in late august 1944, a us office of strategic services mission led by colonel robert h. mcdowell was parachuted into a chetnik-controlled area of occupied serbia to join mihailović's headquarters, gather general intelligence and establish contacts with representatives of pro-western forces in hungary, bulgaria, and romania. one member of the mission was lieutenant ellsworth kramer. kramer was quickly detached to keserović. since the situation of the chetniks seriously deteriorated soon after the mission's arrival, most of mcdowell's time was dedicated to the problems faced by the chetniks, and little if any contact with potential allies in neighboring countries was undertaken.