were able to visit nearby locations, including underground storage and shelter where the patients and nurses would be hidden during the enemy offensives.
Dafoe was shocked with "the darkness, the damp, the shortage of food and potable water, the dismal sanitary conditions and the mental strain".
He instructed Marko to clean up the grounds, dig a latrine and cut a ditch to redirect a small stream that made the place muddy and attracted the wallowing pigs.
[17] In late-June 1944, Dafoe and the team were visited by Ian McGregor, who left Rogers's mission and was now looking to secure an airfield nearby for the evacuation of wounded to southern Italy.
[18] It was quickly built near the village of Osmaci and Dafoe was told to triage the patients and move those ready to leave accompanied by Dr Baboselac.
[19][20] One morning, Miki took Dafoe to the old church in Lovnica, which had been damaged by enemy action, and an outbuilding which was turned into a makeshift Partisan hospital.
Jordy and other nurses picked up the precious medical instruments and run into the hills, while other Partisans carried away the patients in their stretcher-beds to the underground shelter.
Sadly, not long after due to enemy action, the whole area had to be abandoned again, and Dafoe and the team had to move into the mountains, leaving her and the patients in the underground shelter.
[24] The risks were huge and at one point the column passed so close to the German troops that they had to move in silence - "wrapping the animal's hooves with shreds of clothing".
In the meantime, Dafoe agreed to assist the doctors Đorđe Dragić and Vlatko Ajzensteter who were running the 38th Division's hospital nearby.
After performing some initial operations, dr Dragić invited him to meet the Division commanders - Majors Milos Zekić and Husein Krupić, Captain Zvonko Grakalić and their political commissar Vladimir Rolović.
After reaching the village of Skugrići, they were hoping to arrange an airlift of the wounded from a nearby plateau, but unfortunately, they ended up surrounded with Chetnik and German troops and had to break out once again.