Glad you enjoyed it..!
The story of the Comet Line was not widely known for some time - many of us were only aware of the broad outline of what happened.
As part of their debriefing process, Allied evaders had to sign that they agreed to remain bound by the provisions of the various Official Secrets Acts and that the details of their evasion - names, routes and places - were not to be discussed. The fear was, after 1945, that another European conflict was thought to be likely and hence the wartime Comet Line could be dusted off for re-use.
In talking to veterans and their family members it's clear that they took the vow of silence seriously. Many never revealed how they evaded, not even to their nearest and dearest.
Seventy plus years on, the emergence of the internet has enabled some of those who took part to write their piece of history. For that we should be very grateful.
George told me a few years ago that when he brought his young family down to SW France in those post war years to meet up with Kattalin Aguirre (whose house he'd stayed at in Ciboure) and Florentino Goikoetxea (who'd guided him over the mountains), that Florentino suggested to him that they go for a short walk in the hills for 'old times sake'. They set off with George thinking that they were going to stretch their legs for just a couple of hours - Florentino had other ideas! He took George back over the border into Francoist Spain where he picked up some contraband and set off back to France again.
Here's George pictured here with Kattalin at a post war function in the Pays Basque.
More to come..