EEIE-nav-960
 
Some John Carter and Vic Line connnections
This page first posted 5 Mar 2024
Over a five-week period, eight Allied airmen set off from Perpignan to cross the Pyrenees to Spain: Jack Bawden, Thomas Hannam and William Booth on 29 November 1943, Herbert Graham, James Paterson, Robert McCowan and Trafford Curry on 22 December, and Colin Varley on 4 January 1944. All eight men had been helped by the John Carter organisation in Lyon before being passed to the SOE Vic Line.
The Vic Line was named for the SOE officer, Haim Victor Gerson (born 1 August 1896 in Southport, Lancashire to a Turkish father and British mother), who created it in 1942 for agents travelling to and from France, and ran it so successfully until the end of the war.
John Carter (aka Jules/Julien) was born 1891 in Gouvieux near Chantilly (Oise) to English parents, and had dual nationality. In August 1942, Carter was put in contact with the Pat O'Leary line when George Whittinghill at the American Consulate in Lyon asked him to deliver the five-man crew from 138 SD Whitley Z9232 (Outram) to Louis Nouveau in Marseille. Following O'Leary's arrest in February 1943, Carter went to Switzerland where he contacted Victor Farrell (SIS station chief) who asked him to start taking evaders along the Vic Line route to Spain through Perpignan, or via Lavelanet to Andorra.
Jack Bawden, Thomas Hannam and William Booth
F/Sgt Jack Douglas Bawden (1641) from Toronto, Canada was the 24-year-old bomb aimer of 103 Sqn Lancaster LM343 (Nelson). On the night of 5-6 September 1943, they were returning from Mannheim but having had to evade both fighters and flak, ran out of fuel over the Cherbourg peninsula, and the aircraft was abandoned.
Bawden (the only successful evader from the aircraft) says he landed 14 kms south-west of St-Lô at about three-thirty in the morning. After burying his parachute and Mae West, and improvising a shoe from a piece of flying kit to replace a boot lost in his descent, he set off walking south-east. At about nine o'clock that morning, he obtained food and a pair of shoes from a farmer before continuing on to Saint-Ouen-des-Besaces, where a farmer gave him food and let him rest overnight in a haystack. Bawden set off again the following morning but the farmer came after him to say the Germans were searching for him, and hid Bawden back in the haystack for a further three days. On 9 September, Bawden was moved to another farm some distance away, commenting that all the local people knew he was there, and were willing to help in any way they could. After two weeks however, a message to the Germans telling them about Bawden was intercepted, and although it was never delivered, the farmer's son took Bawden to Vire, where he was put in touch with an organisation.
Bawden was met at Vire by an organisation man called Paul who took Bawden by car to Audrieu, where he was sheltered with a Mme Humbert for about seven weeks.
At the beginning of November, a man called Michel Gilbert took Bawden to Paris, where he stayed overnight with Michel's aunt. Then a man called “Jack” (apparantly French Secret Service) took Bawden to stay with his secretary for three days (seems likely this was either Jacques Dupuis or Jean-Pierre de la Hutiere, and Paule Vastel). During this time, Bawden was visited by “Jules of Lyon”, a member of “Pat's” organisation.
Bawden was then sent to Beaujolais where he stayed on a small farm near Beaujeu (Rhône) for a week before being taken to another farm, he says at Chevres, where he stayed for two weeks with a man named Leo Ballandras.
On 26 November, Jules took Bawden to his house in Lyon where he met F/Sgt Hannam (1643) and from this point Bawden's story is the same as his.
F/Sgt Thomas Basil Hannam (1643) from Ashford in Middlesex, was the 21-year-old pilot of 222 Sqn Spitfire MH390, and on the evening of 27 September 1943 was escorting bombers to Conches. Just past Rouen, they were attacked by enemy fighters and Hannam was shot down, baling out to land in a field about 10-15 miles south of Cabourg-les-Bains (Calvados).
An elderly lady saw his descent, and met him with some milk. After drinking the milk, Hannam buried his parachute and Mae West and started heading south. He walked for about six hours in the pouring rain before stopping to rest in a barn. At about two o'clock that afternoon, he approached a farmhouse to ask for food, and was taken in, given a meal and hidden in their barn.
The farmer brought an English-speaking Frenchman named René Hervieu (his uncle lived in Peckham) to see Hannam. Hannam and the farmer then collected a horse from the stable and walked it down the road to meet René, who took Hannam to another farmhouse. From there, Hannam was taken by car into Cabourg, where he stayed for two or three days in a butcher's shop. Then garage owner Pierre Dupont took Hannam back to his house on Place de l'Eglise, and that evening (2 Oct), Hannam was taken out of town to be hidden in a loft. Four days later, Hannam was returned to Pierre's house in Cabourg, where he stayed for about a week. During this time, Hannam's photograph was taken for an ID card, and René told him that he had helped other evaders, included F/O Soren Liby RNAF (1488), who confirms meeting René in August.
On about 9 or 10 October, Hannam was taken stay with another man, also named Dupont, who owned a pottery factory outside Cabourg, and three or four days later, Hannam was taken to Caen, where he met a man called Jean, who worked for Jules in Lyon (assume Jean Calmet of 12 rue de Marseille, Lyon). The following day (about 15 Oct), Jean took Hannam to Paris, where they spent the day walking about until evening, when they took an eight o'clock overnight train to Lyon. Hannam says he stayed two days at Jean's flat before Jules took him back to his own flat, where Hannam stayed for about two weeks. Hannam was then taken to a farm owned by Robert Sigot at Fleurieu-sur-Saône (IS9 has Albert Sigot here), where he was sheltered for two or three weeks – Hannam reporting that Robert also owned a pharmacy in Lyon. Whilst at the farm, Hannam's report says that he met S/Sgt Charles Mankowitz (#264), and Sgt Paterson RAF (1715), who arrived at the farm about ten days after Hannam.
Note that Mankowitz evaded with crewmate S/Sgt Willard Freeman (#263), and both had been brought to Lyon from Le Mans in August, along with Sgt Ivor Sansum RAF (1561), by Helene Gill (see later). Sansum (who only mentions Mankowitz in his report) says they were taken to the farm on 12 September, where they stayed for four weeks. Mankowitz and Freeman confirm staying at the farm in September but make no mention of Hannam or Paterson; and Paterson makes no mention of any of them.
No date given when Hannam left the farm and was returned to Jules's flat in Lyon but one evening [26 Nov], he was taken to a rendezvous where he met a guide. They had a meal and then took an overnight train to Perpignan. Their departure for the mountains was delayed for two days by bad weather, and when they set off, the party consisted of Hannam, a Frenchwoman (Mme Hobson – query), a Dutchman that Hannam says they called John, Sgt Jack Bawden (1641) and F/Sgt William Booth (1612). It took them five days to reach Spain, walking at night and resting during the day, and they arrived at Figueras on 2 December.
F/Sgt William Booth (1612) from Wignes in Lancashire, was the 26-year-old navigator of 10 Sqn Halifax JD315, and the man that Colin Varley (see later) followed out of the rapidly descending aircraft on the night of 16-17 September 1943. Booth says (in his MI9 report dated 13 December 1943) they were severely iced up and that the aircraft went into a spin but he was since given to understand that the pilot (F/O Heppell) only gave the order to prepare to bale out, and after regaining control of the aircraft, brought it (and the rest of the crew) safely back to the UK.
Booth landed in a vineyard at La Pacaudière (Rhône-Alpes), and after burying his parachute and Mae West, set off walking in a south-easterly direction for the rest of the night. By six in the morning, he was unable to go much further as he had sprained his leg in the jump, and so approached an isolated farm house. He was given a meal and allowed to sleep in the barn, and later that day, the farmer brought a man named Henri, to see him. Henri was the station master at Saint-Martin-d'Estréaux, and he and his wife were both members of an organisation.
Next day (18 Sep), Booth's wireless operator, Sgt Varley (1734) was brought to the farm, and that same day, Booth was moved to Le Grouer, Montaiguèt-en-Forez, home of Joseph Genette. Ten days later, Varley arrived to join him.
On 2 November, a man called Jean (assume Jean Calmet) arrived to take Booth and Varley by train to Lyon, and the flat of a British Army officer called “Jules”. Booth stayed at the flat until 26 November, and reports that two days before they were due to leave, Varley slipped and sprained his ankle, and they had to leave him behind.
On 26 November, F/Sgt Thomas Hannam (1643) and F/Sgt Jack Bawden RCAF (1641) arrived at the flat, and at about six o'clock that afternoon, a man and woman took them to another address for a meal. At ten-thirty, they went to the railway station where they met an Englishwoman called Violet and a Dutchman called John Everard. They split into two parties, and took a train to Perpignan, arriving there at about noon of the following day. They were met in Perpignan by two Frenchmen who took them to an empty house. They had to delay their departure by a day due to heavy rain.
On the evening of 28 November, Bawden, Hannam, Booth, Violet and Everard went to the outskirts of town where they met their French guides, who had two Spaniards with them. They set off for the mountains at eight o'clock, walking through the night. They lay up during the following day and started walking again that night until about six the following morning (1 Dec) when they crossed into Spain.
All three evaders were flown from Gibraltar back to the UK, Booth landing at Lyneham in Wiltshire on 12 December 1943, and Hannam and Bawden at Portreath in Cornwall on 23 December.
Herbert Graham, James Paterson, Robert McCowan and Trafford Curry
W/O (Temp) Herbert William Graham (1712), and ex-LNER labourer from Stratford in East London, was the 28-year-old rear gunner of 7 Sqn Lancaster JA682 (Butterfield), which was on the way to Milan on the night of 12-13 August 1943 when the aircraft developed engine trouble and the crew were forced to bale out.
One man (F/Sgt Eric Gordon Sheil) was killed, and four men captured but two other crew also evaded successfully: pilot S/Ldr William Ronald Butterfield (1542) crossed into Spain in September, and flight engineer Sgt P F Fairweather (6/375/2104), who was sheltered in Cercy-la-Tour and Champvert until liberated on 2 October 1944.
Graham says that he landed in a wood about two miles north of Fours (Nièvre), with his parachute caught in a tree but having reached the ground safely, he buried his Mae West and set off walking south, reaching the village of Fours at about 0600 hours. He approached a farm, where he was given breakfast but felt that the wife (no names given) wanted to hand him over to the Germans, and so set off once more, this time heading slightly south-east, with the aim of reaching Geneva.
He arrived at the village of Luzy at about seven o'clock that evening, where two girls and boy told him that two of his crew members had been picked up by the Germans. Having also been warned about German garrisons in the area, Graham continued on through the night, still in a south-easterly direction (more or less following the present-day D995), reaching Toulon-sur-Arroux early the following morning, where he rested outside the town for a few hours before carrying on through Perrecy-les-Forges. He says he didn't encounter anyone else until shortly before Génelard, where he was stopped by two gendarmes. After “some discussion”, one of the gendarmes went to fetch another man, and from that point, Graham was helped with his onward journey.
The man who was brought to meet Graham was Jules Dumont, described by Graham as being the Police Adjutant at Perrecy. M. Dumont brought wine and food, and took Graham the spend the night (14-15 Aug) in a station master's house - their intention being to put Graham on an early morning train to Macon, and from there to Switzerland. When this proved not to be possible, the station master hid Graham in some woods just outside Génelard for the day. That evening, the Adjutant and the station master took Graham by bicycle to Ciry-le-Noble where he was handed over to a timber merchant, who claimed to be an agent in touch with the British, and said that Graham would be flown back to Britain within 48 hours.
Next day (16 Aug), the timber merchant and his son took Graham and handed him over a man called “Prince”, who took Graham by motorcycle, south to Charolles, and the house on Impasse de l'Ecole of an Englishman called Jack Miller - he was married to a French dentist with a practise in the town.
The following day, a man came from Macon to interrogate Graham, and on 19 August, a man called “Roberts”, who claimed to be chief of the maquis at Beaubery, came to see Graham, and promised that an aircraft would be provied within 48 hours.
It was the middle of October when three woman came from Macon, and although they also promised Graham an aircraft that never materialised, they were eventually responsible for moving him on.
On 1 November, an Englishman came from Macon and took Graham's details, and on 11 November, Graham was told that the Gestapo had rounded up various agents, including “Roberts”.
On 25 November, a man called “Julien”, who had been contacted by the three women, came to see him. Julien returned the following day, and took Graham [and McMCowan] by train to Lyon, where Graham stayed the night with a family called Bernard. Next day, Julien moved him to another house [at Fleurieu-sur-Saone] where Graham stayed until 19 December, when the daughter of the house, a girl called Louise, took him [and Paterson] by overnight train to Perpignan. They stayed one night in Perpignan before Graham (it's not clear if Louise went with him) was taken by guides on a 26-hour walk across the Pyrenees into Spain. They stayed overnight (22-23 Dec) in a farmhouse near the border before being taken by taxi to Figueras, where they stayed in a cement factory until 30 December, when Graham was taken to Barcelona (and presumably the British Consulate). From there it on to Madrid and then Seville before being taken by boat on 10 January to Gibraltar. On 16 January 1944, Graham left Gibraltar by overnight flight to the UK.
All of the above [apart from the entries in square brackets] comes from Graham's MI9 report dated 18 January 1944, and if that were our only source then all I would be able to add is that “Julian” in Lyon was obviously John Carter, and the guides and route used across the Pyrenees were those of the SOE VIC line - but fortunately, we have more ..
Four nights after Herbert Graham baled out, 218 Sqn Stirling EH884 (Chudzik) was on the way to Turin, and about 20 miles north-east of Lyon, when they were attacked by a night-fighter. With the bomber on fire, navigator, 34-year-old Sgt James Lawson Paterson (1715) from Stonehouse in Lanarkshire says he had no option but to bale out. He was not to know that five of his crew died that night and the sixth (Sgt W McKinnon RCAF) was wounded and captured - Paterson being the only evader.
Paterson landed in a field about 3 km NE of Amberieu-on-Bugey (Ain), and only about ten yards from a wood, where he buried his parachute, harness and Mae West. He then set off in an easterly direction, intending to make for Switzerland. However, he soon found that had to cross the main Amberieux to Bourg-en-Bresse road and there was an alert on, a very bright full moon, and the aircraft that had shot him down was circling the area. In desperation, Paterson approached two women, who persuaded him he was better off staying where he was, and that they would send him civilian clothes. The two women returned half an hour later with clothes and a third woman, and after changing, Paterson went with them, arm in arm with one of the women, into Amberieu, and a vacant maternity home that had been run by one of the women, where he stayed for the rest of the night. The following day, Paterson was taken to stay with Marcel Demia, a grain merchant in Amberieu, and his wife and two children, and on 18 August, taken by bicycle to stay with M. Lapierre at the boulangerie. Paterson stayed at the boulangerie while an identity card was made for him, and while Marcel Demia contacted the captain of a local “maqui” organisation.
On about 23 August, the maquis captain sent a lieutenent to take Paterson to his GHQ at Port on the north-west corner of the Lac de Nantua. Paterson stayed in a small house there for about ten days until about 31 August when the HQ was moved to the home of Ferdinand Guinard and his wife at Intriat, about 2 kms from Izernore.
Paterson stayed with the Guimards for three months, with regular assurances of pickup by aircraft, and several visits by the maquis captain. The Guimards also had friends who lived at Thoiry, near the Swiss border, and they were planning to send Paterson there but then an American captain (in plain clothes) arrived who said that he thought he would be able to contact somebody who could get him away.
On about 15 November, Paterson was told to get ready to move at short notice, and two days later, Ferdinand Guimard took Paterson back to Amberieu to await collection by an escape organisation. On about 20 November, a young Frenchman took Paterson by bus to Lyon, and the flat of a man called “Julien”, head of the escape organisation. After a night at the flat, Paterson was taken to Fleurieu-sur-Saone (about 10 kms north of Lyon), where he stayed with Henri Hippolyte Roibet and his family on the Route Nationale until the arrival of W/O Graham (1712) - and they travelled together from that point, all the way to Gibraltar.
2/Lt Robert Melvin McCowen (#317) from Waterloo, Iowa, was the 24-year-old co-pilot of 95BG/412BS B-17 42-30105 Slightly Dangerous (Sarchet). On 10 July 1943, they were returning from an early morning mission to Paris to bomb a secondary target near Rouen, when they were attacked by fighters, and the bomber was abandoned to crash near Saint-Didier-des-Bois. Three crew were killed, and I think that five were captured, with TTG S/Sgt Donald E Harding (#111) being the only other successful evader.
McCowen landed in a small wood quite close to the burning wreckage of his aircraft, leaving the area as soon as he had buried his parachute and Mae West. He headed generally south towards Spain and while he was quite often fed and sheltered overnight, it was not until he reached Monnaie (about 12 kms north of Tours) ten days later, that he found any sort of organised assistance.
Mme Vve Maguin and her teenage daughter lived on their farm, “Bois Soliel”, and McCowan stayed at the farm while the women went into Monnaie to try and get him some help, and on 12 August, Roger Bourgogne (described by McCowan as a maquis leader at Tours) and one of his men, Roland Bellinger, arrived to take McCowen into Tours.
Next morning, Roger Bourgogne took McCowan by train to Ciry-le-Noble (Saone-et-Loire, and not far from Perrecy-les-Forges and Génelard where Herbert Graham was later helped). They went to a restaurant where they met a timber merchant (presumably the same man who helped Graham), who took them back to his house, and Bourgogne left McCowan there. Next day, McCowan was taken by car to a farm in the country, and then moved to another farm, ”La Breuille” near Martigny-le-Comte, home of Josef Jeandau . McCowan stayed with Josef Jeandau, working on his farm for four months and two days, from 14 August until 16 December.
On 2 November, three “boys from Charolles” brought an Englishman - blond with a moustache. He came from Lyon, and told McCowan he had been hard to find as no-one was talking.
On 25 November, the baker from Charolles (Gaston Gaget) brought “Mr Jules” to see McCowan and asked if he would like to go with him. Jules seemed to know what he was doing and McCowan said yes. Jules was in a hurry but said he would be back in two weeks. On the Saturday [27 Nov] Jack Miller, an Englishman at Charolles who was keeping a Canadian [so far unidentified], came to see McCowan. Miller got McCowan a new identity card issued in Charolles to replace the one from Tours, which was in the northern zone. This one described McCowan as a 19-year-old deaf mute. On 9 December, Miller came to tell McCowan that Jules had to postpone their journey until the following Thursday.
On Thursday 16 December, Gaston Gaget, the baker, took McCowan back to his house in Charolles where he met W/O Herbert Graham. The two airmen were then taken by coal truck to the railway station, where Jules had their tickets, and he took them by train to Lyon.
They picked up Sgt Trafford Curry and went to Jules' apartment, and then to another house, and Jules made a new ID card for McCowan, one without the deaf mute description as this was thought to be too suspicious. McCowan, Graham and Curry spent that night (17-18 Dec) with Jules at his apartment.
Next day, Jules told them they would be leaving with Sgt James Paterson RAF (1715), and Jules turned them over to the VIC organisation. They were to leave on Saturday 18 December from an apartment - a man called “Geo” spoke English and would give them their instructions, and McCowan was told he would be travelling with Curry and Sgt Colin Varley RAF (1734). Geo came to tell them the Saturday departure was delayed for a day so it was the Sunday (19 Dec) when he took McCowan, Curry and a red-haired girl (Varley not going with them after all) to the railway station, and the girl took the two airmen by train to Carcassonne. From Carcassonne, they and a young male guide took a diesel train to Quillan, where they joined Herbert Graham and James Paterson and their woman guide, and all seven took a bus to Perpignan, arriving at about eight o'clock that evening.
T/Sgt Trafford L Curry (#325) from Hollis, Oaklahoma was the 28-year-old top turret gunner of 100BG/351BS B-17 42-30089 Sunny (King). On 3 September 1943, they were on an early morning mission to the Renault works at Romilly-sur-Seine when they were hit by flak over their IP (Initial Point, where the aircraft would form up prior to heading for their targets), and with the aircraft on fire, it was abandoned to crash about 25 kms SE of Paris. Five crew were killed and four captured - Curry was the only successful evader.
The typed version of Curry's report ends with some local people taking him to a place from where his journey was arranged on the same day he landed but the hand-scribbled notes tell us more. He was taken by train to Hyenville, Manche (western Cherbourg Peninsula) where he was sheltered with Emile Martinet for 75 days (6 Sep to 20 Nov) who I think he describes as an “old man”.
It was Madeleine Grador, a veterinarian's wife (described by John Carter as his representative in Paris although her home was in the Correze), who came from Paris on about 30 November, and took Curry back to the capital. They went to her (sic) house, an apartment on the seventh floor (probably 87 rue Rochechouart, Paris IX , home of Mme Marguerite Schmitz). Next day, he was taken to Mme Jeanne Huet's apartment at 48 avenue du President Wilson, Paris XVI, where he stayed for a week. Jean-Pierre (Jean-Pierre de la Hutiere) was there when he arrived, and he also met Nell (Mme Helene Gill) a beautiful 24-year-old woman with an English husband (who was interned at Saint Denis) and young child (Daniel).
Date not given when Nell took Curry by overnight train to Lyon, where he was sheltered with Paul-Marie Bonnamour and his English wife at 8 avenue Marechal Foch.
On about 14 December, a woman (probably Annie Sabourault) took Curry to stay for three days Carter's apartment, until Carter returned from Geneva, and he was joined by James Paterson, Herbert Graham and Robert McCowan.
McCowan says they were met in Perpignan and taken to a house where they were told new guides were due the next day (Tuesday), and the following morning, another man joined them. That evening, two guides led them into the mountains, and they walked for 26 hours, changing guides three times, to a farm just across the border. From there, they were taken by taxi to an apartment in Figueras (23 Dec). They then stayed in a barn for a week, waiting to go by train to Barcelona. McCowan says a man at the cement factory where they were staying took care of them. On the Thursday [30 Dec], a man took them in a donkey cart to the rail yards where they boarded a freight train for Barcelona, arriving there on 31 December. They went first to an apartment, and then to the British Consulate, and from there to the British Embassy in Madrid.
The four evaders were flown back to the UK from Gibraltar: Robert McCowan arriving on 14 January 1944, Herbert Graham and Trafford Curry arriving on 17 January, and James Paterson on 20 January.
Colin Varley
Sgt Colin Ross Varley (1734) from Barnsley in Yorkshire was the 21-year-old wireless operator of 10 Sqn Halifax JD315 (Heppell) which was on the way to Modane, on the French-Italian border, on the night of 16-17 September 1943 when he felt the aircraft lurch, and heard the pilot order his crew to bale out. He then heard Heppell say “Wait a minute” but later repeat the bale out order, and Varley followed navigator F/Sgt William Booth (1612) out of the aircraft.
Varley landed at about midnight in a field that he says was somewhere north-east of Lapalisse (Allier), and after burying his parachute and Mae West in a ditch, set off walking across country, using his compass to head south (sic). By daybreak (at about 0500 hrs), he stopped at a farm about four miles east of Saint-Martin-d'Estréaux (Loire), where he slept for three or four hours in a haystack. After waking, he watched a farmhouse for several hours before approaching and asking for help. He was given a meal and put to bed for the night.
The following day, Varley was sent to a farm near Saint-Martin-d'Estréaux where he was told that help might be given, and where he met a French ex-army captain called Fradin (query), aged about 56, who lived in the village. He said he would help, and told Varley to stay at the farm until he was called for. Next day, two young men brought a letter from his navigator, F/Sgt Booth, saying he was being sheltered in another farm nearby. The young men took Varley to see Booth, and he met several men from an organisation, including the station master from Saint Martin, a man with the Christian name of Henri. Varley was told he should return to the farm where he was staying, and Booth was taken away that same afternoon. On 20 September, Captain Fradin took Varley to stay at his house in Saint Martin for the night.
Next morning (21 Sep), Fradin took Varley by bicycle about 20 kms south to stay in a barn in “hilly, well wooded country” where he reports there were about 60 young Frenchmen in hiding to avoid the German labour service. After eight or nine days, some of these men received instructions to take Varley back to the Captain's house in Saint Martin. They went by car, and at the Captain's house, Varley met the station master's wife and a young man (aged about 24) called Jean (probably Jean Calmet), who had come from Lyon. They took Varley to a farm at Montaiguèt-en-Forez that he says was owned by a Mme Jeannette (phonetic spelling) (IS9 has Joseph Genette of Le Groule living here) where Varley stayed from early October until the end of the first week in November, being joined there by Booth.
At the end of their stay, Jean arrived at the farm to take Varley and Booth by train to Lyon, and the home of Englishman Jules Carter on rue Vendome. Varley and Booth stayed in Carter's flat for about three weeks, until the end of November, during which time, Varley fell down some stairs and injured his foot. On 26 November, Booth left to begin his journey across the Pyrenees but with Varley temporarily unfit for the crossing, he was taken to friends of Carter's, a young married couple, Maurice and Jeannine Garcin , hoteliers at 16 Avenue Jean Jaures, Lyon, who were not members of the organisation.
After three weeks with the Garcins, Varley was taken to meet Carter near his flat, where he met Sgt James Paterson, an unnamed RAF sergeant (Herbert Graham) and two American airmen (McCowan and Curry). Carter handed them over to two Frenchmen, and one them, Victor , took Varley and the two Americans to the Lyon flat of M. and Mme Denis (IS9 has Eugene and Henri Denis at 74 boulevard des Brotteaux ). They expected to leave that night but their departure was postponed. The two Americans left the following night [19 Dec] but Varley stayed on with the Denis couple for another two weeks.
On 3 January, Varley left Lyon for Perpignan with a Belgian named Maurice and a woman guide. They arrived in Perpignan at about seven o'clock on the evening of 4 January, where the woman guide passed Varley and Maurice over to a man who led them out of town to meet two mountain guides, who already had two more Belgians and a “F/Lt Vincent” who Varley says may have been French.
The group set off for the mountains at eight o'clock, reaching Figueras in Spain on 6 January ..
Colin Varley was flown back to the UK from Gibraltar, arriving at Whitchurch (Bristol) on 1 February 1944.
John Carter was arrested at Pamiers (Ariège) on about 6 January 1944, along with three American airmen. Carter was deported, and survived Mauthausen. Click here for more details.
This article contains information from multiple sources in addition to the men's escape and evasion reports.