Comet line
Encyclopedia
The Comet line was a World War II resistance group in Belgium/France which helped Allied soldiers and airmen return to Britain. The line started in Brussels
, where the men were fed, clothed and given false identity papers before being hidden in attics and cellars of houses. A network of people guided them south through occupied France into neutral Spain and home via British-controlled Gibraltar
.
or Lille
to Paris and then via Tours
, Bordeaux
, Bayonne
, over the Pyrenees
to San Sebastián
in Spain. From there evaders travelled to Bilbao
, Madrid
and Gibraltar. There were three other main routes. The Pat line (after founder Pat O'Leary) ran from Paris to Toulouse
via Limoges and then over the Pyrenees via Esterri d'Aneu to Barcelona
. Another Pat line ran from Paris to Dijon
, Lyon
s, Avignon
to Marseille
, then Nîmes
, Perpignan
and Barcelona. From Barcelona evaders were transported to Gibraltar. Another route from Paris (the Shelburne line) ran to Rennes
and then St Brieuc in Brittany
, where men were shipped to Dartmouth
.
. Andrée de Jongh
(nickname
"Dédée") was 20 in 1940 and lived in Brussels. She was the younger daughter of Frédéric de Jongh, a headmaster, and Alice Decarpentrie. Edith Cavell
, a British nurse shot in the Tir National in Schaerbeek in 1915 for assisting troops to escape from occupied Belgium to the neutral Netherlands, had been a heroine of Dédée's in her youth.
In August 1941, Andrée de Jongh
appeared in the British consulate in Bilbao
with a British soldier, James Cromar from Aberdeen
, and two Belgian volunteers, Merchiers and Sterckmans, having travelled by train through Paris to Bayonne and then on foot over the Pyrenees. She requested support for her escape network (later named Comet line) from the British military intelligence, granted by MI9
, (British Military Intelligence Section 9), under the control of an ex-infantry major, Norman Crockatt and lieutenant James Langley, who had been repatriated after losing his left arm in the rear guard defence of Dunkerque in 1940.
With MI9 she helped 400 Allied
soldiers escape from Belgium through occupied France to the British consulate in Madrid and on to Gibraltar. Neave described her as "one of our greatest agents." Later Neave organised gunboats from Dartmouth, Devon, to cross the Channel and run agents and supplies to the French resistance
in Brittany
and to return escaped POWs and evaders to Britain.
Comet Line members and the families took great risks, De Jongh escorting 118 airmen over the Pyrenees herself.
After November 1942 escape lines became more dangerous when southern France was occupied by the Germans and the whole of France was under Nazi rule. Many members of the Comet line were betrayed, hundreds were arrested by the Geheime Feldpolizei
and the Abwehr
and after weeks of interrogation and torture at places such as Fresnes Prison
in Paris were executed or labelled Nacht und Nebel
(NN) prisoners. NN prisoners were deported to German prisons and many later to concentration camps such as Ravensbrück concentration camp
for women, Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
, Buchenwald concentration camp
, Flossenbürg concentration camp
,
Prisoners sent to these camps included Andrée de Jongh
, Elsie Maréchal
(Belgian Resistance
), Nadine Dumon (Belgian Resistance), Mary Lindell
(Comtesse de Milleville) and Virginia d'Albert-Lake (American).
The authors of the official history of MI9
cite 2,373 British and Commonwealth servicemen and 2,700 Americans taken to Britain during World War II. The RAF Escaping Society estimated there were 14,000 helpers officially in 1945. The Comet line inspired the 1970s BBC television series, Secret Army (1977–79).
who whilst working for MI9
was responsible for overseeing this line and to aid it wherever possible.
Other accounts appear in the books Saturday at MI9 also by Airey Neave
, Home Run by John Nichol
& Tony Rennel, MI9 - Escape & Evasion by James Langley & M. R. D. Foot, and Silent Heroes: Downed Airmen and the French Underground by Sherri Greene Ottis.
Return Journey by Major ASB Arkwright includes a first hand account of three British Officers who were brought to freedom by the line after escaping from a POW camp.
"Riding the Comet" is a stage drama by Mark Violi. The play focuses on a rural French family helping two American GIs return safely to London days after the D-Day invasion. This play premieres at Actors' NET of Bucks County (PA) in September 2011.
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, where the men were fed, clothed and given false identity papers before being hidden in attics and cellars of houses. A network of people guided them south through occupied France into neutral Spain and home via British-controlled Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
.
Routes
A typical route was from BrusselsBrussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
or Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
to Paris and then via Tours
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
, Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
, Bayonne
Bayonne
Bayonne is a city and commune in south-western France at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, of which it is a sub-prefecture...
, over the Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
to San Sebastián
San Sebastián
Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
in Spain. From there evaders travelled to Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
, Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
and Gibraltar. There were three other main routes. The Pat line (after founder Pat O'Leary) ran from Paris to Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
via Limoges and then over the Pyrenees via Esterri d'Aneu to Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. Another Pat line ran from Paris to Dijon
Dijon
Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département and of the Burgundy region.Dijon is the historical capital of the region of Burgundy. Population : 151,576 within the city limits; 250,516 for the greater Dijon area....
, Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
s, Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
to Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
, then Nîmes
Nîmes
Nîmes is the capital of the Gard department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France. Nîmes has a rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire, and is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
, Perpignan
Perpignan
-Sport:Perpignan is a rugby stronghold: their rugby union side, USA Perpignan, is a regular competitor in the Heineken Cup and seven times champion of the Top 14 , while their rugby league side plays in the engage Super League under the name Catalans Dragons.-Culture:Since 2004, every year in the...
and Barcelona. From Barcelona evaders were transported to Gibraltar. Another route from Paris (the Shelburne line) ran to Rennes
Rennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department.-History:...
and then St Brieuc in Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, where men were shipped to Dartmouth
Dartmouth, Devon
Dartmouth is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the banks of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes...
.
Creation and exploits
The Comet line was created by a young Belgian woman who joined the Belgian ResistanceBelgian resistance
Belgian resistance during World War II to the occupation of Belgium by Nazi Germany took different forms. "The Belgian Resistance" was the common name for the Netwerk van de weerstand - Réseau de Résistance or Resistance Network , a group of partisans fighting the Nazis...
. Andrée de Jongh
Andrée de Jongh
Countess Andrée de Jongh was a member of the Belgian Resistance during World War II. She organized the Comet Line for escaped Allied soldiers...
(nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
"Dédée") was 20 in 1940 and lived in Brussels. She was the younger daughter of Frédéric de Jongh, a headmaster, and Alice Decarpentrie. Edith Cavell
Edith Cavell
Edith Louisa Cavell was a British nurse and spy. She is celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from all sides without distinction and in helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium during World War I, for which she was arrested...
, a British nurse shot in the Tir National in Schaerbeek in 1915 for assisting troops to escape from occupied Belgium to the neutral Netherlands, had been a heroine of Dédée's in her youth.
In August 1941, Andrée de Jongh
Andrée de Jongh
Countess Andrée de Jongh was a member of the Belgian Resistance during World War II. She organized the Comet Line for escaped Allied soldiers...
appeared in the British consulate in Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
with a British soldier, James Cromar from Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, and two Belgian volunteers, Merchiers and Sterckmans, having travelled by train through Paris to Bayonne and then on foot over the Pyrenees. She requested support for her escape network (later named Comet line) from the British military intelligence, granted by MI9
MI9
MI9, the British Military Intelligence Section 9, was a department of the British Directorate of Military Intelligence, part of the War Office...
, (British Military Intelligence Section 9), under the control of an ex-infantry major, Norman Crockatt and lieutenant James Langley, who had been repatriated after losing his left arm in the rear guard defence of Dunkerque in 1940.
With MI9 she helped 400 Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
soldiers escape from Belgium through occupied France to the British consulate in Madrid and on to Gibraltar. Neave described her as "one of our greatest agents." Later Neave organised gunboats from Dartmouth, Devon, to cross the Channel and run agents and supplies to the French resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
in Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
and to return escaped POWs and evaders to Britain.
Comet Line members and the families took great risks, De Jongh escorting 118 airmen over the Pyrenees herself.
After November 1942 escape lines became more dangerous when southern France was occupied by the Germans and the whole of France was under Nazi rule. Many members of the Comet line were betrayed, hundreds were arrested by the Geheime Feldpolizei
Geheime Feldpolizei
The ' or GFP, was the secret military police of the German Wehrmacht until the end of Second World War. These units were used to carry out plain-clothed security work in the field such as counter-espionage, counter sabotage, detection of treasonable activities, counter-propaganda and to provide...
and the Abwehr
Abwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
and after weeks of interrogation and torture at places such as Fresnes Prison
Fresnes Prison
Fresnes Prison is the second largest prison in France, located in the town of Fresnes, Val-de-Marne South of Paris...
in Paris were executed or labelled Nacht und Nebel
Nacht und Nebel
Nacht und Nebel was a directive of Adolf Hitler on 7 December 1941 signed and implemented by Armed Forces High Command Chief Wilhelm Keitel, resulting in the kidnapping and forced disappearance of many political activists and resistance 'helpers' throughout Nazi Germany's occupied...
(NN) prisoners. NN prisoners were deported to German prisons and many later to concentration camps such as Ravensbrück concentration camp
Ravensbrück concentration camp
Ravensbrück was a notorious women's concentration camp during World War II, located in northern Germany, 90 km north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück ....
for women, Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen Concentration Camp grew to become a large group of Nazi concentration camps that was built around the villages of Mauthausen and Gusen in Upper Austria, roughly east of the city of Linz.Initially a single camp at Mauthausen, it expanded over time and by the summer of 1940, the...
, Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp was a German Nazi concentration camp established on the Ettersberg near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937, one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps on German soil.Camp prisoners from all over Europe and Russia—Jews, non-Jewish Poles and Slovenes,...
, Flossenbürg concentration camp
Flossenbürg concentration camp
Konzentrationslager Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the Schutzstaffel Economic-Administrative Main Office at Flossenbürg, in the Oberpfalz region of Bavaria, Germany, near the border with Czechoslovakia. Until its liberation in April 1945, more than 96,000 prisoners...
,
Prisoners sent to these camps included Andrée de Jongh
Andrée de Jongh
Countess Andrée de Jongh was a member of the Belgian Resistance during World War II. She organized the Comet Line for escaped Allied soldiers...
, Elsie Maréchal
Elsie Maréchal
Elsie Maréchal was an English woman who became active in the Belgian Resistance helping Allied airmen to escape from the German forces. Having been betrayed, she was sentenced to death and subjected to the 'Nacht und Nebel' policy designed to make such opponents of the Nazis 'disappear'...
(Belgian Resistance
Belgian resistance
Belgian resistance during World War II to the occupation of Belgium by Nazi Germany took different forms. "The Belgian Resistance" was the common name for the Netwerk van de weerstand - Réseau de Résistance or Resistance Network , a group of partisans fighting the Nazis...
), Nadine Dumon (Belgian Resistance), Mary Lindell
Mary Lindell
Mary Lindell , also known as the Comtesse de Milleville, the Comtesse de Moncy and Marie-Claire was a British-born nurse who lived in France and worked independently against the Nazis during World War II. During the First World War, she served as a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment and...
(Comtesse de Milleville) and Virginia d'Albert-Lake (American).
The authors of the official history of MI9
MI9
MI9, the British Military Intelligence Section 9, was a department of the British Directorate of Military Intelligence, part of the War Office...
cite 2,373 British and Commonwealth servicemen and 2,700 Americans taken to Britain during World War II. The RAF Escaping Society estimated there were 14,000 helpers officially in 1945. The Comet line inspired the 1970s BBC television series, Secret Army (1977–79).
Notable members of the Line
- Andrée de JonghAndrée de JonghCountess Andrée de Jongh was a member of the Belgian Resistance during World War II. She organized the Comet Line for escaped Allied soldiers...
, (aka Dédée) Line creator and chief. Arrested 15 January 1943. Survived several Nazi concentration camps. Awarded the George MedalGeorge MedalThe George Medal is the second level civil decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth.The GM was instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI. At this time, during the height of The Blitz, there was a strong desire to reward the many acts of civilian courage... - Frédéric de Jongh, (aka Paul). Dédée's father. Arrested 7 June 1943. Executed 28 March 1944.
- Baron Jean Greindl, (aka Nemo). Head of line in Brussels. Arrested 6 February 1943. Killed 7 September 1943.
- Elvire de Greef, (aka Tante Go). Organiser in South France. Escaped arrest and survived. Awarded the George MedalGeorge MedalThe George Medal is the second level civil decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth.The GM was instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI. At this time, during the height of The Blitz, there was a strong desire to reward the many acts of civilian courage...
- Jean-François Nothomb, (aka Franco). Succeeded Dedee in France. Arrested 18 January 1944. Survived several Nazi concentration camps. Awarded the Distinguished Service OrderDistinguished Service OrderThe Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
. - Comte Jacques Legrelle (aka Jerome), organised and operated line in the Paris area, linked the Belgium part of line to South of France. Was captured, tortured, sent to concentration camps and survived. Awarded the George MedalGeorge MedalThe George Medal is the second level civil decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth.The GM was instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI. At this time, during the height of The Blitz, there was a strong desire to reward the many acts of civilian courage...
. - Comte Antoine d’Ursel (aka Jacques Cartier). Succeeded Nemo in Brussels. Died crossing Franco-Spanish border 24 December 1943.
- Micheline Dumon (aka Michou), Operated line in 1944. Escaped arrest and awarded the George MedalGeorge MedalThe George Medal is the second level civil decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth.The GM was instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI. At this time, during the height of The Blitz, there was a strong desire to reward the many acts of civilian courage...
.
Further reading
The story of the Comet Line is fully told in the book The Little Cyclone written by Airey NeaveAirey Neave
Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave DSO, OBE, MC was a British soldier, barrister and politician.During World War II, Neave was one of the few servicemen to escape from the German prisoner-of-war camp Oflag IV-C at Colditz Castle...
who whilst working for MI9
MI9
MI9, the British Military Intelligence Section 9, was a department of the British Directorate of Military Intelligence, part of the War Office...
was responsible for overseeing this line and to aid it wherever possible.
Other accounts appear in the books Saturday at MI9 also by Airey Neave
Airey Neave
Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave DSO, OBE, MC was a British soldier, barrister and politician.During World War II, Neave was one of the few servicemen to escape from the German prisoner-of-war camp Oflag IV-C at Colditz Castle...
, Home Run by John Nichol
John Nichol (RAF officer)
Flight Lieutenant Adrian John Nichol is a retired Royal Air Force navigator who was shot down and captured during the first Gulf War.-Early life:...
& Tony Rennel, MI9 - Escape & Evasion by James Langley & M. R. D. Foot, and Silent Heroes: Downed Airmen and the French Underground by Sherri Greene Ottis.
Return Journey by Major ASB Arkwright includes a first hand account of three British Officers who were brought to freedom by the line after escaping from a POW camp.
"Riding the Comet" is a stage drama by Mark Violi. The play focuses on a rural French family helping two American GIs return safely to London days after the D-Day invasion. This play premieres at Actors' NET of Bucks County (PA) in September 2011.
See also
- Andrée de JonghAndrée de JonghCountess Andrée de Jongh was a member of the Belgian Resistance during World War II. She organized the Comet Line for escaped Allied soldiers...
- French ResistanceFrench ResistanceThe French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
- Belgian ResistanceBelgian resistanceBelgian resistance during World War II to the occupation of Belgium by Nazi Germany took different forms. "The Belgian Resistance" was the common name for the Netwerk van de weerstand - Réseau de Résistance or Resistance Network , a group of partisans fighting the Nazis...
- Shelburne Escape and Evasion Line (Operation Bonaparte)
- Phil LamasonPhil LamasonPhillip John Lamason DFC & Bar was a pilot in the Royal New Zealand Air Force during the Second World War, who rose to prominence as the senior officer in charge of 168 Allied airmen taken to Buchenwald concentration camp, Germany, in August 1944...
- Roy AllenRoy AllenRoy Allen was an American, born in the north Philadelphia neighborhood of Olney. He was a bomber pilot during World War II shot down over France and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp.-France and captivity:...
- Jacques DesoubrieJacques DesoubrieJacques Desoubrie was a French traitor and double agent who worked for the Gestapo during the German occupation of France during World War II.-Early life:...
- KLB ClubKLB ClubThe KLB Club was formed on 12 October 1944, and included the 168 allied airmen who were held prisoner at Buchenwald concentration camp between 20 August and 19 October 1944...
- Secret Army (TV series)Secret Army (TV series)Secret Army is a television drama series made by the BBC and the Belgian national broadcaster BRT created by Gerard Glaister. The series chronicled the history of a Belgian resistance movement during the Second World War dedicated to returning Allied airmen, usually having been shot down by the...