He flew his
last mission on 16 December 1943.
S/Sgt Darter and his crew took off in B-17
#42-30255 nicknamed "Lonesome Polecat II".
The target for that day was the German city
of Bremen.
His crew
consisted of:
Pilot
Frederick A. Delbern
Co pilot Don P. Neff
Navigator Royal L. Jackson
Bombardier Junius E. Woollen
Engineer Loren E. Dodson
Radio Operator Eugene F. Darter
Ball Turret Gunner Charles J.
Schreiner
Left Waist Gunner Frank V. Lee
Right Waist Gunner Doral A. Hupp
Tail Gunner Robert T. McKeegan
The
crew of the Lonesome Polecat II (picture
courtesy of Mr. Michael Darter)
The
95th BG sent 40 planes on this
mission. Take off from Horham
started at 08.30. The flight path
would take the bombers over the
North Sea, north of The Netherlands,
to Bremen. A few hours later they
found themselves over the target.
Eugene's brother Michael continues:"
Their aircraft was badly hit by both
flak and fighters and fell out of
formation with #3 engine feathered and
#2 on fire and crew wounded. My brother,
S/Sgt Eugene Darter, was hit in the
radio room while shooting out the top of
the plane at an attacking Me 109. He
collapsed on the floor and was not found
until 30 minutes later as the LP II
approached the coast of Holland, loosing
altitude and the pilots badly wounded.
The bombardier (Ed Woollen), navigator
(Pete Jackson), and top turret (Loren
Dodson) had bailed out over Germany (and
were badly wounded but became POW's and
survived), but the men in the back of
the plane had not heard the bailout
command. Doral Hupp, ball turret, found
Eugene and administered first aid, got
his parachute on and got him up ready to
bail, and as everyone else was getting
ready to bail, watched him smile and say
"I'll be all right" as he went out the
rear hatch and disappeared into the
total cloud cover below.
They all thought they would land (and
die) in the North Sea, but the four
remaining men (Doral Hupp, Charlie
Schreiner, Bob McKeegan, and Frank Lee)
miraculously landed on Texel Island, 20
miles out in the North Sea. They hit
hard as the plane was only 3000 ft above
the ground. The LP II was brought down
skillfully by the injured pilots (Fred
Delbern & Don Neff) through the fog
ditching in the North Sea, just off the
coast of Texel, but they did not get out
of the plane which lies about 1000 ft
off the beach near De Koog village.
S/Sgt Eugene Darter bailed out and
landed just short of Texel shore.
Cornelius Ellen was located on Texel,
who when 17 years old, witnessed an
American airman suddenly come throught
he fog and landed out in the Wadden Sea
on the east side of Texel, crying for
help, but could not get his parachute
unbuckled (his arm was shot badly). As
Cornelius ran for a boat, Eugene was
observed to be dragged off by the
parachute out into the sea and never
seen again.
"
S/Sgt
Eugene Darter is commemorated at the
Wall of the Missing at Cambridge
American Cemetery.
(picture
courtesy of Mr. Michael darter)
Eugene's
brother, Michael, has spent years
researching the fate of the crew of the
Lonesome Polecat II. He wrote a book
"Fateful Flight of the Lonesome Polecat II"
(ISBN 0-595-32588-2). Visit his website at
www.lonesomepolecat.com for more
information on the crew (then and now) and
the mission.
Memorial 2007
On 4 May 2007,
a memorial was held on Texel Island,
Netherlands, for
S/Sgt. Eugene F. Darter. Thirteen members
of the Darter family traveled
to Texel for the memorial. The Governor of
Texel placed a plaque on the
Lancaster World War II monument for airmen
in honor of S/Sgt. Darter and
two other crewmen for giving their lives and
seven others for their
distinguished service on 16 December 1943.
Many attendees presented
flowers at the memorial. Several of the
attendees were eyewitnesses,
who more than 60 years ago, had seen the
badly damaged and stricken B-17
(Lonesome Polecat II) crash just off the
Texel beach in the North Sea
and some of the crew land either on the
island or in S/Sgt. Darter's
case, in the Wadden Sea. This included
Cornelius Ellen who saw badly
wounded Darter come through the clouds by
parachute and was blown out
into the Wadden Sea and after splashing down
was then blown further out
into the sea by the strong wind in his
parachute which he was unable to
disconnect with only one arm. His remains
have never been recovered.
Before the memorial began, and beyond all
belief, the Darter family was
presented with a piece of the B-17 Lonesome
Polecat II which had washed
up on the shore of Texel near the location
of the submerged aircraft
just the week before the memorial. The
piece was found by Mr. Paul
Dekker of Texel and given to the World War
II museum at the Texel
airport. The story was carried by various
newspapers in the Netherlands
and in the United States (see The
News-Gazette: "Message from beyond" by
Paul Wood, 12 May 2007, Champaign, IL,
USA). Also see
www.lonesomepolecat.com memorial
website for the crew.
See also:
Lt Frederick Delbern
Lt Don Neff
Sources and
Acknowledgements:
Mr. Michael Darter (www.lonesomepolecat.com)
Directions to the Cambridge American
Cemetery
Posted
5 October 2005
Updated 31 march 2008
If you have any suggestions, comments or
additional information, please
contact me.
This website is
dedicated to the men and women who died
and/or are buried in The Netherlands during
World War II.
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