Belgium & France

Belgium and northern France gave birth to some of the best-known escape lines. From Comète’s safe houses in Brussels to the Pat O’Leary network in Marseille, helpers guided evaders through city streets, farms and train stations before tackling the Pyrenees or coastal pick-ups. Use the pages below to explore each line in depth and meet the people who kept them open.

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Burgundy

The countryside south of Paris became a critical staging ground for Allied evaders once German security tightened along the Channel ports. From Dijon across to the Morvan and down the Saône valley, fa…

Comete

The Comete Escape Line In May 1940 German forces attacked neutral Belgium and the Netherlands and in June went on to defeat the British and French armies. France, Belgium and the Netherlands were occu…

Marie Claire

The Marie Claire Line Mary Ghita Lindell was impeccably English in upbringing and manner, extremely resourceful, courageous, strong minded and used to getting her own way. Comptesse de Moncy, alias Ma…

Pat O'Leary Line

This map shows all Pat O'Leary routes including the previously undocumented Switzerland connection from Italy/Colditz, and the route evolution from Marseille (1940 42) to the Francoise Line via Toulou…

Possum

The Possum Escape Line On the night of the 15th July 1943, two MI9 agents, Dominique Edgard Potier, a Belgian Air Force Officer who had reached England in 1942, and Conrad Lafleur his French Canadian…

Shelburn

The Shelburn Line The Shelburn Line operated by sea from Brittany beaches to England (Dec 1943 July 1944) The Shelburn Line operated from the Brittany coast in conjunction with the Royal Navy’s 15th M…

Edith Cavell Helper

Edith Cavell, the British nurse executed in 1915, became a symbol of civilian courage that inspired later generations of helpers in Belgium during World War II. Though Cavell's story predates the esca…