SYNOPSIS

	No RAMP report has been found for Carlyle Darling, so his itinerary has been compiled mainly from the helpers' files and other airmen's reports.
17 Aug 1943	Baled out & landed at Meslin-l'Evêque, Ath, Belgium (~45 kms SW of Bruxelles). Met up with Leland Judy. A man and two boys took them on bicycles to a barn about a mile away, gave them food and civilian clothing. Returned at dusk & took them by bicycle to Lanquesaint-les-Ath (5 kms NE of Ath), where they were sheltered by M.Delmee and by Jean Delcourt until ...
4 Sep 1943	Paul Hellemans (EVA) collected Darling & Judy & took them to Bruxelles. Passed them on to Prosper Spilliaert (EVA), who took them to Charles Hoste (EVA). He found them a safehouse in rue Rubens, Schaerbeek, the home of Hector & Irma Leplat (EVA) & their daughter Simone. Photographed by Fernand Van Elegem for id cards. Visited by Alphonse Escrenier, Blanche Page (Mme Escrenier) & Gaston Matthys all EVA. Stayed until ....
14 Sep 1943	Matthys took them to a church where they met René Ponty (EVA). They went with him to Anne Brusselmans (Comète Line). Michou (Aline Dumont, Comète) then took them to two safehouses at 7 & 8 Rue des Tournesols in Anderlecht: Judy to Auguste Marie, a violin maker & Darling to René Pirart, an engraver, where he stayed until ....
5 Oct 1943	Darling went to Gare du Nord with Michou & a young man, who was the guide. Met W/O Ian Robb (RAF), Eli Miroir (Rio) & Maria Maca from rue Val d'Or, Brussels. Train to Blandain (~17 kms E. of Lille) with Robb & guide, then across the frontier, at Hertain-Camphin, on foot. Frontier guard was Lt. Maurice Desson. Bus to Lille, then train to Paris. Met by a well dressed man of ~35 (Jacques Le Grelle?) & taken to a small flat in Montmartre.
6 Oct 1943	Darling & Robb taken to a large house, by a new guide - man ~27, smartly dressed in a grey suit & kid gloves. Then another guide to a Dr's house near the Mairie d'Issy metro. Guide was middle-aged, well-dressed, medium height, lean angular features, round shouldered, horn-rimmed glasses. Darling given an ID card in the name of Charlie Calvert from Cannes. Stayed until ...
11 Oct 1943	Darling & Robb taken by same guide to safe-house organised by Suzanne Bastin (Possum Line), near Sacré Coeur Cathedral. Flat full of RAF & USAAF evaders (max 21), including Sgts Gillman & Shaw* (RAF). Visited by Edgard Potier (Possum). Stayed, until ....
13 Oct 1943	Potier & Bastin took train to Fismes with Darling, Robb, Gillman, Shaw* & 1/2 other evaders. Met by Camille Rigaux, Jr. Darling, Robb, Gillman & Shaw* driven by Raymond Gallet to meet Abbé Fontaine, who took them to the farmhouse of Emile Thirion, in Prin (just SW of Savigny). While there Sgts. Whalen and Browning (USAAF) arrived.
14 Oct 1943	Abbé Fontaine moved them all to a cave three kms away, as the Germans were making a house-to-house search. Stayed 2-5 days.
~17 Oct 1943	Darling & Robb taken by Abbé Fontaine to the chateau of Comte Joseph de Bury (near Savigny). Stayed for ~2 weeks.
~1 Nov 1943	Darling & Robb driven to Damery by Paul Quenot. Sheltered by Armand Graser for ~2 weeks.
~15 Nov 1943	Driven by Quenot to Cuisles-par-Chatillon. Sheltered by Eugène Moussé, at his vineyard, for 12-15 days.
~29 Nov 1943	Taken on foot by Edmond Moussé to Baslieux-sur-Chatillon. Sheltered by Amedee Vizeneux & his housekeeper Madeleine Remi for 12-15 days
~13 Dec 1943	Driven by Quenot to Reims. Stayed at the flat of Renée Weigel. While there met Weigland, Lucienne Marmot, Conrad Lafleur, Raymonde Beuré & Marcel Tavernier, a butcher, who supplied black market food. Joined by Lt. Robert Chase** (USAAF). Stayed until ....
~26 Dec 1943	Darling & Robert Deghetto (USAAF) left Weigel's accompagnied by Raymonde Beuré. With Alden Faudie (USAAF) & John Watlington (RCAF) travelled to Tergnier (~80 kms NW of Reims). Spent night in railway station ...
~27 Dec 1943	... then carried on to Amiens. Contacted Dr. Beaumont at Warloy-Baillon (~20 kms NE of Amiens), who took them to Toutencourt (~5 kms W of Warloy-Baillon). Darling & Deghetto were separated from the other two. Stayed until ...
~28 Jan 1944	Dr Beaumont drove Darling, Robert Deghetto, Alden Faudie (USAAF) & F/O Watlington (RCAF) to Contay (20 kms NE of Amiens). Darling & Deghetto sheltered by Colombe & Michèle Magniez. Stayed until ....
~12 Feb 1944	Darling & Deghetto collected by Dr Beaumont. It's not known where they were taken, but maybe to his place in Warloy-Baillon.
25 Mar 1944	Darling & Deghetto were taken by Marcel Bezu of Beaumetz les Loges (15 km s/w of Arras) to the home of Marguerite Delaporte of Warlus (near Beaumetz) where they stayed until ...
8 Apr 1944	Darling, Deghetto & Marguerite Delaporte cycled to the home of M. Bezu, where they were to await their escort. James Lires (USAAF ) who had been sheltered by Mme. Luce Dorlet for 3 months was there, as well as Douglas Matheson (RCAF) who was being sheltered by M. Bezu. The escort arrived accompanied by German troops. Bezu managed to escape; other helpers, incl. Mlle Giselle Dorlet, & airmen were arrested. Taken to Lille prison.
~May 1944	Darling spent ~30 days in solitary confinement for trying to escape. Went from there to Stalag Luft III, Sagan, Poland from where he was liberated in April 1945.

* It is Ian Robb who makes mention of Sgt. Joe Shaw. However, I cannot trace this person. Robb might have been referring to Sgt. Joseph (Joe) Kenny (RAF). Kenny & James Gillman mention meeting Robb & Darling at Suzanne Bastin's safe-house.
** Again, it is Ian Robb who makes mention of someone I cannot trace - Lt. Robert Chase. It is possible that the person was Sgt. Robert Deghetto (USAAF), who arrived at Renée Weigel's one day after Darling and Robb. Darling and Deghetto, subsequently travelled together.

S/Sgt. Albert T. DiMinno's account of "Dame Satan's" ill-fated Schweinfurt raid

(OCR'd from NARA:E&E/187 pages 17-18)

We left BASSINGBOURNE; about 1200 hours 17 August 1943 to bomb the ball-bearing works at SCHWEINFURT, Germany. We had fighter escort as far as Luxembourg. On the way over there was some flak all the way after we crossed the French coast. It was not heavy but it did get Lt ROGERS' ship.

The enemy fighters started coming in as soon as our escort left us. They made nose attacks from 1:00 to 11:00 o'clock, level and low. On the first attack they got our right wing plane and also the plane right in front of us. There were no attacks at this time on our particular plane.

Before these attacks came we had been hit by flak which knocked out two superchargers. This caused us to lose altitude and fall back until we finally got down to the lowest group. We did not reach the target but salvoed our bombs in a woods and turned back some place between FRANKFURT and SCHWEINFURT. Shortly after turning and while still over Germany, several stray fighters attacked us but they did not come in close.

When southwest of BRUSSELS two enemy fighters came in on our tail and one of their 20 mm shells knocked out one of our tail guns. Another fighter came in on our nose at 12:00 o'clock. I think this one wounded our pilot. He hit our No 3 engine and tore off part of one wing. At this time we were about 18,000 feet. The pilot gave the order to bail out. I heard the radio operator shout that he had been wounded, but I saw him and he did not seem to be badly hurt.

S/Sgt Gerald TUCKER was the first one out of the waist and I followed him and went out at about 17,000 feet. I counted ten and then pulled the rip cord. ...

Another account of "Dame Satan's" last mission

(Extract taken from "Forteresses sur l'Europe" by Roger Anthoine)

[Other comments are italicised]

... Over the Eiffel Mountains in Germany [The Eifel mountains are found to the south of Aachen & are the eastern extension of the Belgian Ardennes], Nr 2 engine is lost due to ground fire. Consequently, Hargis [Jack Hargis, pilot] is unable to follow the rest of the formation and the aircraft is still heavily loaded. Ed Winslow, the bombardier in the nose of the aircraft, releases his load of bombs over the hills of Bad Kreuznach [70 kms SW of Frankfurt & 200 kms short of Schweinfurt]. The pilot tries to seek protection, within the rest of the group, to no avail. Over the city of Darmstadt [60 kms E of Bad Kreuznach], "Dame Satan" is far behind the rest.

They agree on turning back on a 285° course plotted by Carlyle Darling, the Navigator, and try to reach England as fast as possible. On his way back, this time over Belgium and at some 15,000 feet the B-17 is creating confusion in the German alert system. The bomber is now flying some distance from the German air (base?) of Florennes [25 kms SSE of Charleroi, Belgium], used by a Luftwaffe night fighter group. And later they are over Gosselies [10 kms N of Charleroi], a repair station of the (?). They are now close to "Lindwurm 2", a German radar station in Aisemont [20 kms E of Charleroi], and later over Nivelles [25 kms N of Charleroi], a reserve base of the Luftwaffe. The B-17 is now approaching Chièvres [40 kms W of Nivelles] air base of German fighter group II, located near the town of Ath [60 kms NW of Charleroi]. On the ground, the German control center is again confused. Radio waves are reporting an unidentified bomber near Chièvres followed by another report signalling a full bomber group flying near the city of Charleroi.

A German fighter group is now taking off from Vitry-Lille, northern France to meet the returning bomb group, but they change direction to the city of Namur and discover the lone B-17 on his course back to England. One fighter squadron flies away to check this lone B-17, the "last Germans" that Hargis will ever meet. One of the fighters, a Focke-Wulf 190, flown by Lt Erich Burkert, reduces his speed to be able to use his canons, and starts shooting from aft and above the bomber. The tail gunner, Rudy Thigpin [actually Leland Judy; Thigpin was in hospital], unable to hit the Focke-Wulf, warns Victor [Ciganek, Radio operator] of the approaching aircraft. Victor grips the machine gun located behind him in the ceiling and shoots.

In his dive, Burkert hits engine No 1, which starts burning. With two engines dead on the left wing, the B-17 banks to the left. But Victor is also hit by the Focke-Wulf; a shell has penetrated his back. On the intercom, he yells "I am hit!". Hargis shoots back "Will someone please help Victor?". Gerald Tucker, the RH waist gunner, rushes forward into the Radio room to help him. After the order to bail out is given by Hargis, he helps Victor to the back of the aircraft, to the exit door located in the right side. Victor is semi-conscious. Gerald puts Vic's hand on the rip cord of the parachute and, pushes him out, he yells at him "Pull that rip cord or you will hit the ground". The Flight Engineer on board, James Allen [T/Sgt Jarvis Allen was the flight engineer], was also wounded in the face. But they all jumped, through the rear door for those located aft of the fuselage, or through the lower door or the front for those located in the cockpit area. ...