Operation Frantic was a long-range bombing campaign that took place in the latter stages of the Second World War. In order for the plan to work, the planes needed to land in Soviet airfields after their run. It required complete trust between the Western Allies and the Soviets…

 

The aim of Operation Frantic was for America to effectively co-operate with the Soviet Union in order for them to allow supplies to be dropped into Warsaw in the autumn of 1944. By attempting to become allies with the Soviets, an American B-17 Flying Fortresses was able to drop a small number of arms, ammunition, medical supplies, and food over the city of Warsaw. 1,220 airmen had risked their lives trying to bring aid to a city that no one else wanted to help.

Operation Frantic is a mission which has been largely forgotten by most historians. The crew lost never became recognised household names, and even Prime Minister Winston Churchill believed the operation not to be worthwhile. Yet Operation Frantic is significant as it highlights the beginning of the breakdown relationship between the Soviet Union and the United States. but also illuminates the forgotten but important corner of American and Polish history.

America had hoped Operation Frantic was a sign of their commitment to the alliance. Unfortunately for the Americans, the Soviets reacted suspiciously to the Frantic plans. They believed America’s primary interest was to gain intelligence about the Soviet military.

Co-authors of the Casemate book Frantic 7, Radzilowski and Szcesniak, explain to us that the political problems of Operation Frantic were part of the larger issue of the relationship between the Soviets and Americans. There were two goals the Americans had when setting up mission Operation Frantic. The first was that they had hoped the air force co-operation with the Soviets would lay the groundwork for future operations from Siberia against Japan. The second was to use it to show the Soviets that America was willing to shoulder their military burden in the struggle against Nazism. But the Soviets distrustfulness proved disastrous.

Operation Frantic: The American Effort to Aid the Warsaw Uprising and the Origins of the Cold War, 1944, gives us a full narrative of the fate of the American airmen who were shot down in the skies over Warsaw. Using first-hand accounts of those on the ground in Warsaw to tell the stories of the young aircrew. It puts Operation Frantic in context, and explains how the diplomatic wrangling set the stage for the breakdown in relations between the Soviet Union and the United States.

 

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