The Comet Line repatriated Allied aircrew shot down in the Low Countries and northern France via the Basque country, over the Pyrenees and on down to Gib. To the best of my knowledge, only two evaders were lost out of some 878 who were successfully returned.
They were Count Antoine d’Ursel, a 48 year old Belgian nobleman who had been the head of Comet in Belgium but who was heading for London after his cover had been blown by the Germans. The other was 2nd Lt James F Burch, USAAF, a 26 year old B-17 co-pilot, a native of Terrell, Tx.
Jim Burch’s aircraft was shot down by fighters during their 5th mission (to Munster) on 10th October 1943.
The bombardier was 2nd Lt Lloyd Albert Stanford and he described the subsequent events as follows:
“We dropped out of formation before we reached the target, and German fighters hit us before we could catch up. We dropped our bombs about 30 seconds behind the lead squadron, and they seemed to go well into the target. We almost caught up with the formation but then lost them on the shift just after the target. German fighters came in a second time and shot out one of the engines. The pilot saw two other ships out of formation on our left, and we were trying to join them. Seeing us with one engine out and chased by fighters, they seemed to want to get away. Fighters came in again, and we received the order to bail out. I started to go out and then went back to pick up my GI shoes. I didn’t see anyone in the cockpit then. The navigator jumped and I went out shortly.”
The aircraft crashed near
Holten, in the Netherlands. 2nd Lt William “Dick” Whitlow, USAAF, the aircraft commander, was picked up by a resistance worker virtually on landing and a few days later he joined up with S/Sgt John T Ashcraft, his radio operator, and they stayed together throughout their successful evasion. On 24th November they arrived in Brussels and were taken in charge by Aline “Lily” Dumont, a key Comet guide. From there, they travelled by train on 18th December to Dax in SW France, from where they took to bicycles to ride the last 60km or so to an inn at Anglet-Sutar, just outside Bayonne. Fortunately for them, given what was to happen to the other group, they crossed the Pyrenees via an inland route on 20th December 1943.
(Aline Dumont was awarded the George Medal after the war. I had the privilege of meeting her at her home in Provence 3 years ago.)
http://www.omsa.org/files/Verstraeten%20Geo%20M.pdf
Meanwhile, after arriving in the Pays Basque, Jim Burch and Lloyd Stanford were taken to the home of Katalin Aguirre in Ciboure, close to Saint-Jean-de-Luz. They found that they were to be part of a ten-strong group - comprising three guides and seven evaders. This was an unprecedented number. The other evaders were two other B-17 aircrew (2nd Lt Robert Z Grimes and 2nd Lt Art Horning) plus 3 civilians (Count Antoine d’Ursel and two French agents: Albert Ancia & Roland Bru).
The plan was to make the crossing during the night of 23-24th December 1943. Unfortunately, Florentino Goikoetxea, the legendary Comet guide, was unwell and not available to lead the group over the mountains and so the lead role defaulted to Jean François Nothomb (aka “Franco”), another Belgian aristocrat, who, at the time, was head of the entire Comet network. He was to be assisted by two Basques – Martin Errazkin and Manuel Olaizola, (aka “Cestona”). The ten-strong party set off in the early evening darkness, aiming to reach the
Bidassoa (the river that separated occupied France from Francoist Spain) in the small hours.
It had been raining heavily for the previous few days and the
Bidassoa was running high and in flood. As they started their descent down through the densely vegetated valley sides in total darkness, they heard the roar of the river below. On arriving at the river bank at 0100hrs, the Count was shivering with a recurrence of malaria and Jim Burch was feeling the effects of the heavy bruising down one side he'd suffered on exiting his B-17 some 2 months earlier.
They stripped off their trousers and looped them around their necks for the man behind to hold on to. Midway across, Spanish guards on the opposite bank opened fire and there was a shriek as Jim Burch lost his footing and was swept away in the strong current. The Count d'Ursel made an abortive attempt to cross and, much weakened, he too was swept away during the course of his second attempt.
In the confusion, Spanish guards arrested Stanford, Horning, Grimes, Bru and Ancia. "Franco" & the 2 Basque guides managed to escape in the darkness.
Both bodies were recovered downstream the next morning by the Germans who put them on display (on Christmas Eve) in the porch of the local church at Biriatou as a warning. Overnight, the villagers covered the bodies with flowers which apparently enraged the Germans. They took the bodies away and they were never seen again.
The Count's widow arranged for a riverside memorial to be set up for her late husband in 1960 - but on realising that Jim Burch had no memorial, our association decided to launch a project 2 years ago to provide one in his memory. The Count's memorial was moved to a new site (its footing was fragile) and we inaugurated the new memorial site last April. It was attended by family members as numerous local civic dignatories. A truly memorable occasion.