WWII Escape Routes into Spain
WWII Escape Routes into Spain
January 14, 2025
Letitia D. Richardson, J.D, LL.M.
Introduction
I recently read two books about amazing women who supported the French Resistance during World War II. The first, A Woman of No Importance, is a biography of Virginia Hall, an American who found her strength in the emerging spy networks developed by the Allied Forces in France. The second, The Nightingale, is a work of fiction based on the life of Andrée de Jongh, a Belgian nurse turned resistance fighter. Both works describe the use of organized escape routes through Nazi-occupied Belgium and France and Vichy France. Intrigued, I decided to find out more. This article, while not a comprehensive review of the subject, summarizes my findings.
Background
During WWII thousands of people fled Nazi-occupied Belgium and France and Nazi-sympathizing Vichy France to seek temporary or permanent refuge in Spain, France's neighbor to the south. Jews, resistance fighters, allied soldiers, airmen and spies, ordinary citizens, and escaped political and war prisoners were among the people who fled Nazi and Vichy persecution. Depending upon the reasons for their flight to Spain, these individuals are variously called refugees, escapees, evacuees, and evaders. For the purposes of this article, I prefer the term "evacuees" in recognition of their common need: to be evacuated from behind enemy lines.
Their journeys involved great peril. From the north, the evacuees traversing Belgium and northern France risked capture by the occupying German forces: the German military, the Gestapo secret police, and the SS paramilitary forces, while in southern France, the collaborative French Vichy police forces pursued Nazi-equivalent strategies. Belgian and French police and Nazi operatives could stop anyone, anywhere, and demand to see their identification papers. Persons traveling without documentation, such as downed allied pilots, or people traveling with papers that identified them as Nazi targets (Jews, intellectuals, or escaped political prisoners among others) could be, and were, immediately sent to detention centers, and, if they survived the detention centers, on to concentration camps.
Several evacuation routes were developed to help people evade the Nazi and Vichy authorities. Sometimes the trails were developed by the allied forces to help downed airmen or compromised spies escape France, such as the Shelbourne, Burgundy, and Vic lines. Other trails were developed by ordinary citizens as part of a resistance effort to help people escape Nazi brutality; the Comet, Dutch-Paris, Service EVA, and Smit-van der Heiden lines were among these. Still others were joint military/civilian efforts, notably, the Pat O'Leary Line. Many used trails originally developed during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) to help people flee Franco's Nationalist forces into France.
Once the evacuees arrived in southern France, the routes climbed high into the Pyrenees Mountains before descending into Spain. The terrain included glacier-like expanses of snow and ice and large areas of rocks and boulders, requiring good health and agility to traverse. The mountain climate assailed the evacuees with windstorms, rainstorms, and snowstorms. Evacuees suffered days of frigid temperatures and blistering heat. Their survival required that they depend on secret agents, "passeurs" (guides), and ordinary citizens who lived along the routes and hid, fed, and supported the tired and hungry evacuees on the journey. While the spies and secret agents were generally reliable, countless stories survive about agents whose reckless behavior caused entire spy networks to be compromised and shut down. When this happened, a new network had to be developed to aid with the evacuations, and this, of course, took time, endangering everyone caught behind Nazi-controlled lines. The passeurs and residents were often fearless and dedicated, but some took the evacuees' money and then betrayed them to the authorities. The twin dangers posed by recklessness and betrayal dogged early resistance efforts in WWII.
Meanwhile, the authorities presented an ever-present threat. French border guards zealously guarded the frontier; their own livelihoods and safety relied on preventing Nazi targets from escaping into Spain. Across the Pyrenees, Spain, while nominally neutral, was under the control of the fascist dictator, Francisco Franco, whose pro-German leanings had led to brutal German and Italian-supported attacks on his own people, including the attack on Guernica in 1937, immortalized in the painting of the same name by Pablo Picasso. If captured by the Spanish authorities, the evacuees would be returned to France. Only when they arrived at a British or American consulate could the evacuees feel safe.
Success was not a foregone conclusion. Luck played a huge part; determination another. Nonetheless, the routes beckoned thousands of people desperate to avoid torture, execution, and/or deportation to Nazi camps.
Three escape lines and heroes whose names are associated with them
The Comet Line originated in occupied Belgium, France's neighbor to the northeast. Here, downed airmen boarded trains, traversed France, overnighting at safehouses in Paris, Bayonne, and Deppe, and eventually arrived in Saint-Jean-de- Luz in southwest France. From there they traveled on foot over the Pyrenees to the British Consulate in Bilbao, Spain. The entire trail covered 1,000 miles, and its name was a reference to how quickly the guides and evacuees travelled along it. The Comet Line eventually became so travelled that several ancillary routes were developed to ease congestion and safe-guard the evacuees and guides. The original line was co-founded by 24 year-old Andrée de Jongh (codenames "Postwoman" and "Dédée"). Andrée participated in recovering the downed airmen, organizing safe houses, obtaining false papers and clothing, offering medical care, guiding evacuees over the Pyrenees, and providing vital intelligence to England. Andrée was arrested in January of 1943, and when she confessed her activities, the Germans did not believe her because she looked so young. They could not believe that such a young woman could possibly be a leader of the resistance. Even though they doubted her story, they sent her to Ravensbrück, a concentration camp for women, and later to Mauthausen concentration camp (where, by the way, the complicit Vichy government had deported thousands of Spanish and International Brigade refugees who had fled to France when General Franco finally managed to overthrow the Spanish Republic in 1939). Andrée survived the camps and was treated as a hero afterward and awarded several international medals, including the UK George Medal, the French Légion d'honneur, and the U.S. Medal of Freedom, for her wartime efforts on behalf of the allied forces. After the war, she worked as a nurse in Central Africa. In 1985, she was granted the title of Countess by the Belgian government. Kristin Hannah's book The Nightingale (2015) is based on Andrée's life.
Florentino Goikoetxe Beobide, an illiterate Spanish-Basque hunter and smuggler, was the line's most famous and experienced passeur. Born in Hernani, Spain, in 1898, he died in Ziburu, Spain in 1980. His extensive knowledge of the Pyrenees mountain terrain made him an expert at evading roaming police patrols. He guided hundreds of Allied airmen and soldiers over the mountains into Spain. Surprised by a German patrol in 1944, he was shot and taken into custody. Elvire de Greef (see below for more information) organized a successful escape involving German-speaking French resistance fighters who impersonated Gestapo officials. Florentino spent the rest of the war in Biarritz and was awarded the UK's George Medal and France's Légion d'honneur for his work saving Allied lives. At the award ceremonies, he was reputed to have cited "Import-Export" as his profession.
The SOE (Britain's "Special Operations Executive") Vic Line, named after its founder Victor Gerson, began in Perpignan, France and ended at the British Consulate in Barcelona, Spain. Virginia Hall, an American, worked as a spy for both the British SOE and the American OSS ("Office of Strategic Services") in France during WWII. She was an unlikely spy, having accidentally shot herself in the foot and developing gangrene, which required the amputation of her lower leg. She walked with a pronounced limp due to a prosthetic device she named "Cuthbert". She also spoke French with an easily identifiable American accent. Despite these obvious "tells", she operated for years behind enemy lines and was never unmasked. Virginia worked brilliantly for both services, yet was continually undermined by her male (sub)peers, which often prevented her from being recognized and promoted for her outstanding work. She engaged in espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance missions during the war and was later awarded the U.S. Distinguished Service Cross. After the war, she went to work for the CIA. Virginia utilized the Vic Line to escape from France when her cover had been blown, crossing a 7,500-foot pass and covering 50 miles over a two-day period. She was considered the most dangerous allied spy by the Germans. Sonia Purnell wrote a biography of Virginia Hall entitled A Woman of No Importance.
The Pat O'Leary Line, named after the alias of Belgian resistance member-turned SOE operative, Albert Guérisse, first took downed airmen to Marseille, then over the eastern Pyrenees, and then to Gibraltar. After Marseilles was compromised in 1943, the route moved to crossings over the central Pyrenees, which were both higher and more dangerous. The line worked both to insert allied agents into war zones and extract allied agents and other evacuees from the war zones. The line included water crossings to and from the HMS Fidelity and the HMS Tarana, two British ships anchored off Gibraltar. Over 200 helpers worked this line, including Andrée Borrel, a French woman working for Britain's SOE. After receiving her espionage training in England, Andrée parachuted into France, one of the first women to do so in WWII. Andrée's short career included courier work for the Prosper Network, a network of spies in Paris, as well as her work on the Pat O'Leary Line. A scrappy, working-class woman, Andrée was known for her likeability, commitment to the cause, and intelligence. She fell victim to breaches of protocol amongst her fellow agents and was captured and executed at the young age of 24. Thanks to the agents' reckless behavior, the Pat O'Leary Line was compromised and almost destroyed not once but twice. Eventually, Marie-Louise Marthe Dissart, code name "Françoise" (see below for more information) took it over and renamed it the Françoise Line.
Notable women involved with the Comet and Pat O'Leary lines
Comet Line:
· Andrée Eugénie Adrienne de Jongh (1916-2007), Belgian. Red Cross volunteer and Belgian Resistance. Code names "Dédée" and "Postwoman". Co-founded and led the Comet Line. Guided 118 people through Belgium and France and into Spain. Arrested in 1943 and sent to Ravensbrück and later Mauthausen concentration camps. Awards: British George Medal; U.S. Medal of Freedom; French Légion d'honneur, Belgian Order of Leopold and Croix de Guerre. Made honorary Lieutenant-Colonel of Belgian Army. Received the title of Countess in Belgium in 1985. Inspiration for the book The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah (2015) and several other books and TV shows.
· Virginia d'Albert-Lake née Roush (1910-1997), American. French Resistance. Provided safe houses for 67 allied airmen in France until they could begin the journey to Spain. Arrested in 1944 and sent to Ravensbrück.
· Elvire Ghislaine de Greef née Berlement (1897-1991), Belgian. French Resistance. Code name "Tante (Auntie) Go". Her husband and two teenage children helped with the resistance effort. She assisted 288 airmen and 84 others to escape occupied France and Belgium. Awards: British George Medal; U.S. Medal of Freedom.
· Micheline Dumon (1921-2017), Belgian Resistance. Code names "Lily" and "Michou". When her mother, father, and sister were arrested and imprisoned, "Lily" took over the family resistance efforts. She helped over 250 allied airmen to cross the border into Spain. Arrested in early 1944 by the French police, she spent two nights in jail and was then released. Escaped to England 1944. Awards: British George Medal; U.S. Medal of Freedom.
· Elsie Mary Maréchal née Bell (1894-1969), English. Belgian Resistance. Arrested 1942 and taken to Gestapo HQ with her daughter, son, and husband. Several other Comet Line associates were captured when they came to look for the Maréchals or were found with compromising materials. Elsie and her daughter were sent to Ravensbrück and then transferred to Mauthausen.
· Amanda "Mouchka" Stassart (1923-2013). Belgian. French Resistance. Code name "Diane". Arrested and tortured in 1944, she was deported to Ravensbrück and then Mauthausen.
· Marguerite "Peggy" Langley née van Lier (1915-2000). Born in South Africa to Belgian and Irish parents. Code names "Michele", "Melle", and "Mitchell". Captured when she went to investigate the disappearance of the Maréchals and soon released. Fled to Spain on the Comet Line and then to England. Awards: English OBE; Belgian Croix de Guerre; Dutch Cross of Resistance; U.S. Medal of Freedom.
Pat O'Leary Line:
· Madeleine Damermont (1917-1944), French. French Resistance and SOE. Cover name "Martine". Helped about 75 allied airmen escape France. Fled France 1942, recruited by SOE, returned to France 1944 and immediately captured due to compromised SOE radios. Sent to Karlsruhe women's prison in Germany and then to Dachau concentration camp where she was executed in September1944. Honors: French Légion d'honneur, Croix de Guerre, and Médaille de la Résistance; British King's Commendation for Brave Conduct.
· Marie-Louise Marthe Dissard (1881-1957), French. French Resistance. Code name "Françoise". Helped over 700 allied airmen escape from France. Began her work on the Pat Line and after its collapse founded the Françoise Line. Honors: French Légion d'honneur, Croix de Guerre, Médaille de la Résistance, British George Medal and OBE, U.S. Medal of Freedom; Belgian Order of Leopold II, French Croix de Guerre.
· Elisabeth Wolpert Coker Haden-Guest Furse née Louise Ruth Wolpert (1910-2002), Prussian. Elisabeth joined the Communist Party in her teens and from a young age worked to help Jews and others escape the increasingly hostile Nazi regime. She married the British aristocrat, Peter Haden-Guest, in 1939. In France when the war broke out in 1940, Elisabeth went to Marseille and joined the operatives of the Pat O'Leary Line. After the war, she divorced Haden-Guest and married her 3rd husband some years later.
· Virginia Hall Golliot (1906-1982), American. SOE, OSS, and after the war CIA. Code names "Marie" (SOE) and "Diane" (OSS). Spy and wireless operator. Founder of the SOE Heckler spy network. Engineered the escape of 12 prisoners from the Mauzac prison. Escaped over the Pyrenees on the Vic Line. Honors: British MBE; U.S. Distinguished Service Cross (DSC); French Croix de Guerre.
· Nancy Grace Augusta Fiocca née Wake (1912-2011), New Zealand. French Resistance, SOE. Code name "Hélène". Escaped to England 1943 and returned to France 1944. Awards: British George medal, French Légion d'honneur; Australian Order of Australia, New Zealand Badge in Gold; U.S. Medal of Freedom.