419 Squadron Evaders

Lorne Frame-Bill Watson-Donald Steepe-
Philip Barclay-Daniel Murphy

An Accomplished Women

In the history of the 419 Squadron there were people who through their actions should be remembered within this website. One such person was a women who aided in the concealment of six 419 airmen from capture and imprisonment.
A brief write up on the story of Bill Watson, Lorne Frame, Philip Barclay, Daniel Murphy, Sgt. J Morris and Donald Steepe and be found on Evaders
These were not the only airmen she successfully helped during the was. Nor was she the only person who put her life at risk to save the Allied airmen that came their way.
Born in Wisconsin, and an movie actress by profession who left the Hollywood scene to live in France. Known to cinema audiences as Drue Leyton, her marriage to a French actor and move to France in the years before the war were to have a direct affect on many Allied airmen.

Arrested after Pearl Harbour


When the Germans came into France Mme. Tartiere, as she was now known, worked for the French Government in the Ministry of Information. She was arrested and interned at Vittel, where she used her acting skills and with the help of a French doctor obtained a medical discharge.
Working out of a home in Barbizon as an invalid and small hold farmer, she helped feed not only the airmen she and her neighbors sheltered but friends in the nearby city of Paris.

"The House Near Paris"

The perils and acts of bravery she and her underground friends performed can only best be appreciated by reading her book "The House Near Paris" which is now in the public domain and available online in many e-reader formats.
such as here I am sure if you read it you would appreciate all she did for the five 419 crewmen and all the other Allied airmen that her group kept from the Gestapo.