This article appeared in the January 1984 edition of the Ragged Irregular, the 91st Bombardment Group Newsletter.

(Other comments are italicised.)

Hiding Out In France & Belgium by Carlyle Darling

Our crew came to the 91st in June, 1943, among the early replacement crews for those original crews that were finishing up their 25-mission tours. We were assigned to the 322nd squadron, flying in "I Dood It." The crew consisted of Ev Fenner, pilot; George Bryant, co-pilot; Carlyle Darling, navigator; Dave Lee, bombardier; Glenn Chase, engineer; George Vender, radio operator; Moore and Hagin, waist gunners; O'Toole, ball turret, and Bocock, tail gunner. Among the noteworthy missions we flew were the 8th AF First Anniversary raid July 4, 1943 on Le Mans, France, and the July 28 raid on Kassel, Germany, the deepest penetration into Germany to date.

On August 17, 1943, when our crew was not scheduled to fly, I volunteered to go with another crew, since I was anxious to add to my missions total as fast as possible. Unfortunately, I did not realize that it was to be the fateful first Schweinfurt mission, the greatest air battle in history. I was assigned as replacement navigator on Jack Hargis' crew, flying that day in "Dame Satan".

Just before we reached the target German fighters attacked in force and shot out the No. 2 engine, causing us to drop out of formation. We headed for the coast, determined to make it back to England, but north of Brussels, Belgium, we were attacked by another group of fighters and shot up so badly the order came to bail out. In training they had stressed that you should delay the chute opening as long as possible to increase your chances of escaping the Germans. So when I bailed out at 17,000 feet I made no attempt to open the chute for quite a while. I passed three crew members with open chutes while I was in free fall.

By the time I opened my chute I could hear dogs barking on the ground, I was probably 3-4,000 feet high. During the free fall the only thing that worried me was that I had only a few cigarettes left, and wished I had an extra pack or two along.

I hit the ground north of Brussels. When I landed two civilians rushed out and helped me remove my parachute, Instead of disposing of it they carefully folded it up and took it along -- "to use the pure silk for dresses," they explained. We then hid in some bushes near a creek.

He actually landed at Meslin-l'Evêque, Ath (~45 kms SW of Bruxelles).

After dark I was taken to a shed filled with men. They raised their fists and shouted "communiste!" Puzzled, I raised my fist and replied, "communiste." I was then fed and given civilian clothes. I stayed in the shed for several days and then was taken to Brussels in a farm truck.

He stayed at Lanquesaint-les-Ath (4 kms W of Meslin-l'Evêque) until 4th September 1943, sheltered by M.Delmee and Jean Delcourt.

There I met the tail gunner from "Dame Satan," Leland Judy , and we were placed with a family to be hidden . We were accepted as regular members of the family, and helped with the work and chores as we could. After some weeks with the family it was decided that I should be sent to Amiens, France. I was introduced to the guide I was to follow (not too closely!) and placed on the train to Amiens. We got off at the last stop before the border, since the Germans were checking papers on everyone who crossed the border. We went to a farmhouse where we were fed, and then sneaked through the woods across the border. We caught the train again at the first station across the border, where we proceeded to Amiens. There I was hidden with a French family for a week.

He met up with Leland Judy on 17th August 1943, just after landing at Meslin-l'Evêque. In Bruxelles they stayed with Hector & Irma Leplat & daughter Simone at 96 rue Rubens, Schaerbeek, Bruxelles. Darling & Judy went their separate ways after Bruxelles. On 5th October 1943, now travelling with Ian Robb (RAF), he went to Lille NOT Amiens and caught the train to Paris.

Next I was moved toward the sea coast. Three or four other American evadees and I were sheltered in a limestone cave, waiting for a transport plane to take us to England. We were only allowed outside after dark. Once we were taken to a large field where a runway had been outlined with flares, to await the arrival of a British transport plane, but it never arrived.

Actually he was moved further inland, to Fismes (near Reims), on 13th October 1943. The cave was in the neighbourhood of Savigny-sur-Ardres (20kms west of Reims). With him, in the cave were Sgts. Whalen & Browning (USAAF), W/Os Ian Robb & James Gillman (RAF) et al. A Lysander pickup (operation Magdalen) was scheduled for 16-17th October. It is strange that none of the other airmen make any mention of this event. It could be that he was confusing this operation with another that was scheduled for the 15-16 December, which is mentioned by Robb.

The next day I was taken to Lille and placed on a train to Paris. The procedure was as before -- a guide I was to follow to Paris, then a switch to another guide. I followed the escort, who was to shake hands with a new escort when the train arrived in Paris, whom I was to follow. We made the contact in the Paris railway station. As I left the station the new escort pulled me into an alley, pulling a jackknife from his pocket. "What is this?" he asked. "A jackknife," I replied. "Good. What is a Flying, Fortress?" "A B-17." I replied. "Good. What is nooky?" After an easy answer, the escort replied "Good. Americaine," and we proceeded to his apartment, where I was to be hidden.

Later I was taken to Montmartre and the Church of the Sacred Heart, where we knelt in prayer behind a woman I was to follow to my next hiding place. The church was overflowing with German soldiers sightseeing, and I actually brushed coattails with some of them. I was then taken to the beautiful home of a doctor. From my hiding place on the upper floor I could see the Eiffel tower. I was given papers identifying me as Charlie Calvert from Cannes.

The events in the preceding two paragraphs, occurred before he was taken to Fismes, on 13th October. They should be read in conjunction with the text four paragraphs back, where he travels from Bruxelles to Paris via Lille.

From Paris I was moved to Châlons-sur-Marne where I was placed in a house alone that was owned by a winery owner. Each evening a meal was left for me, along with a bottle of champagne. One night I was taken down to a secret cellar, filled with wines hidden from the Germans. The Germans took a portion of everyone's products. We had a real blast sampling the many wines stored there. It was getting late in the year and too late to continue on the way to Spain due to the heavy snows in the Pyrenees mountains. From Spain we would be sent back to the U.S.

Probably confused Châlons-sur-Marne with Châtillon-sur-Marne (~30kms SW of Reims), near to where he & Robb stayed with a vine grower (Eugène Moussé) from 15th November 1943 for about two weeks.

I was then moved to Reims, and attended Christmas mass in Reims Cathedral. One family there took me out often to eat in restaurants, often frequented by German soldiers.

Arrived in Reims ~13th December 1943 & stayed at the home of Renée Weigel & her mother. Ian Robb writes:

"... during our stay of about a fortnight we (Robb & Darling) made one or two excursions into the town after dark. In particular we visited on several occasions "La Coupole" café where we met quite openly local Resistance people despite the fact that the café was very popular with German troops ..."

In February 1944, I kept moving around from place to place, often for only a day or two at a time. Travel was by truck, bus, train, even once on the back of a motorcycle. Once I stayed at an estate in Epernay, south of Reims, where the father was a colonel with the Free French in North Africa. One day from the upstairs window I saw a truck with several Germans in it driving up to the house. I thought, "Oh, oh, I've had it now!" But they never came upstairs. It seems they came to the house every day to play the grand piano.

He left Reims just after Xmas 1943 & headed for Amiens, escorted by Raymonde Beuré. With them were Robert Deghetto, Alden Faudie (USAAF) & John Watlington (RCAF). From January through March 1944, he sheltered in several safehouses in villages close to Amiens; Toutencourt, Contay, Warloy-Baillon & Warlus.

Shortly after, I was moved to a rectory, where the priest wore a .45 strapped beneath his cassock. A shed in the yard with a false floor was used as a hiding place for potatoes, so the local farmers could save some of their crops from the Germans.

The priest is probably Abbé Fontaine of Savigny-sur-Ardres (~20 kms W. of Reims). In October 1943, he ferried the airmen from safehouse to safehouse, sheltered them in his own place & led them to the cave (see above), keeping them supplied with food & drink.

In April, 1944, from my next sanctuary, I could see Tiger tanks rumbling up and down the city streets, since a Panzer division was stationed there.

At this home I was to leave for Spain one morning by truck. Before daylight, while having a cup of coffee and a roll, there was a rumble outside, a knock at the door, which we took to be the transport crew. Instead, when the door was opened, there was a German uniform. "Wow!" I thought, "this will be really great, with the French in German uniforms". About this tune a German machine pistol was thrust against my forehead, and "Raus mit uns" hit my ear as the room filled with German army types. My host was gone through a window, and shots rang out outside. I later heard that he escaped them, but his wife and mother, who were sleeping upstairs, were German prisoners for the duration of the war. I also heard later that the priest was killed by the Nazis.

He was arrested at Beaumetz les Loges, on 8th April 1944, along with Robert Deghetto, Alden Faudie, James Lires (USAAF) & Douglas Matheson (RCAF). Marcel Bezu, the owner, managed to escape.

I never knew it till later, but there were 13 other Americans picked up in the same town the same morning. They were all put out front and reviewed by the tank corps crews. Someone in the town had turned us in for the reward the Germans offered -- someone in the underground who knew everything that was going on.

We 14, all in civilian clothes, were loaded on a Lorry for Lille. Along the way we picked up a recently captured American crew, who said when they were shoved aboard the truck "My God, they're going to execute us along with all these Frogs!"

At Lille we were put into a regular state prison and interrogated. When I would give only my name, rank, and serial number the interrogator said I would be shot that night, but nothing came of it. While I was at the Lille prison the English made a raid on a munitions train near the prison, and the resulting explosions blew my cell door and window in. Clad only in shirt and underpants I dashed out the door, picked up a German helmet on the way and headed for the nearby river, hoping to escape by swimming it. Just outside the gate I heard the now familiar phrase "Raus mit uns", the machine-pistol bit, and for my efforts I received 30 days in solitary.

While I was in solitary some French imprisoned on the floor above let down a note asking if I needed anything. When I replied "cigarettes" they sent down a pack of French smokes. We corresponded several times a week by notes let down from above.

I was then sent to Dulag Luft in Stuttgart. Since I was in civilian clothes none of the other American prisoners would talk to me. Finally, I got a uniform from the Red Cross, and life with the fellow prisoners became much easier. From Dulag Luft I was sent to Stalag Luft III at Sagan, where I spent the remainder of the war, being freed in April, 1945.

The "Dulag Luft in Stuttgart" was a transit camp (Durchgangslager) of the Luftwaffe. Stalag Luft III was situated in Sagan (now Zagan) in the west of Poland, ~50 kms from the German border.