Albanian Escape: The True Story of U.S. Army Nurses behind Enemy Lines

McCormick, SC, Messenger
"An exciting account of American women's memoirs of their tremendous wartime service to their country."


Choice
“Examines how women avoided capture and successfully negotiated harsh, unknown terrain and foreign cultures in a politically chaotic region.”


Book Description
On November 8, 1943, U.S. Army nurse Agnes Jensen stepped out of a cold rain into a C-53 transport plane. But she and twelve other nurses never arrived in Bari, Italy, where they were to transport wounded soldiers to hospitals farther from the front lines. A violent storm and pursuit by German Messerschmitts led to a crash landing in a remote part of Albania, leaving the nurses, their team of medics, and flight crew stranded in German-occupied territory. What followed was a dangerous nine-week game of hide-and-seek with the enemy, a situation President Roosevelt monitored daily. Albanian partisans aided the stranded Americans in the search for a British Intelligence Mission, and the group began a long and hazardous journey to the Adriatic coast. During the following weeks, they crossed Albania’s second highest mountain in a blizzard, were strafed by German planes, managed to flee a town moments before it was bombed, and watched helplessly as an attempt to airlift them out was foiled by German forces. Albanian Escape is the suspense-filled story of the only group of Army flight nurses to have crash-landed and spent any length of time in occupied territory during World War II. The nurses and soldiers endured fridgid weather, survived on little food, and literally wore out their shoes trekking across the rugged countryside. Thrust into a perilous situation and determined to survive, these women found courage and strength in each other and in the kindnesses of Albanians and guerrillas who hid them from the Germans.


From the Publisher
"Albanian Escape is the saga of the most exhausting 800 miles and the longest nine weeks in the lives of 13 American Army nurses, their team of medics and two lieutenants and two sergeants who made up their initial four-man flight crew."--Stars and Stripes “A significant addition to nursing history literature, reminding us that though recognition of their heroism may be short-lived, nurses serving in the military play a vital role during war.”—American Journal of Nursing “Chronicles on an almost daily basis the activities of the American nurses and medical sergeants as they evaded the Germans, trekked mountain paths, and endured hardships before being led to the Adriatic coast and rescued.”—Army History “An exciting, suspenseful account. American women’s memoirs of their wartime service are rare and one that is about such a remarkable adventure is virtually unique.”—Edward Coffman


About the Author
Agnes Jensen Mangerich now lives in La Jolla, California. Evelyn M. Monahan, a retired psychologist, lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Rosemary L. Neidel works for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Atlanta.


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On November 8, 1943, U.S. Army nurse Agnes Jensen stepped out of a cold rain in Catania, Sicily, into a C-53 transport plane. But she and twelve other nurses never arrived in Bari, Italy, where they were to transport wounded soldiers to hospitals farther from the front lines. A violent storm and pursuit by German Messerschmitts led to a crash landing in a remote part of Albania, leaving the nurses, their team of medics, and the flight crew stranded in Nazi-occupied territory. Albanian Escape is the suspense-filled story of the only group of Army flight nurses to have spent any length of time in occupied territory during World War II. The nurses and soldiers endured frigid weather, survived on little food, and literally wore out their shoes in 800 miles trekking across the rugged countryside. Thrust into a perilous situation and determined to survive, these women found courage and strength in each other and in the kindnesses of Albanians and guerrillas who hid them from the Germans.


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