Comete Line
After Belgium had been invaded, Andrée helped smuggle Belgian servicemen out of the hospitals and into safe-houses in Brussels. This prevented the Germans from sending the healed soldiers to Germany. Andrée sought help from friends to create an escape route. One of these friends, Andree Dumont, wrote: “So she tried to find a way for them [the wounded soldiers] to go back to England and with the help of a friend who had worked on the Spanish border near St. Jean de Luz before the war and knew some Basque smugglers, and a Belgian family who was living in Anglet since the war and were ready to help by all means. So she decided to try that way and went with some Belgian soldiers and an Englishmen. When there, she discovered it is not possible without the help of the British -- because the escapers were arrested in Spain and put in a camp. Then she decided to cross the Pyrennes again and see the British consul in Bilbao. After hesitation because the consul could not believe that this young and frail girl had crossed the mountains, he finally gave his help.” Andree continued taking English soldiers through Spain and later Allied airmen. |
The Escape Route
The Comete Line led Allied soldiers out of Belgium through a network of safe houses. The route used goat trails to get through the Pyrenees mountains in France and into neutral Spain. From Spain the soldiers were flown back to London, England. This trek through Nazi occupied territories was very dangerous. According to the New York Times article "The Escape Artist" “It was a journey of more than 600 miles, involving long rides on German-patrolled trains, stealthy border crossings and a grueling nighttime trek over the Pyrenees.” This interactive map I made shows the route of the Comete Line. Click the points on the map to learn more.
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This video shows the Pyrenees mountains that Andrée had to cross to get to Spain. Grand Sites de Midi Pyrénées.
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