RAF Evaders: The Complete Story of RAF Escapees and their Escape Lines, Western Europe, 1940–1945

By Oliver Clutton-Brock

Stories of the British airmen shot down over Western Europe who evaded capture by the Germans and made their way to Allied territory during World War II.

During the five years from May 1940 to May 1945 several thousand Allied airmen, forced to abandon their aircraft behind enemy lines, evaded capture and reached freedom, by land, sea and air.

The territory held by the Germans was immense—from Norway and Denmark in the north, through Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg to the south of France—and initially there was no organization to help the men on the run. The first one to assist the evaders and escapers (“E & E” as the Americans called them) was the PAT line, along the Mediterranean coast to Perpignan and down the Spanish border; named after a naval officer Pat O’Leary, from 1942 it became the PAO line.

Next was the Comet line, from Brussels to the Pyrenees. Thousands of brave people were to be involved for whom, if caught, the penalty was death. Theirs is a stirring and awe-inspiring story. Respected historian Oliver Clutton-Brock has researched in depth this secret world of evasion, uncovering some treachery and many hitherto unpublished details, operations and photos.

It is a tremendous reference work, written in his own colorful style with numerous anecdotes, which fills a gap of knowledge formerly unavailable to historians, professional or amateur. Packed the information, key figure biographies and listings—2, 094 evaders identified—this is a valuable testimony to the courage of all those involved.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Feb 19, 2009
• ISBN: 9781908117717

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Grub Street Publishing

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Copyright © Grub Street 2009

Copyright text © Oliver Clutton-Brock 2009

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Clutton-Brock, Oliver

RAF evaders: the complete story of RAF evaders, escapees and their escape lines, Western Europe, 1940-1945

1. Great Britain. Royal Air Force – Airmen – Biography

2. Escapes – Europe – History – 20th century 3. World War, 1939-1945 – Underground movements 4. Airmen – Great Britain – Biography

I. Title

940.5′44941′0922

ISBN-13: 9781906502171

Digital Edition ISBN: 9781908117717

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

Typeset by Pearl Graphics, Hemel Hempstead

Printed and bound by MPG Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall

Grub Street Publishing uses only FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) paper for its books

Dedication

In memory of the countless thousands of men, women, and children who, during the Second World War, voluntarily and in peril of their lives helped thousands of civilians, Allied airmen, soldiers and sailors to safety and who asked for nothing in return.

‘We helped them because the airmen came to help us.

They were there to give their lives for us.’

Michou Ugeux, née Dumon

The Sydney Morning Herald, 23 April 1988

Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Glossary

Details of selected personalities

Preface

Introduction

Notes to Chapters

Bibliography

Index

Acknowledgements

To each and everyone named below, I am most grateful for their help:

Ian Adams (re his grandfather, Jack Fisher); Brian Aguiar (re his grandfather William Aguiar USAAF); Roger Anthoine (author); Ken Arnold (re Squadron Leader Wally Lashbrook); Dave Arundel (158 Squadron); Richard Barber (for kind permission to quote from his book); Bob Barckley (3 Squadron); Philip Barclay (419 Squadron); Mrs Peggy Barlow (re her husband Raymond Barlow, 49 Squadron); Malcolm Barrass; Kevin Bending (re 97 Squadron and Flight Sergeant C.J. Billows); John Berthelsen (149 Squadron); Jack Blandford (101 Squadron); Bruce Bolinger (Nevada City, USA, researching Tom Applewhite USAAF); Terry Bolter (77 Squadron); Geoff Bowlby (re his grandfather, Flight Sergeant Art Bowlby RCAF); Patricia Brayley (re her late husband, W.E.J. Bill Brayley RCAF); Fred W. Brown; John T. Brown (467 Squadron); Molly Burkett (co-author of Not Just Another Milk Run…); Ted Cachart (49 Squadron historian); Warren B. Carah (USA); A.E. Ted Church; Betty Clements (re Polish awards); Paul and Eunice Cornelius (re Reg Cornelius, 1663 HCU/10 Squadron); Ernest John Couchman (630 Squadron); Colin Cripps (49 Squadron historian); Cumbria Records Office, Whitehaven (especially Robert Baxter, archivist, and Mary Chisholm); Peter W. Cunliffe (author of A Shaky Do. The koda works raid 16/17th April 1943); Ian Darling (Canadian author/researcher, re Gordon Stacey); the late Al Day (77 Squadron); Frank Dell (692 Squadron); Robert Dixon (author, re 607 Squadron); Brigitte d’Oultremont (Belgium, re la ligne Comète); Linzee Druce (re Squadron Leader Wally Lashbrook); Alain Durier (France); Tony Eaton (re George Fearnyhough DFC); L.E. Ellingham (7 Squadron; PoW); Bill Etherington (author, A Quiet Woman’s War); Mrs Patricia Farmer (re her husband W.W. Farmer, 10 Squadron); George Fearnyhough DFC (10 Squadron); Eddie Fell (Chairman, 158 Squadron Association, for his considerable help with Squadron aircrew information); Vítek Formánek (re Czech evaders); Richard Frost (re Mlle. Baudot de Rouville); Cecile Gemmell (re her father, Al Hagan, 77 Squadron); Jim George (re 467 & 463 Squadrons); Mrs Margaret Goddard (APC Polish Enquiries, Ministry of Defence); Tony Goodenough (re his father Reg Goodenough); Janine de Greef; F.A. Greenwell (57 Squadron); Fred Greyer (especially re his father, Capitaine D.E. Potier, Belgian Army); Mrs Winifred Hagan (widow of Al Hagan, 77 Squadron); C.L. Hallett (10 Squadron); Greg Harrison (100 Squadron historian); T.H. Harvell (514 Squadron); F.R. Haslam (207 Squadron); Frank Haslam jnr; Claude Hélias (Conservatoire Aéronautique de Cornouaille, Plomelin, France); Les Hood (582 Squadron); V.E. Horn (158 Squadron); Andoni Iturrioz (re evasions in the Basque region); Squadron Leader Richard James MBE (IX Squadron Association); Keith Janes (for sharing his considerable evasion knowledge); Peter Johnson (re 467/463 Squadrons); Mike Kemble (re MGB’s 502 and 503); Daphne Lees (re Dutch matters); Michael Moores LeBlanc (evasion historian, in Canada); Greg Lewis (author of Airman Missing); Reg Lewis DFC (138 Squadron); Chris and Ann Lyth (re Elvire de Greef and family); John MacDougall (158 Squadron); Pat MacGregor (re her father, Leslie Maxwell Byrne, and crew, 158 Squadron); Elizabeth McDade (New York, re Drue Tartière); Ken McPherson (8th AFHS, re Pilot Officer Dube RCAF); Gordon Mellor (103 Squadron); Alan Mitchell (re his father Sergeant R.J. Mitchell); David Mole (former chairman of 10 Squadron Association); Diana Morgan (re her late husband, Bryan, 460 Squadron, but especially for her tireless communications work); Keith Morley (re his father, R.C. Morley); Alex Morrison (re his wife’s uncle, Flight Sergeant R.F. Conroy RCAF); Jeffery Pack (author of Love is in the Air, and re his father J.T. Pack, 35 Squadron); Nigel Parker (former editor of Bomber Command Newsletter); Andy Parlour (co-author, HMS Tarana); G.A. Percival (2 Squadron); Matt Poole (USA, air researcher); Linda Ralph (née Smith, re her uncle, James Smith MM); Edouard Renière (Brussels, especially for help with the USAAF); Derek Richardson (author, Detachment W); Sheila Savage (re her father, W.E. Williams, 576 Squadron); Jim Sheffield; Roger Stanton (secretary, Escape Lines Memorial Society); Ron Stephens (co-author, HMS Tarana); Denys Teare (103 Squadron; friend and author, Evader); Tom Thackray (10 Squadron Association Newsletter Editor); Norman Thom (100 Squadron); Mary Thomas (author, Behind Enemy Lines); Annette Tison (B-24.net researcher, USA); Hubert Timmerman; Andrée Traxel (re Barney Greatrex); Wilco Vermeer (Holland, re Anton Schrader); Lorraine Denise Vickerman (re Bill Brayley); Harry Webb (640 Squadron); John A. Williams (re Pilot Officer G.B. Hall RAAF, 466 Squadron); Mrs Myra Williams (re her brother W.W. Farmer, 10 Squadron); the late Roland Williams (65 Squadron); Tom Wingham (102 Squadron); Ray Worrall (44 Squadron).

I fully acknowledge that the early chapters could not have been written without the generous assistance of Derek Richardson, author of Detachment W, whose permission to use material from his excellent book is most appreciated, and also of Keith Janes, who has given permission to quote from his book Conscript Heroes (the story of his father’s time in the army and subsequent evasion). John Clinch, who has a considerable insight into affairs in Brussels and Belgium, has been a great fount of knowledge. Stefaan Calus (Bruges) has also been exceedingly generous with his time and expert knowledge of Belgian matters, as have Edouard Renière and Philippe Connart. And to Søren Flensted I owe much for sharing his great knowledge of the air war over and around Denmark, and who has a wonderfully researched website. And to W.R. Bill Chorley (author of the Bomber Command Losses etc) many thanks for all his time and research.

Thanks also to Jeff and Jacky Pack, and to Derek and Elizabeth Collett for their hospitality. Special thanks go to my wife, Diane, for sharing the run up and down the M4 and for all the hours chained to the (still awful) microfiche readers at The National Archives.

Finally, thanks to those at Grub Street, especially Hannah Stuart for her charming tolerance of a barrage of emails and John Davies, of course, for publishing this book.

Glossary

Details of selected personalities

Brief details of some of the key people involved with Allied evaders, 1940-1945.

Note: (Aus) Australian; (Bas) Basque; (Bel) Belgian; (Br) British; (Can) Canadian; (Est) Estonian; (Fr) French; (Grk) Greek; (Hol) Dutch; (NZ) New Zealander; (Rus) Russian; (Sco) Scots; (Sp) Spanish.

ANCIA, Albert (Bel) – Daniel Mouton. Born 1916. Crossed to Spain on 23/24 December 1943. Trained by IS9 to organise camps for evaders/escapers in Operation Sherwood. Parachuted into France with Jean de Blommaert on night of 9/10 April 1944. After brief stay in Paris made his way to Belgian Ardennes in May 1944 to organise setting up of camps there.

AYLÉ, Robert Constant (Fr) – Baby. Born 4 June 1899. With his wife, Germaine, ran a safe house for Comet on the rue de Babylon, Paris. Arrested 7 June 1943. Executed by the Germans on 28 March 1944, with Frédéric de Jongh and Aimable Fouquerel at Mont Valérien, Paris.

B See JOHNSON, Albert Edward.

BAJPAI, Germaine Marie Lucie (Fr) – Hautfoin, Cramponne. Born 4 October 1894, née Flachet, at Dinan (Côtes-du-Nord). Reputed to have been married four times (including once to an Australian sailor), but was lastly married to Sirda Bajpai whose brother, Sir Girja Shankar Bajpai, was Agent General for India in Washington 1941-46. One of the three organisers of the safe-house system set up by Jérôme (Le Grelle) in Paris around August 1943. Also saw to airmen’s welfare and guided them to and from Paris. When arrested on 18 January 1944 she had officially helped sixty-three Allied airmen, though the unofficial figure is nearer seventy-five. Died in Ravensbrück concentration camp on 4 February 1945, ‘never able to forgive herself for being captured with a list of her safe-house keepers, a fact that led to their arrests.’¹

BARBIER, Elizabeth (Fr) – Organised her own group, with forty-six helpers at one point, to assist evaders and escapers in and around Paris. Assisted Oaktree, and also Frédéric de Jongh and Comet, in 1943. She was credited with having assisted some 150 Allied airmen. She and her mother were caught on about 11 June 1943 as a result of the treachery of Jean-Jacques Desoubrie (who had also been responsible for Frédéric de Jongh’s arrest on 7 June) and, after imprisonment at Fresnes, were sent to Ravensbrück, from which both emerged alive at the end of the war.

BAUDOT de ROUVILLE, Maud Olga Andrée (Fr) – Born in Paris on 14 December 1891 of a French father and an Irish mother. A nurse during the 1914-1918 war, receiving a Red Cross certificate in 1917. Assumed the nom de guerre of Thérèse Martin earlier in the Second World War when nursing British soldiers in a convent in Lille, many of whom were to end up in prisoner-of-war camps in Germany. Became involved with the PAT/PAO line there, before moving to Marseille in 1942, where she ran a safe house. Joined Françoise Dissard in Toulouse in 1943. In 1946 went to stay in Cockermouth, Cumbria with Dr John Heslop, one of her patients from Lille, but left for County Wexford, Ireland in 1947. Squadron Leader Frank Griffiths wrote that she ‘lived in Cork and ran a mission to Seamen’ – Winged Hours, p. 184.

BLANCHAIN, Francis Paul (Fr) – Achille. Born on 21 March 1913 in Bromley, England of French parents, he had an English birth certificate. PAT/PAO line convoyeur in Marseille. Arrested in Limoges at the beginning of August 1942. Escaped from a police car and made his way to Marseille. Left France aboard Seawolf on 21 September 1942 (Operation Titania). Later, in London, married Paula Spriewald, a German of an anti-Nazi family (who had also been Pat O’Leary’s secretary and who left on the Tarana). Joined the RAF in 1943, working in the photographic section until the end of the war. Commissioned in 1944. Flight Lieutenant Francis P. Blanchain BEM served in the RAF until 1947. He and Paula moved to Canada in 1958.²

BOULAIN, Pierre – see DESOUBRIE, Jean-Jacques.

BOURYSCHKINE, Vladimir (Rus). White Russian born in Moscow in 1913, but raised in USA. Worked for American Red Cross. An expert baseball player, he became coach to the Monaco team. Helper in the PAT/PAO line before fleeing from France in autumn 1942. Employed by Room 900, and given nickname Val Williams by James Langley. Volunteered to return to France to run the Oaktree line. Parachuted into France near Paris on 20 March 1943 with radio operator Raymond Labrosse. Ordered not to make contact with the compromised PAO line, nevertheless did so. Arrested by the Gestapo on 4 June 1943 while taking four evaders to Pau by train. Questioned at Fresnes and Rennes prisons. Escaped on 20 December 1943 with help of Ivan Bougaiev, a fellow Russian, though breaking a leg in the process. Sent back to England by Lucien Dumais on 26 February 1944 (Operation Bonaparte II). Locked up on suspicion of being a double agent, but released after the Normandy landings. Awarded BEM. Died August 1968.

BOUSSA, Lucien (Bel) – Belgrave. Born 1905. Squadron commander in 1940 of Belgian Air Force’s 5th Squadron (equipped with the Fairey Fox). Two combat victories. Escaped to England. Became squadron leader CO of 350 (Belgian) Squadron RAF, and scored a further five victories by end of 1943. Awarded DFC. Completed three operational tours before being trained for Operation Sherwood, leaving for France in April 1944. He and his wireless operator, François Toussaint, reached the Forêt de Fréteval via Spain on 13 May 1944. Awarded MC. He died at Cloyes on 12 March 1967, three months before a memorial was unveiled in the forest where he had done so much for the Allies.

BOUTELOUPT, Madeleine (Fr) – Courier for Comet from April 1943 between Paris and Spanish frontier. Betrayed by Desoubrie and arrested at Lille station with an evader in June 1943. Liberated by the Americans from her concentration camp. Returned home to her mother, but was so weak that she died a few days later, on 7 May 1945, aged 33.

BROUSSINE, Georges (Fr) – Burgundy. Operated mostly in north-west France in 1943-44 on behalf of Room 900 and the French BCRA. Helped over 268 men to escape either by boat from Brittany to England, or across the Pyrenees to Spain (including Raymond Labrosse). After helping with sea evacuations and escapes to Spain from Brittany, he was sent to Normandy. Located Air Commodore Ivelaw-Chapman, shot down over France on night of 6/7 May 1944, who knew of the impending Normandy landings and whom Churchill wanted killed. Arranged for him to be kept in a safe house (which proved to be unsafe). Broussine was arrested by the Germans in July 1944, but soon escaped. He was awarded the Military Cross (British) and the Croix de Guerre (French). Later, president of the society l’Oiseau Blessé, formed in Paris to bring together those who aided Allied servicemen in France during the German occupation. Died on 31 October 2001 aged 83.

BRUSSELMANS, Anne (Bel) – Worked for Comet in Brussels until the line was severely interrupted by the Gestapo in December 1943. Resumed evasion line activities in the spring of 1944, together with survivors of the Michou Dumon/Maca group. Worked closely with Michou Dumon and, later, with her mother, Françoise. Was hiding forty-nine airmen in Brussels by beginning of May 1944; fifty-four in early July. Continued to work in Brussels having refused to be part of the Marathon camps. Emigrated to USA and was given citizenship of that country by President Ronald Reagan on 15 January 1987 in view of her war work. Survived, never arrested. (See Rendez-vous 127. The Diary of Anne Brusselmans).

CAMORS, Jean-Claude (Fr) – Cartier, Noël, Gérard, Jean Raoul, Raoul Caulaincourt, Philippe Wallon. Founder and chief of réseau Bordeaux-Loupiac. Born 27 October 1919, at Pau. Enlisted in 18ème Régiment d’Infanterie. Taken prisoner while in hospital at Châteaubriant. Escaped in July 1940. Left Marseille in a fishing boat, but on 8 April 1942 jumped into the sea near Morocco and swam for two hours to Gibraltar. Arrived in England in mid-May 1942. Joined Free French Forces on 26 June 1942, and the BCRA in October 1942. Parachuted to France in mid-April 1943 to set up escape line Bordeaux-Loupiac. Left for England in May. Reached London on 21 June 1943. Parachuted again into France on 5 July. Shot by Roger Le Neveu (q.v.) in Rennes, and died of his wounds on 11 October 1943. Some sixty airmen were helped to evade by his organisation between 23 October 1943 and 22 January 1944.

CARPENTIER, Abbé Pierre (Fr) – Priest and master-forger who ran a safe house at 13, Place du Cimetière-St Gilles, Abbeville, in northern France. Provided the Cole/Garrow/O’Leary line with false identity cards and passes. Betrayed by Cole. Arrested on 8 December 1941 with François Duprez. Deported to Germany. Imprisoned at Bochum. Condemned to death on 16 April 1943. Beheaded at Dortmund on 30 June 1943.

CASKIE, Reverend Donald Currie (Sco) – Scottish Presbyterian minister. Born 22 May 1902. Known as The Tartan Pimpernel (also title of his book published 1957). Forced to leave his church in Paris in June 1940, made his way to Marseille, and opened up the Seamen’s Mission at 36, Rue de Forbin, Marseille, to hide British evaders and escapers. Ordered to close down the mission in July 1941. Arrested in 1943 by the Italians in the Grenoble area. Handed over to the Germans. Sentenced to death by them in Paris but a German pastor got the sentence changed to life imprisonment. In solitary confinement – not allowed to sit down during the day – he was liberated only when the Germans left Paris in August 1944. Appointed OBE (12 June 1945). Died in 1983.

CHERAMY, Pat (Br) – née Maud Eleanor Hawkins. Married Charles Cheramy, a French engineer, in 1940. Lived at Montauban. Charles and Pat, and their 18-month-old son, Michel, were arrested in January 1943 when German police homed-in on wireless transmissions from Tom Groome (see below). Both survived the war, Pat living through Fresnes, Ravensbrück and Mauthausen, to be reunited with her husband and son in 1945. Awarded the Croix de Guerre, Légion d’Honneur, Médaille de la Résistance, the US Medal of Freedom and the BEM (1 July 1947), she died on 26 March 1987, aged 80. She and Charles, who died in 1980, were divorced.

COACHE, Raymonde (Fr) – worked, with husband René, for Comet. Betrayed by Desoubrie and arrested in Lille in June 1943. Deported to Germany, she survived two years in a concentration camp. Appointed MBE.

COACHE, René Gustave Marie (Fr) – Dover. Born 3 January 1904. Worked, with his wife Raymonde, for Comet. Their apartment at 71, Rue de Nanterre, Asnières-sur-Seine, a north-western suburb of Paris, was used as a safe house for evaders/escapers. Thirty men were hidden there in 1941-42. Escaped to England (crossed Pyrenees on 1 January 1943). Persuaded by Airey Neave to become a radio operator for Comet. Worked his set in Brussels but was arrested by the Gestapo on 21 April 1944. Managed to escape on 3 September 1944 from St Gilles prison, Brussels in the confusion of the German withdrawal.

COLE, Harold (Br) – Born 24 January 1903. Also called himself Paul, Paul Delobel, Captain Paul Cole, Captain Colson, Joseph Deram. A petty criminal and con man before the war. Joined the army in 1939 and rose to rank of sergeant. Absconded from the BEF in spring 1940 with Mess funds. Arrested by the Abwehr in Lille on 6 December 1941. Instrumental in the arrest of Abbé Carpentier, François Duprez, and others. Married Suzanne Warenghem on 10 April 1942. Arrested in Lyons by Vichy police on 9 June 1942. Sentenced to death but saved by German occupation of Vichy France in November 1942. Worked for SS-Sturmbannführer Hans Keiffer of the Sicherheitsdienst, whose HQ was at 84 Avenue Foch, Paris. Betrayed hundreds of helpers and airmen to the Gestapo. In the spring of 1945 ‘walked into the headquarters of an American Cavalry Regiment in south Germany’ (Saturday at MI9, p. 310) with Kieffer, and announced that he was Captain Mason. Given a job in US Counter Intelligence Corps, he was eventually arrested and taken to Paris. Escaped. Shot dead by French police looking for deserters in a room above Billy’s Bar, Paris, on 8 January 1946. Regarded by Airey Neave as ‘among the most selfish and callous traitors who ever served the enemy in time of war.’ (Saturday at MI9, p. 311).

CRESWELL, (Sir) Michael (Br) – Monday. Attaché at British embassy, Madrid. Did much of the difficult work of ferrying evaders and escapers around and across Spain.

CROCKATT, Norman Richard (Br) – Brigadier, CBE, DSO, MC. Head of MI9 and Deputy Director of Military Intelligence (Prisoners of War). Died 1956.

D’ALBERT-LAKE, Philippe (Fr) – Born 28 May 1909. Husband of Virginia. Comet’s deputy organiser in Paris in the summer of 1944. With his wife helped sixty-five airmen to evade capture through Paris, mostly to the camp in Fréteval Forest, May-August 1944. Forced to leave Paris on 25 June 1944. Went to England via Spain. Died 10 February 2000.

D’ALBERT-LAKE, Virginia (USA) – née Roush. Born 4 June 1910, St Petersburg, Florida, USA. Went to France in 1936. Married Philippe in 1937. Arrested 12 June 1944 while escorting Allied airmen. Deported via Fresnes prison, Paris to Ravensbrück concentration camp on 15 August 1944. Liberated on 21 April 1945, weighing thirty-five kilograms (five and a half stone). Died 20 September 1997.

DAMAN, Hortense (Bel) – As a twenty-three-year old carried explosives and messages for the Belgian Resistance. Also helped Allied airmen to escape and evade near her home of Louvain (Leuven). Arrested in February 1944 and tortured for thirty successive days. Finally sent to Ravensbrück, which she reached in June 1944. Survived. Married British soldier in 1946.

DANSEY, Claude Edward Marjoribanks (Br) – C. Born 1876. Colonel (later Sir Claude). MI6 deputy of operations to (Sir) Stewart Menzies. Removed from his post in 1944. Died in 1947.

DARLING, Donald (Br) – Sunday. British Secret Service agent (MI6) instructed by Colonel Dansey in mid-July 1940 to go to Portugal and Spain to open intelligence links with France which, following the fall of that country in June 1940, were practically non-existent. He was also charged with opening an escape line from France to Spain for those members of the BEF who had avoided capture in the north of France and who were then congregating in large numbers in the south, especially around Marseille. Darling was empowered to offer guides a fixed fee per head for every man delivered to the British Consulate at Barcelona or elsewhere. Moved his base from Lisbon to Gibraltar on 5 January 1942. Under the title of Civil Liaison Officer of Fortress Command, he ran his one-man interrogation office until late 1943.

DARNAND, Joseph (Fr) – Born 19 March 1897 at Coligny (Ain), France. Fought in First World War and was serving in the Maginot Line in June 1940 when captured. Fled to Nice and became a leading figure in the Vichy French organisation Légion Française des Combattants (French Legion of Veterans) and recruited men to fight against Bolshevism. In July 1941 he founded the right-wing group Service d’Ordre Légionnaire, which supported Pétain and the Vichy government and helped to round up Jews and to fight against the French Resistance. On 1 January 1943 the Service d’Ordre Légionnaire became the Milice, the Vichy secret police, with Pierre Laval (Vichy premier) becoming its president and Darnand its de facto leader. In October 1943 took an oath of loyalty to Hitler, and was rewarded with the rank of Sturmbannführer in the Waffen SS (equivalent to major in the British army). In December 1943 he became head of police and later secretary of the interior. Fled to Germany in September 1944 and joined Pétain’s puppet government in Sigmaringen. Captured after the war and taken back to France, where he was executed on 10 October 1945.

DE BLOMMAERT de SOYE, Baron Jean (Bel) – Rutland, Kazan, Jean Thomas. Born 1915. Started working for Comet early in 1943. Brûlé (burned), he escaped to England on 3 August 1943. Parachuted into France on 20 December 1943 to work with Commandant Potier and his Possum line. Came into contact with Jacques Desoubrie, then known as Pierre Boulain. Returned to England again on 28 February 1944. Helped MI9 in March 1944 with proposals for Marathon camps. Parachuted back into France near Issoudun with Albert Ancia on the night of 9/10 April 1944 on Operation Sherwood. Made arrangements for the setting-up of a camp for evaders in the Forêt de Fréteval, and for Comet to provide guides to escort evaders by train from Paris. Awarded DSO.

DE GREEF, Elvire (Bel) – Tante Go (after her dog Go Go). Born Ixelles, Brussels 29 June 1897. Wife of Fernand De Greef, mother of Freddy and Jeanine. Comet’s organiser in Bayonne/St Jean-de-Luz area in south-west France. Ran a safe house at the Villa Voisin, Anglet (near Biarritz). With her family, sent an estimated 340 Allied aircrew to Spain. Awarded George Medal. Died Brussels 3 September 1991, aged 94.

DE GREEF, Fernand Albert François (Bel) – l’oncle. Born 11 November 1902. Husband of Elvire, father of Freddy and Jeanine. Worked as interpreter in the German Kommandantur at Anglet. Provided Comet with blank identity cards and rubber stamps. Provided Elvire with forged pass enabling her to warn Florentino Goïcoechea that he was to be rescued from hospital. He himself, dressed in Gestapo uniform, drove an ambulance to the hospital and ordered the Basque to be put into it, assisted by two French stretcher-bearers. Appointed MBE. Died 19 September 1961.

DE GREEF, Freddy (Bel) – son of Fernand and Elvire, brother of Jeanine. Courier for Comet. Escaped to England in 1943.

DE GREEF, Jeanine Lambertine Angèle Marie (Bel) – Born 29 September 1925. Daughter of Fernand and Elvire, sister of Freddy. Guide in St Jean-de-Luz area. Undertook her first journey, with her mother, to Paris on 13 July 1942. Left for England in June 1944.

DE JONGH, Andrée (Bel) – Dédée. Born 30 November 1916. Daughter of Frédéric de Jongh. Long-distance guide for the escape line later known as Comet. Delivered first British serviceman – Private Colin Cupar – and two Belgian officers to the British Consulate in Bilbao, Spain, in August 1941. Given the codename Postwoman by the British, but this was changed to Postman at her request. Arrested on 15 January 1943 but escaped. When betrayed and arrested again, in June 1943, she had escorted 218 evaders/escapers to or over the Pyrenees. Sent to Ravensbrück and Mauthausen. Survived to be liberated on 22 April 1945. Awarded George Medal (approved by HM King George VI, November 1945), and the US Medal of Freedom with Golden Palm. Died 13 October 2007.

DE JONGH, Frédéric Emile (Bel) – Paul, Kiki, De Ridder. Born 13 December 1897. Husband of Alice. Father of Andrée and Suzanne Wittek. By October/November 1940 was one of those in Brussels involved with what became known as the Comet line, of which he became its effective chief. Was forced to move to Paris on 30 April 1942, where he was betrayed by Desoubrie on 7 June 1943. Arrested and executed at Mont Valérien, Paris by the Germans on 28 March 1944 with Robert Aylé and Aimable Fouquerel.

DE LA OLLA, Jean (Fr) – NCO in the French army employed in the accounts section at St Hippolyte-du-Fort prison. Persuaded by Garrow and O’Leary at Nîmes in the summer of 1941 to became a convoyeur for their escape line. Appointed in charge of the line in northern France after Cole’s treachery was exposed in December 1941. Arrested in March 1943.

DE LIGNE, Elisabeth Marie Eulalie Hélène (Bel) – born Brussels 1 June 1908, eldest daughter of Prince Albert de Ligne. Married Guillaume de Limburg Stirum in 1932. Apart from collecting much military information of value to the Allies, she also assisted evaders and escapers to pass along the Comet line. In spring 1944 arrested whilst in the act of moving a number of RAF airmen from a safe house in a Brussels brothel. Imprisoned in St Gilles until September 1944 when she and fellow inmates were to be moved by rail to Germany, probably to Ravensbrück concentration camp. A note she had scribbled and thrown out of the wagon was passed to her father, who effected a deal allowing her to be released. Died in 1998 aged 89.

DE MENTEN DE HORNE, Eric (Bel) – Born Brussels 14 November 1914. Comet worker. Arrested 6 February 1943. Executed by the Germans at the Tir National, Brussels, 20 October 1943.

DE MILLEVILLE, Comtesse Mary (Br) – Comtesse de Moncy, Marie-Claire. Née Mary Ghita Lindell. Mother of Maurice, Octave and Barbé. Arrested by Gestapo in January 1941. Nine months’ solitary confinement in Fresnes prison, Paris. Crossed into Spain on 27 July 1942 and reached British Consulate at Barcelona. Returned to France by Lysander on 21 October 1942. Operated from the Hôtel de France in Ruffec (Charente département), France. Established the Marie-Claire escape route across the Pyrenees. Was hit by a car (believed driven by a collaborator) in December 1942. Discharged herself from hospital early in 1943, soon after the two survivors of Operation Frankton – Major Hasler and Corporal Sparks – had arrived at Ruffec. Using alias Comtesse de Moncy when arrested by German security at Pau station 24 November 1943. Jumped out of train taking her from Biarritz to Paris, but was shot in the back of head by a guard. Operated on by a German surgeon in hospital in Tours. After recovery was taken to Dijon prison in February 1944, and subjected to continuous torture. Sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp on 3 September 1944. Liberated 24 April 1945. OBE (1/1/69). Died 1986.

DE MILLEVILLE, Maurice (Fr) – elder brother of Octave and Barbé. Escorted the two Cockleshell Heroes to Lyons in January 1943 (they later successfully crossed into Spain). Arrested in May 1943, but released after brutal treatment by Gestapo, and after his mother had paid a ransom to Klaus Barbie, the so-called Butcher of Lyon. Reached Switzerland in January 1944.

DE MILLEVILLE, Octave (Fr) – Oky, younger brother of Maurice and Barbé. Arrested and died in Mauthausen concentration camp.

DE MILLEVILLE, Barbé (Fr) – youngest of three children of Mary de Milleville; sister of Maurice and Octave.

DEPPÉ, Arnold Louis Camil (Bel) – Born 15 December 1907. One of the first guides for what became known as the Comet line. Moved to St Jean-de-Luz and Bayonne in 1928 and worked for ten years for the Gaumont film company as head of maintenance of cinemas in the area from Bordeaux and Toulouse down to the Spanish border.³ Returned to Belgium on the outbreak of war, and enlisted in the 6th Regiment of Ardennes Chasseurs. Taken prisoner by the Germans at St Omer on 23 May 1940, he escaped from a prison camp on the Rhine in August 1940 and travelled down the river to Holland. At first worked for the Martiny-Daumerie network. Introduced to Andrée de Jongh early in 1941 by his cousin, De Bliqui. Arrested on 9 April 1941 but released for lack of evidence. Arrested again, at Lille station, on 8 August 1941. Sentenced to death on 12 November 1941 on two counts – working for an escape line and for circulating the contraband newspaper La Libre Belgique. Death sentence never carried out. Sent to Cologne prison (where he almost died) in March 1942. Survived concentration camps at Mauthausen, Natzweiler-Struthof, and Dachau, where he was liberated by the Americans in 1945.

DESOUBRIE, Jean-Jacques (Bel/Fr) – Jean Masson, JJ, Pierre Boulain. Born 22 October 1922 at Luinge, Belgium, the illegitimate son of a Belgian doctor, Raymond Desoubrie, and a Frenchwoman, Zoë Note, who abandoned her son at an early age. Betrayed hundreds of helpers and airmen to the Gestapo (including an estimated fifty of the Comet line, Frédéric de Jongh and Nothomb among them). Captured by the Americans at Augsburg on 10 March 1947, was put on trial by a French court and sentenced to death on 20 July 1949. Executed at Fort de Montrouge, Lille, on 20 December 1949. His last words were ‘Heil Hitler!’

DESPRETZ, François (Fr) – City administrator in charge of housing and relief at la Madeleine-les-Lille, a northern suburb of Lille. Hid several members of the BEF. Gave Cole an identity as Paul Delobel. Betrayed by Cole and arrested on 6 December 1941. Held in Loos prison until deported to Germany on 5 August 1942. Died of exhaustion in Sonnenburg concentration camp in April 1944.

DEZITTER, Prospère Valère (Bel) – Had many aliases, including Captain Jackson, The Captain, Jack Kilarine, Jack the Canadian, Herbert Call, Williams (born in London), Captain Tom, Captain Willy Neper, Major Willy, and Professor or Doctor Derschied. Born in Passchendaele, Belgium on 19 September 1893 to Pieter-Jan Dezitter and his wife Mathilde, née Delbeke. Fled to Canada in 1912 after committing rape. Returned to Belgium in 1925 with the crime time-expired. Divorced from his wife Germaine Princen on 14 September 1939. Offered to work for the Germans, also in 1939, and was recruited into the Abwehr. Noted for missing end of little finger of right hand. Frequently wore gloves to hide this. Betrayed probably 1,000 of his countrymen and perhaps 500 Allied airmen by use of his false escape line. Captured in Bavaria after the war with his female accomplice Flore Dings (q.v.). Before his execution in Brussels on 17 September 1948 ‘he was heard howling with terror in his cell.’ (Saturday at MI9, p. 306). Police records showed he still had an outstanding six years’ prison sentence for fraud.

D’HARCOURT, Pierre (Fr) – French Intelligence. Assisted British internees in Marseille, 1941. Arrested in Paris on 9 July 1941. Two years in solitary confinement in Fresnes prison, Paris, before moved to Neue Bremm reprisal camp at the end of October 1943, and to Buchenwald concentration camp shortly before Christmas 1943. He survived to be liberated there on 11 April 1945. Born 1913, he died in 1968.

DINGS, Flore (Sp) – Born Florentine Léonarda Maria Louisa Giralt in Barcelona on 20 June 1904 of a Spanish father, Domingo Giralt, and a Dutch mother, Alida Thewes. Married Paul Stéphan Dings, by whom she bore a son, Serge, on 29 March 1930. Lived at 27, Avenue Van Dromme, Auderghem. Began an affair with Dezitter in 1938, and became his accomplice in his treachery. Executed in Brussels on 17 September 1948.

DISSARD, Marie-Louise (Fr) – Victoire, Françoise. Principal organiser for the PAT line in Toulouse. Born 1880. Lived, with her cat Mifouf, in an apartment in the centre of Toulouse, which was used as a safe house by escapers and evaders and by Pat O’Leary when he was forced to leave Marseille. In June 1943 took over the PAT/PAO line, which in effect became the Françoise line. Briefly arrested, with four airmen, she was able to escape, but was forced into hiding in January 1944. Actively assisted some 250 evaders and escapers to cross the Pyrenees into Spain. Awarded the George Medal. Died in 1957.

DONNY, Baron Jacques Harold Léon Florent Albert Victor William (Bel) – Born 3 March 1894. Involved with escape and evasion operations in Brussels and surrounding area in late 1941. Arrested at his house by the Germans on 1 December 1942. Condemned to death on 10 October 1943 and executed by firing squad at Degerloch, near Stuttgart, on 29 February 1944.

D’OULTREMONT,⁴ Count Edouard Charles Antoine (Bel) – Born 27 September 1916. Cousin of Georges. Guide for Comet line. Escaped to England (crossed Pyrenees 6 December 1942) in December 1942 with his cousin Georges and Peggy van Lier. Appointed MBE.

D’OULTREMONT, Count Georges Albert Ferdinand Paul Marie Ghislain (Bel) – Ormond, Gréville, Roméo. Born 4 April 1916. Cousin of Edouard. Guide for Comet line. Escaped to England (crossed Pyrenees 6 December 1942) in December 1942 with his cousin Edouard and Peggy van Lier. Trained by Room 900 to co-ordinate collection of evaders in Operation Marathon. Flown to France on night of 7/8 November 1943. Went to Paris and met Nothomb on 17 January 1944, the day before the latter’s arrest. Appointed MBE and awarded MM.

DOWDING, Kenneth Bruce (Aus) – André Mason. Born 4 May 1914. Came to Europe in 1938. Joined British army and was a corporal in RASC when captured at Dunkirk on 22 May 1940. Escaped from prisoner-of-war camp in France. Made his way to Marseille by December 1940. Convoyeur on escape line to Spanish border. Appointed chief of the escape line in northern France after denouncement of Cole. Arrested Burbure station on 9 or 10 December 1941. Deported to Germany. Executed at Dortmund on 30 June 1943. MiD (13/9/46) for ‘gallant and distinguished services in the field.’

DROMAS, Etienne (Fr) – born 17 December 1911. A draughtsman employed by the French National Railways at Tergnier, he was also a reserve officer in the French Army. Called to duty in 1939. Wounded in 1940, his right leg had to be amputated. Joined the Resistance in 1942 as a captain in the FFI, and appointed commander of Groupement B of the 2nd Military Region, Department of Aisne (district of Laon). Used the aliases René in the Aisne and Camille in the Oise. From December 1942 to September 1944 his organisation assisted 87 airmen, 19 of whom were wounded, ten seriously enough to require surgery, and only three were captured. Was fortunate to survive a German attack on 23 June 1944 on the Maquis des Usages, when all the other Frenchmen around him were killed. Died 1999.

DUFOURNIER, Denise (Fr) – born 10 January 1915. Operated mostly in Paris as a link in the Comet line. Arrested in 1943 when Comet was penetrated. Spent next six months in solitary confinement in Fresnes prison, Paris, before transfer to Ravensbrück concentration camp. Married Scotsman James McAdam Clark in 1946. Died 1994.

DUMAIS, Lucien Adelard (Can) – Captain Hamilton; Léon. Warrant Officer Class III (platoon sergeant-major) in Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal, Canadian Army. Following the Dieppe raid (19 August 1942) he escaped along the PAT line to Marseille. Assisted O’Leary until October 1942 when he was evacuated on Seawolf. Awarded MM (22/12/42). Agreed to return to northern France to assist in establishing the Shelburne escape line. Landed by Lysander aircraft on night of 18/19 November 1943. Directed the Bonaparte and Crozier sea evacuations from Brittany in 1944. Liberated while still in France. Awarded MC (4/8/45). Died in Montreal, Canada on 10 June 1993, aged 88.

DUMON, Andrée (Bel) – Dédée, Nadine, younger sister of Michou Dumon. Born 5 September 1922. Worked for Comet line as guide between Brussels and Paris. Arrested 11 August 1942 with her sister and father. Held at St Gilles prison, Brussels, before being sent to Ravensbrück and Mauthausen camps. Survived. Liberated 22 April 1945. Appointed OBE. Awarded the US Medal of Freedom with Bronze Palm.

DUMON, Eugène (Bel) – Tom. Husband of Françoise, father of Andrée and Michèle. Member of the Luc-Marc intelligence service. Arrested 12 August 1942. Died in 1945 in Gross-Rosen concentration camp, Germany, aged 50.

DUMON, Françoise (Bel) – Madame Françoise. Mother of the Dumon sisters. Arrested 12 August 1942 with Eugène and Andrée. Released a year later. Resumed evasion work and carried on with Henri and Marie Maca (q.v.) and Mission Marathon plan until liberation.

DUMON, Aline Lili (Bel) – Michou, Micheline, Lily du Chaila, elder sister of Andrée Dumon, daughter of Eugène and Françoise. Arrested with her sister and father, who had also worked for the secret organisation Luc-Marc, on 11 August 1942, but released because Gestapo considered her too young to be involved in such matters. Began working for Comet in September 1942. Forced to leave Brussels on 5 January 1944 to avoid the Gestapo and went to Paris, Bayonne, and Madrid. Though brûlé left Madrid on 3 March 1944, and continued to escort airmen to safety. Persuaded to return to Madrid on 10 May 1944, and reached the United Kingdom on 22 June 1944. During her time with Comet she escorted more than 250 evaders, her name becoming ‘a legend amongst the airmen who had been shepherded across Brussels by the famous Lily.’⁵ Awarded George Medal, and the US Medal of Freedom with Gold Palm. Married Pierre Ugeux.

D’URSEL, Count Antoine (Bel) – Jacques Cartier. Succeeded Baron Jean Greindl (Nemo) as chief of Comet line in Brussels on 6 February 1943. Burned in June 1943. Went into hiding but continued to work for Comet. Made at least one trip to Spain to meet with MI9. Drowned on 23/24 December 1943 while crossing the River Bidassoa in the Pyrenees.⁶ Aged 47.

ESCRENIER, Alphonse (Bel) – UZH. One of the founders of Group EVA.⁷ Brûlé in January 1944. Escaped to England in April 1944.

FARRELL,Victor (Br) – Appointed by MI6 as Chief Passport Officer to Geneva, Switzerland, in February 1940. He was ‘an experienced SIS officer who had previously served in Budapest and Vienna’,⁸ and also in Prague. Provided funds to escape organisations to sustain their continued clandestine activities.

FILLERIN,Gabriel and Geneviève (Fr) – Son and daughter of Norbert and Marguerite. Helped their parents hide Allied airmen.

FILLERIN, Marguerite (Fr) – Wife of Norbert. Arrested in December 1943, and deported to Germany. Survived.

FILLERIN, Norbert (Fr) – With his wife, Marguerite, worked for PAT/PAO line in the north of France and Paris area. Lived at Renty (Pas-de-Calais). Arrested in early 1943. Deported to Germany. Survived.

FIOCCA, Henri (Fr) – Marseille businessman. Husband of Nancy Wake (see Fiocca, Nancy). Provided large amounts of cash to his wife to help escapers, evaders and prisoners in Marseille area. Eventually arrested for his involvement in clandestine activities, and executed by the Germans on 16 October 1943 after refusing, under torture, to tell them where his wife was.

FIOCCA, Nancy (NZ) – Born Nancy Grace Augusta Wake on 30 August 1912 in Wellington, New Zealand, to an English father and a New Zealand mother. Twenty months old when taken with her family to Sydney, Australia. A journalist in Marseille when she married Henri Fiocca on 30 November 1939. Helped prisoners and evaders in 1940 in Marseille by persuading her husband to provide much-needed finance. Became involved in the Garrow organisation. Was instrumental in arranging his escape from Mauzac prison on 8 (or 6) December 1942. With the Gestapo desperate to find her, she moved to Françoise Dissard’s flat in Toulouse (where O’Leary was also hiding). Escaped over Pyrenees on 24/25 March 1943. Enlisted in FANY, and trained as SOE agent, codename Hélène. Returned to France. George Medal (17 July 1945).

FOUQUEREL, Aimable Louis Augustin (Fr) – Born 3 June 1903. Former butler to Lord Dudley. His apartment on the fifth floor of 10, rue Oudinot, Paris was much used by Comet line in 1942 and 1943. Arrested by the Germans on 7 June 1943. Executed at Mont Valérien, Paris on 28 March 1944 with Frédéric de Jongh and Robert Aylé.

FRANCO – see NOTHOMB, Baron Jean-François.

GARROW, Ian Grant (Sco) – Captain, Seaforth Highlanders, 51st (Highland) Division. Evaded to Marseille in summer 1940 and set up a number of safe houses for fellow evaders and escapers. Established collection centres in Lille, Amiens and Rouen in the north of France before onward passage to Paris. This small organisation was to become the PAT line. Arrested in October 1941 by the French and sent to Mauzac prison. Rescued on 8 December 1942 by Pat O’Leary. Smuggled over the Pyrenees and flown from Gibraltar to England, reached 7 February 1943. Awarded DSO (4/5/43). Later lieutenant-colonel. Died 1976.

GIRALT/GIRAULT, Florentine Léonarda Maria Louisa (Sp) – see Flore Dings.

GOÏCOECHEA (or GOIKOETXEA), Florentino (Bas) – born 14 March 1898. A smuggler who took a reputed 227 evaders and escapers across the Pyrenees in sixty-six crossings. Captured by a German patrol in the Pyrenees on 26 June 1944, after being hit by two bullets in right leg, a third in the thigh, and a fourth in the shoulder. Rescued from hospital by the De Greefs on 27 July before Gestapo could question him. Awarded George Medal. Died 27 July 1980.

GREINDL, Baron Albert Marie Louis (Bel) – brother of Jean. Born 20 October 1914. Guide for Comet line to Paris. Forced to escape. Crossed Pyrenees on 14 February 1943 with a party of American airmen, and made his way to England.

GREINDL, Baron Jean (Bel) – Le Kas, Nemo. Brother of Albert. Took control of Comet line in Brussels when Frédéric de Jongh was forced to move to Paris on 30 April 1942. Organised collection of evaders from Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg under cover of director of the Cantine Suèdoise (Swedish Relief Canteen) for children. Arrested in Brussels on 6 February 1943. Kept under sentence of death in stables at Etterbeek artillery barracks. Killed there on 7 September 1943 during a raid by US B-17 bombers on Brussels/Evère airfield.⁹

GROOME,Thomas Gilmour (Aus) – Georges. French mother. Wireless operator for PAO line. Had been selected to work with Mary, Comtesse de Milleville, but she refused to have anything to do with him. Landed at Port Miou, France on the night of 3/4 November 1942 by Polish felucca Seadog. Assisted in Garrow’s escape from Mauzac camp. After which he moved his transmitter to the Cheramys’ house at Montauban, 55 kilometres from Toulouse, where he was caught in the act of transmitting on 11 January 1943. Taken to Gestapo HQ at Toulouse. Jumped from second-floor window to the ground, suffering only a badly sprained ankle. Re-arrested. Sent, with Pat O’Leary, to Fresnes (Paris), Mauthausen and Dachau concentration camps. Survived. Appointed MBE (26/3/46).

GUÉRISSE, Albert-Marie (Bel) – see O’Leary.

HADEN-GUEST, Elizabeth (Est) – Née Elizabeth Louise Ruth Wolpert, of Estonian origin. Became Coker on her first marriage. In 1939 married Peter Haden-Guest, third child of Leslie Haden-Guest MC (created 1st Baron Haden-Guest of Saling on 2 February 1950) and his second wife, Muriel Carmel Goldsmid. Reached Marseille in summer of 1940 with her young son, Anthony. Minor operative for Ian Garrow. Returned to England in 1942. Divorced Peter, who served during the war as a lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve, in 1945.

HALOT, William (Bel) – Louis Vallon, Maurice Legrand. Born 5 September 1901. Main financier for the first British servicemen to be sent from Brussels to Spain. Arrested 28 February 1942 with his wife and daughter, Sonia (who was released). Deported to Germany on 15 August 1942. In the closing stages of the war escaped from a column of prisoners being evacuated from Flossenburg, and reached American lines near Czechoslovakia on 24 April 1945.

HOARE,Sir Samuel John Gurney (Br) – Born 24 February 1880. Former Secretary of State for Air (four times); First Lord of the Admiralty; Secretary of State for India; Foreign Secretary; Minister for Home Affairs; Lord Privy Seal in the War Cabinet. On 24 May 1940 appointed Ambassador on Special Mission to Spain, at Madrid. Flew from Lisbon to Madrid airport on 1 June 1940. In following instructions from Churchill to ensure neutrality of Spain he had difficulty approving the clandestine movement of escapers and evaders through Spain to Gibraltar. According to Darling he forbad the use of Spanish opponents of General Franco in this role, thereby obliging the ‘British’ to employ smugglers. Later turned a blind eye to the goings on. Appointed to the peerage in 1944 as 1st Viscount Templewood PC, GCSI, GBE, CMG. Died 7 May 1959.

HOSTE, Charles (Bel) – Jacques. A Belgian policeman and one of the founders of Group EVA (first three letters of Evasion), a collection service of airmen evaders. Arrested in January 1944 but soon released because not considered a suspect. Unwittingly involved in March 1944 of transfer of thirty-five airmen from Group EVA to the Abwehr’s false KLM line in Antwerp. Continued other resistance activities until the liberation.

ITTERBEEK, Raymond (Bel) – Jacques De Brigaude. A member of several clandestine organisations, including the Armée Secrète, the Service Zéro and the Mouvement National Belge. In 1943 both his parents were arrested and condemned to death, but they survived the war. He continued organising permanent hiding places in Brussels, and accompanied a total of twelve shot down airmen from Belgium to France on their way back to the UK via Gibraltar. On 3 January 1944 he was arrested on his way by train to Lille, together with two evading British airmen.¹⁰ Though tortured every night for three weeks, he revealed nothing. Taken back to Brussels, he was condemned to death on 27 April 1944. Deported to Germany with sixty other condemned persons a few days before the liberation of Brussels he was liberated by American troops.

JOHNSON, Albert Edward (Br) – Albert Jonion, but known simply as B. Born 1 September 1908. Secretary and chauffeur in Brussels to Count Henry de Baillet-Latour, President of the International Olympic Committee. Moved with the De Greef family to Anglet in 1940. Could have sailed for England but gave up his place to a French girl engaged to a Briton. Made fourteen crossings of the Pyrenees for Comet, between June 1941 and March 1943, with 122 Allied evaders/escapers. Forced to escape to England via Spain (crossed Pyrenees on 20 March 1943). Worked for the Awards Bureau in Paris in 1945. Appointed MBE. Died on 3 February 1954 in St John’s Hospital, Hobart, Tasmania.

KENNY, Tom (Can) – Well-to-do businessman and resident of Marseille. Offered his help to Ian Garrow and the PAT line in the early months. Arrested and interrogated at Fort St Nicholas, but later released.

KRAGT, Dignus (Hol/BR) – Dick, Frans Hals. Born 18 July 1917. British subject with Dutch father. Was dropped blind into Holland near Apeldoorn on 23/24 June 1943. Managed to make contact with Comet line. Responsible for the escape and evasion of over a hundred aircrew from Holland to Belgium. Coordinator for both Pegasus I and II rescue operations in September 1944. US Medal of Freedom with Gold Palm (23/7/48).

LABROSSE, Raymond (Can) – French-Canadian wireless operator to Val Williams. Landed in France on night of 20/21 March 1943 on Oaktree. Escaped via Spain to England, reached early in September 1943. Landed by Lysander aircraft on night of 16/17 November 1943 as wireless operator to Lucien Dumais on the Shelburne operations. Liberated while still in France. Lieutenant Labrosse (C.3108), Royal Canadian Corps of Signals, awarded MC (9/11/44).

LAFLEUR, Conrad (Can) – Charles. A French-Canadian corporal wireless-operator. Escaped from Dieppe with Lucien Dumais. Returned to UK on Operation