Archive routes
Escape Lines Route Directory
Browse escape-line routes and regions represented in the ELMS archive. Open the detailed pages for sourced history, people and context.
Route Directory
Andorra Routes
Mountain routes through the Pyrenees to neutral Andorra, used by Pat O'Leary, Dutch-Paris, and Marie-Claire lines. Treacherous 8000ft peaks required guides and proper equipment.
- Period
- 1940-1944
- Distance
- 120km
Basque Freedom Trails
Routes across the western Pyrenees used local shepherd knowledge to move evaders toward neutral Spain and onward to Gibraltar or Lisbon.
- Period
- 1940-1944
- Distance
- 45km
Burgundy Sector
Critical staging ground connecting northern escape lines to Switzerland and Mediterranean routes. Farmers, priests, and railway staff hid evaders in wine cellars and forest camps.
- Period
- 1942-1944
- Distance
- 400km
Chemin de la Liberté
A Pyrenean mountain crossing from Saint-Girons into Spain. Guides shepherded evaders by night across high passes to reach Allied liaison points.
- Period
- 1940-1944
- Distance
- 70km
Comète Escape Line
The Comet Line (Réseau Comète) helped Allied airmen escape from Belgium through France to Spain. Founded by Andrée de Jongh and Belgian resistance networks.
- Period
- 1941-1944
- Distance
- 800km
Comète Trail
The Comet Line (Réseau Comète) helped Allied airmen escape from Belgium through France to Spain. Named after "Comète" (comet) to symbolise speed and secrecy.
- Period
- 1941-1944
- Distance
- 800km
Crete & Mediterranean Routes
Cretan villagers and SOE agents hid Allied troops, moving them through the White Mountains to covert submarine and caique pick-ups.
- Period
- 1941-1944
- Distance
- ~300km
Danish Escape Routes
In October 1943 Danish fishermen and resistance groups ferried almost the entire Jewish population to neutral Sweden, defying Nazi deportation orders.
- Period
- 1943-1945
- Distance
- ~200km
Dutch-Paris & Dutch Escape Lines
Network of escape routes moving Allied personnel and refugees from the Netherlands through Belgium and France to neutral Switzerland and Spain.
- Period
- 1942-1945
- Distance
- 1000km
Edith Cavell Network (WWI)
WWI escape network led by British nurse Edith Cavell, who helped Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium. She was executed in 1915 but inspired WWII escape line helpers.
- Period
- 1914-1915
- Distance
- 200km
Italian Freedom Trail
After the Italian armistice thousands of Allied POWs escaped through the Apennines. Modern ELMS walks revisit Sulmona and Tenna Valley routes.
- Period
- 1943-1944
- Distance
- 180km
Marie-Claire Line
Led by Mary Lindell, the Comtesse de Milleville, this line specialized in moving evaders through Lyon to Switzerland and Spain.
- Period
- 1940-1944
- Distance
- 600km
Norwegian Escape Routes
Resistance networks helped Allied personnel and refugees cross from occupied Norway into neutral Sweden, often through dangerous Arctic conditions.
- Period
- 1940-1945
- Distance
- 400km
Pat O'Leary Line
One of the most successful escape lines, led by Albert Guérisse (Pat O'Leary), moving evaders from northern France through Marseille to Spain.
- Period
- 1940-1944
- Distance
- 900km
Polish Escape Routes
Polish underground networks moved Allied airmen and Polish officers south through Slovakia to Hungary and Romania, then to neutral Turkey.
- Period
- 1939-1945
- Distance
- 600km
Possum Line
MI9 operation organizing recovery of Allied aircrew shot down over the Belgian Ardennes, moving them to Reims area for Lysander aircraft evacuation.
- Period
- 1943-1944
- Distance
- 250km
Shelburn Escape Line
MI9 operation that evacuated Allied airmen by Royal Navy motor gunboats from Brittany beaches. Evaders traveled inland from Paris to safe houses in Brittany before beach evacuations.
- Period
- 1943-1944
- Distance
- 300km
Slovenia – Drava Valley
Slovenian partisans sheltered crash-landed aircrew before guiding them across occupied territory to partisan airfields and Allied missions.
- Period
- 1944-1945
- Distance
- 120km
Spain & Pyrenees Crossings
The Pyrenees mountain barrier was the primary escape route from occupied France to neutral Spain and Gibraltar. Multiple lines used different routes through the hostile mountain range.
- Period
- 1940-1944
- Distance
- 800km
Yugoslav Partisan Routes
Partisan forces sheltered Allied aircrew shot down over Yugoslavia, moving them to coastal evacuation points or partisan airstrips for Allied rescue.
- Period
- 1943-1945
- Distance
- 500km