Selfless Courage on the Eastern Front: Capt. Robert Trimble's WWII Rescue Mission

Welcome back everyone.  On today’s episode of Duty & Valor, you’ll hear the story of a man who joined a distinguished flying club by surviving 35 combat sorties over the skies of Europe during WWII.  A man who volunteered for a mission that would keep him away from home for an unknown length of time only to find out he volunteered for something much different.  A man who was credited with saving the lives of countless Allied POWs and civilians in Eastern Europe.  This is the story of US Army Air Force Capt. Robert Trimble.

Robert Trimble was born on October 5th, 1919 in Pennsylvania.  He didn’t have an easy childhood as his father had left their family when he was young.  His mother wanted to keep him busy, so she put him in the Boy Scouts.  Though he didn’t have a male role model in his life, this seemed to offer him some guidance.  Robert joined the US Army Air Forces in the summer of 1941, just months before the US entered World War II.  

He would go on to become a pilot and was dual rated in the B-17 Flying Fortress and the B-24 Liberator, both of which were four engine bombers.  During the war he was sent to the European theater and was part of the 493rd Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force based out of Suffolk, England.

On December 30th,1944, Captain Trimble had a lot to be thankful for.  His wife had recently given birth to a daughter named Carol Ann, the next day was New Year’s eve so there was sure to be some entertainment at the base, and he had just returned safely from a 7 hour bombing run over Germany.  This most recent mission was a special one.  When one out three airmen never survived combat over Europe, Capt. Trimble had just completed his 35th combat sortie.  In addition to joining the “Lucky Bastard” club, as it was jokingly called, this milestone meant that he would be allowed to return stateside on a 21 day leave.  As the war was nearing its end, the Germans were being pushed back on all fronts by the allied forces, Capt. Trimble felt his time in combat was most likely over.

Shortly after taxiing his B-17, named Big Buster, to its parking spot, Capt. Trimble, and the rest of the crew, exited the aircraft and loaded on to awaiting jeeps.   As Capt. Trimble sat down in the passenger seat, his driver told him that the commanding officer wanted to see him at his convenience.  He returned to his bunk to rest and forgot about the summons by the commander.  It wasn’t until later on when he finally reported to the CO as he was asked to do.

As the CO of the 493rd, Col. Elbert Helton was the inspiration for the group's nickname, Helton’s Hellcats.  When Capt. Trimble reported to Helton, he was quickly asked to sit.  Col. Helton then presented him with a freshly signed certificate, welcoming Capt. Trimble to the “Lucky Bastard Club”.  As he presented him with the certificate, Helton said “Congratulations Bob.  You made it.  You’re on your way home”.  Though this was how airmen were welcomed into the ranks of the Lucky Bastard Club, Col. Helton had another reason to bring him in front of him that day.

Helton knew that Capt. Trimble’s wife Eleanor had just given birth to their first child two months prior and he would be eager to get stateside as soon as possible, but he tempered Trimble’s excitement by laying out the reality of his situation.  Yes, he could return to the US for a 21 day leave, but although the war was nearing its end in Europe, he would most likely be sent to the Pacific theater.

The situation was not lost on him, but he was at a loss as to why Helton was so adamant in ensuring that he knew it, but it didn’t take long before he found out.  Col. Helton told him that he had a proposal for him, and as he listened intently his heart sank.

Helton told him that there was one way that he could avoid further combat sorties, but it required him to forgo his leave.  Col. Helton was asked to find a pilot that could fulfill a special mission.  Helton was to find a pilot that could fly multiple types of aircraft and they would be sent to the only Allied airfield in Eastern Europe, Poltava Air Base in present day Ukraine.  The goal was to repair damaged Allied aircraft and fly them back to the West, in an attempt to keep them out of the hands of the Soviets.  Helton told him that he thought he was the right man for this task, but this meant that he wouldn’t be allowed to go home for an unknown amount of time.  Capt. Trimble was shocked to know that he was only being asked, not ordered to participate in the mission.  He was thankful for this, but Col. Helton informed him that they were expecting someone right away.

Capt. Trimble placed a call to Eleanor while she was at work and asked about the daughter that he’s never seen, before informing her of the decision in front of him.  He was really unsure what to do before Eleanor suggested he accept the mission.  Yes, they both wanted to see each, but the thought of him returning to combat was too much to risk.  She told him “Stay, do what you have to do.  Then come home to me alive, and never leave again”.  He wanted to make sure she understood what was being asked of him, but she insisted that he take the mission that would keep him out of harm's way until the end of the war.  

Capt. Trimble informed Helton of his decision and the planning began to get him to Poltava.  In January of 1945 he began his journey, and eventually made it on February 15th.  They had to fly him there on a long route around the fighting in Europe.  He first left the UK, flew across France, then across the Mediterranean to Egypt, then Iran before making his way North to Ukraine.

The mission that he was given was actually a cover for what he was to truly do there.  It wasn’t until he had arrived in Ukraine when he found out that he was to work with the OSS and facilitate the escape of Allied POWs.    

As the Soviets pushed the Germans out of Russia and then Poland, they began to liberate POW and Concentration camps.  Though they had agreed to the transport of any Allied POWs to Odesa, in Southern Ukraine where they would be transported back to England on British ships, they were less than helpful.  

The Soviets under Joseph Stalin had a real negative view of all POWs.  They felt that Soviet POWs were traitors and cowards, and they didn’t feel any better about Americans or British POWs either.  As these men were liberated, they were not given much aid.  They were left to fend for themselves and they faced a tough winter where they lacked adequate shelter and food.   In addition, due to their distrust of non-Russians, many of the Allied men were killed for being spies, even though nearly all were not.

While he was in Eastern Europe, Capt. Trimble had to operate with little direct support.  He was given a diplomatic passport which afforded him some freedom, but it also meant that he was always under observation by the NKVD, the predecessor of the KGB.  Although the passport gave him protection against arrest, he was warned that it also meant there was a higher likelihood of him getting killed.  In addition he was given cash, around $10,000 which he hid in his clothes.

Capt. Trimble had heard of a group of Allied POWs hiding out in a barn.  He ensured he lost his Soviet shadow and found a taxi to take him to where they were rumored to be.  He did find the barn and knocked on the door, making it known that he was an American.  He soon heard rustling inside, before the door slowly opened.  When he made his way inside he saw the gaunt faces of 23 American and British men, who were struggling to keep warm.  In addition to being malnourished, they were filthy and their clothes seemed to be moving due to the lice crawling all over them.  He opened his pack and passed out rations to the men, before making arrangements to get them out of there.  He then paid a local farmer to take them in his horse cart to the nearby city of Lviv.  There they were stopped by a suspicious Soviet guard.  Though initially reluctant to let the men pass, Capt. Trimble was able to bribe their way through and they made it to the train station where he bought the men tickets to Odessa.  

Soon after, Capt. Trimble was notified that a B-17 crash landed outside of Staszow, Poland and he was tasked with getting the survivors out.  He made his way out there and was happy to learn that all 9 crewmen had survived, and they were being sheltered by a Polish family at their farmhouse nearby.  He then arranged to have the men flown out to Poltava.

Days later, Capt. Trimble was outside of Krakow when he saw two men in the tree line nearby.  When the men first spotted him, they were scared and began to walk away.  With raised arms and yelling “American”, he was able to convince the men that he meant them no harm.  

Capt. Trimble had recently visited the liberated concentration camp at Birkenau, so he was familiar with the striped blue pajamas that the men were wearing.  It was clear that they were recently liberated prisoners of a nearby concentration camp.  He gave the hungry men some rations and they asked him to follow them, which he did.  The men were weak and their movements were slow, but minutes later they arrived at an abandoned farm with multiple outbuildings.  The men cried out, and to Trimble’s amazement, other men started pouring out of the buildings, dozens of men.  In total there were fifty men that needed his help.  About half were Allied POWs, and the rest were imprisoned Jews, and other civilians who were held captive for different reasons.  Though he was only tasked with getting Allied POWs out, he knew that he couldn’t leave the others behind.  He didn’t know how much help the Allies at Odessa would offer these men, but he figured they would be better off there than they are now.  

As they were making their plan to leave, Capt. Trimble was asked, “what about the women?”.  Not sure who they were talking about, he followed the men to a camp a few miles away; it was similar to Birkenau but much smaller.  There he was amazed to see another 25 prisoners, all women and a few children.  

One of the women there was being looked after by others.  She was in bad shape and Capt. Trimble was told that she had recently given birth, but was so malnourished that she couldn’t breastfeed her baby and the little girl was close to death.  As he picked up the baby, he was told that her name was Kasia.  He took off his wool scarf and wrapped it around her, and he placed her inside his parka to keep her warm.  He was then asked 'They come with us?’, and he replied yes, “they come with us”.   With Kasia’s mother being helped along by others, Capt. Trimble kept Kasia warm as they made their way out of the camp.  On their journey, he had to keep checking on her to ensure she was still breathing.

They made their way to an anti-Russian farmer’s house.  Capt. Trimble had previously met this man and made arrangements for use of his cattle trailer if he needed to move a large number of Allied men out of the area.  When they arrived, the farmer was shocked to see the size of the group that was following Capt. Trimble.  He quickly regained his composure and they got to work loading everyone into the trailer.  It wasn’t easy, but they were able to get everyone on to it.  They made it to Krakow just before nightfall and were forced to find shelter for the night in abandoned buildings outside of town.  

Early the next morning Capt. Trimble made his way alone to the train station where he bought tickets for everyone.  He returned to the refugees and instructed them to not travel in groups larger than two or three people.  He thought this would draw less attention to them, and his plan worked.  He was surprised that no one was kept from boarding the train and they all soon departed on their journey to Odessa.  All but one of them.  Sadly, baby Kasia didn’t make it through the night and she was buried that morning still wrapped in his woolen scarf.

Capt. Trimble returned to Poltava and he was told that his mission was to be placed on hold so he could complete a different one.  He was to return to the site of the downed B-17 outside of Staszow with a group of men to get it repaired and airborne.  The Americans were trying to keep it out of the hands of the Soviets, who had been taking away American aircraft to learn more about their design and technology. 

Once they made it back to the plane, they took note of all of the repairs that it needed and they knew it would take a lot of work to repair it.  In total it took them 7 days to get it to the point where they could even attempt to fly it out of the field where it had crash landed.  But they eventually made the necessary repairs and removed anything that wasn’t needed in an attempt to make it as light as possible.  On the evening before their planned departure, they were performing their final inspection when they were alerted to the sound of approaching vehicles.

Two jeeps filled with Soviet officers stopped nearby.  Capt. Trimble broke off from his inspection and went to greet them.  He was confronted by a Col. who insisted that one of his pilots fly the plane out while the Americans departed on the cargo plane they came in.  Capt. Trimble knew their intention.  That plane would never be seen by the Americans again if a Russian flew it out of here.  Capt. Trimble insisted that he would fly the plane out himself, which angered the Col.  The Soviets now knew that this approach would not work so the Col. devised another plan.  They offered to put Capt. Trimble up in a hotel for the night and then bring him back in the morning.  But he knew that if he left with them, he would never be seen again.  He refused this offer, which angered the Col. again.  The Col. turned to his men and yelled orders in Russian, which led to the others jumping out of their vehicles.  When he turned back around, he found that Capt. Trimble had aimed his sidearm at his gut.  Capt. Trimble told the Col. that he would be staying here for the night and the next morning he would be flying it out.  

The Col. turned around and the Soviets loaded onto their vehicles and left. 

The next morning they completed their final checks and fired up the B-17’s engines.  Everything was running well so he taxied to the end of the field and turned the plane in preparation for takeoff.  Just then, he saw the Soviets returning, this time with rifles drawn.  He assessed the situation and decided to attempt the takeoff, which was successful.  He left the angry Soviets behind as he slowly gained altitude to make his way back to Poltava.        

Soon after, Capt. Trimble was able to get Allied POWs to Lviv where they boarded a train to Odessa.  While there he also spotted British men on the street begging for food.  He was able to get them food and made arrangements for them to get to the British Embassy in Moscow.

His actions were starting to get the attention of the locals, and the Soviets were growing suspicious of Capt. Trimble.  He was approached by a French woman named Isabelle who asked for his help to get her, and the others she was with, back home.  He said that he would before asking her how many more of them were with her.  Isabelle’s response almost knocked him over.  400.  These French women had been taken East by the Nazis to serve as farm laborers and sex slaves.  

During the chaos of the war moving towards Berlin, they took the opportunity to escape and they were currently hiding out in the woods outside of town, but they were hungry and had no shelter.  Capt. Trimble then focused on what needed to be done to move this many people, something he had never done.  He was able to bribe train workers to bring a train to a stop outside of town. As the Soviets were very suspicious of his actions, he knew he couldn’t load a train with 400 women.  When the train made its unscheduled stop, by the forest, and away from the eyes of the Soviets, all the ladies got aboard the train bound to Odessa.    

By the end of the war, Capt. Trimble had saved more than 1,000 people, including the 400 women.  Due to the secret nature of his work in Eastern Europe, he was never recognized for his actions by his own country.  He  was even denied promotions by the Army in order to keep the operations' secrecy secured, even though many Generals wanted him promoted.  He didn’t share his story with those close to him until a few years before his death in 2009.  For many years, Capt. Trimble was afraid to break the secrecy of his work in fear of being arrested by the US or harmed by the Soviets that he had out maneuvered.  

It took years for his son Lee to piece together his story through personal accounts and government documents.  This work led to the book which he co-authored called Beyond the Call:  The True Story of One World War II Pilot’s Covert Mission to Rescue POWs on the Eastern Front.     

For saving the 400 women, Capt. Trimble was awarded the Cross of War by the French government, which is awarded for heroism.  The US awarded him the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bronze Star, among other awards, for his actions as a bomber pilot during the war.   

Captain Robert Trimble epitomizes the power of courage and resilience; from flying 35 perilous bomber missions to single-handedly rescuing hundreds of POWs and Holocaust survivors from behind enemy lines, he reminds us of the extraordinary feats that ordinary individuals can achieve when driven by compassion and duty.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Duty & Valor.  I want to thank everyone for your continued support.  I just ask that if you haven’t yet, please review and follow us wherever you’re listening, as this will help us find new listeners.

Links to the sources for today's show can be found in the show notes, as well as at dutyandvalor.com.  And please join us next week where we’ll tell you the story of another true American hero.