Post by tomt1999 on Jan 11, 2024 7:08:24 GMT -8
Escape and Evasion Instructions
1. Go on every mission armed with pistol, equipped with G.I. shoes, escape purse, aid box, hidden
escape aids, and anything else that is not too cumbersome. Make sure you can not lose them in descent.
Remember that “It can happen to you.” Do not, however, carry a pistol while wearing civilian clothing.
2. If bailing out, delay opening the chute as long as possible, thus adding to the time one will have
to hide before an enemy patrol appears to search the area.
3. During descent, try to guide your chute away from any buildings, roads, or railways. Enemy patrols
must use roads to reach your area.
4. Remember your jumping instructions to avoid injury on landing.
5. Immediately upon landing, roll up your chute, put it under your arm and run like hell further away
from habitations, roads, and railways.
6. When you have reached temporary cover, hide your parachute well: in bushes, weighted with rocks in
a stream or pond, or under the roots of trees. Remember that the Germans frequently send over low-flying
aircraft looking for open, abandoned parachutes, as such a thing is sure indication of a successful descent.
7. Having disposed of your chute, remove badges and anything that marks you too obviously as an airman.
Then move on as rapidly as possible to a better hiding place. Put as many miles as possible between you
and the place at which you descended. Obviously, if your aircraft has crashed, you should avoid its vicinity.
8. Having found a hiding place, curl up, have a long rest, and wait for the search to die down. If you feel
a bid “done in,” take a Benzedrine tablet. Do not be in a hurry to move on unless you feel that you are
in a dangerous area. If you are in friendly territory, it is probable that before long a boy or someone
else will come looking for you. If he is in uniform, study him carefully as he approaches, particularly
his badges. If you believe, but are not sure, that he is a Partisan or a member of a Resistance group,
have your pistol in your hand when you make your presence known. This should not be necessary for a small
boy or a civilian providing he is not armed. If the stranger appears friendly and recognizes you as an
Allied airman and indicates that he wants to take you to a better hiding place, go with him. It is at this
stage that most of the element of luck enters into the evasion. If he is a bonafide helper, your worries
are largely over. If he is not a helper and guides you to an enemy patrol, think fast and act accordingly
– this part is up to you.
9. It is probable that after hiding you, your helper will appear with civilian clothes or ask you for money
to buy them. Put on the civvies but give your gun to your helper. If he does not want it, bury it as it is
of no further use to you and its possession while you are in civilian clothes may be a matter of grave
danger to you. DO NOT CARRY A PISTOL IF WEARING CIVILIAN CLOTHES.
10. If a helper does not come looking for you, you should make for the hills or other isolated areas. Use
your escape map for this purpose. It is intended as a guide only and will not show every minor topographical
detail. Avoid roads, villages, and railways and take advantage of all available cover. After a day or two,
approach a lone shepherd, a lone charcoal burner, or a poor farmer. Make known the fact that you are an
Allied airman and ask for help. If you are refused assistance, get away from there and try again.
11. If you are in enemy territory, travel only at night. If in enemy-occupied territory under proper
guidance and dressed in civilian clothes, it is probably safe to travel by day. Your helpers will know.
12. When you are in the custody of helpers, it is essential that you follow all instructions they give
you. Remember that they know the form and you do not. Give chits to helpers, signed with you name, rank,
and number only. Show the name of the helper and some indication of what he has done for you and whether
you have rewarded him in any way.
13. Never write down and have in your possession any names of helpers. If you are caught and such names
are found on you, it is an absolute certainty that your helpers will be shot as soon as the enemy can
lay hands on them.