Guerilla Surgeon

Fascinating and very well written, Guerilla Surgeon is the memoir of Lindsay Rogers' time in Yugoslavia in World War II as a surgeon operating in the British Army assisting the Partisans fighting the German occupation. Rogers is a New Zealander from Otago in the South Island.

Forgive any errors in my summation - I don't profess to have full understanding of the situation, nor to have read extensively about Yugoslavia.

Serving in military hospitals in North Africa after volunteering to join the Allied Forces, Rogers was looking for more. More excitement, but also better use of his abilities. He volunteered to go to Yugoslavia to help with the on-the-ground injuries there. The British at the time were operating in secret, and denied there was involvement, but Rogers pushed harder, and eventually received a very low level approval. He made his own plans and caused some embarrassment to the British on his arrival (the man running the British efforts in Yugoslavia was actually Fitzroy Maclean - refer to his excellent book Eastern Approaches, in particular the third section), which took them by surprise.

Eventually accepted, and acknowledged as a very worthy addition to the Partisan efforts, Rogers spends time in Croatia, then Bosnia, before being sent to Solvenia. He carefully describes his role and the situation in each, including sharing the stories of those he works with and some of his patients.

In Slovenia Rogers ends up running a chain of hospitals hidden in the wilds. His constant battles to get adequate resources (the Partisans funnel the goods provided by the British for the hospitals away for use by others), the anti-British propaganda (in favour of the Russians), and the Communist movement, are a large part of the story, but it is also a less political, more human story he tells.

To expand only a little on the above, and expressing Rogers views (as I don't have enough of my own specific knowledge on this to comment): The Partisan leadership was heavily pro-communist, and therefore pro-Russia. Despite the massive British support they received (extensive supplies both medical and military, significant airlift of the wounded to Italy to be treated in British run hospitals) the Partisan leadership credited all benefits to the Russians. All Russian victories over the Germans were reported on and applauded,yet the British and/or allied victories were not reported. There was suspicion of those fairly few British in Yugoslavia, and they were regularly followed by the secret police. Whenever Rogers and his small team became too friendly with their Partisan assistants, the assistants were quickly transferred and new staff arrived.

Rogers states in his book that the on-the-ground people were not largely in support of communism, but those that mattered were. He states around 55 of the peasants were, and around 10% of the partisan soldiers, but the leadership were those who mattered.

Despite this, Rogers was not a political man. His goal was medical, and there can be no doubt the incredible amount of work he did in the years he spent in Yugoslavia. He writes well, and with feeling. The stories he tells are grim - the torture, the rape, the violent murder. There is no sanitising of the truth. Rogers wasn't limited to his role as a surgeon. He carried weapons, and was required to use them. The guarding of the secret hospitals was so critical to the preservation of the lives of the patients - those hospitals the Germans found (and they were actively looking for them) were burned to the ground with the patients within, only after all of those able to move were dispatched. Doctors and staff were of course executed.

That Rogers was identified as a New Zealander, and was so well liked and respected by all those who he encountered is reflected in the few footnotes in the book, which make brief mention of some of the people he works with - at least three of whom are noted as having emigrated to New Zealand at the end of the war to settle. They obviously saw something of Rogers that was worth travelling halfway around the world in an attempt to replicate in some small way.

It is not mentioned in the book, but Rogers was awarded the Order of Bravery (Yugoslavia) and Order of Honour (Yugoslavia) by Marshal Tito. He went on to serve in Tibet, Ceylon and Iraq before returning to his medical practice in New Zealand. He met a premature death by drowning while holidaying in New Caledonia.

5 stars.