The Freedom Line: The Brave Men and Women Who Rescued Allied Airmen from the Nazis During World War II

by Peter Eisner

Overview

Compared to Casablanca by the Washington Post, The Freedom Line is a page-turning story of a group of resistance workers who secreted downed Allied fighter pilots through France and into safety in Spain during World War II—perfect for fans of Apple TV's Masters of the Air.

As war raged against Hitler's Germany, an increasing number of Allied fliers were shot down on missions against Nazi targets in occupied Europe. Many fliers parachuted safely behind enemy lines only to find themselves stranded and hunted down by the Gestapo. The Freedom Line traces the thrilling and true story of Robert Grimes, a 20–year–old American B–17 pilot whose plane was shot down over Belgium on Oct. 20, 1943. Wounded, disoriented, and scared, he was rescued by operatives of the Comet Line, a group of tenacious young women and men from Belgium, France, and Spain who joined forces to rescue the Allied aircrews and take them to safety. And on Christmas Eve 1943, he and a group of fellow Americans faced unexpected sudden danger and tragedy on the border between France and Spain.

The road to safety was a treacherous journey by train, by bicycle, and on foot that stretched hundreds of miles across occupied France to the Pyrenees Mountains at the Spanish border. Armed with guile and spirit, the selfless civilian fighters of the Comet Line had risked their lives to create this underground railroad, and by this time in the war, they had saved hundreds of Americans, British, Australians, and other Allied airmen.

Based on interviews with the survivors and in–depth archival research, The Freedom Line is the story of a group of friends who chose to act on their own out of a deep respect for liberty and human dignity. Theirs was a courage that presumed to take on a fearfully powerful foe with few defences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060096649
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/31/2005
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	407,660
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Peter Eisner has been an editor and reporter at the Washington Post, Newsday, and the Associated Press. His books include the award-winning The Freedom Line and The Italian Letter, which he wrote with Knut Royce. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland.

Read an Excerpt

The Freedom Line
The Brave Men and Women Who Rescued Allied Airmen from the Nazis During World War II

Chapter One

Stopped at the Border

Dédée. Urrugne, France. January 14, 1943.

Freezing rain crackled on the tile roof of the farmhouse in the French-Basque village, just a few miles from the Spanish border. There were six of them: three disoriented British airmen; Dédée, the Belgian woman who led the Comet escape line; Florentino, their Basque guide; and Frantxia, who owned the little whitewashed homestead some yards from the dirt road. They had been waiting all afternoon for the weather to improve, but night descended; and the rain kept coming down. The wind rattled the windowpanes, and the gray fog was dissolving into night.

Dédée had led the airmen on the express train down from Paris to Saint-Jean-de-Luz, a Basque fishing village. They'd walked two hours to Frantxia's house in a heavy rainstorm. It had not stopped raining. The airmen were depending on Dédée as their lifeline to get back to England. She was small and slender, and very attractive. She marched with a determined gait as she coaxed them along the sodden paths, and she was also the only one of their guides who spoke English. Dédée looked at them with a penetrating, piercing gaze.

You must be ready to move quickly at any time, without question.

We will tell you when it is safe to go.

Almost always, the escape plan was to follow the hilly goat trails that led through the mountains to the Bidassoa River, the dividing line between France and Spain, not four miles away. These were the old byways known only to the Basque shepherds and the smugglers who packed all forms of contraband over the Pyrenees back and forth across the border. The men coming across told them the Bidassoa River was a flooded torrent. It was too dangerous to cross the river, which meant that the only way to Spain involved a five-hour detour and a risky crossing on a low suspension bridge. That road would be illuminated and was watched by German and Spanish patrols.

Dédée tried to hide her distress, but her furrowed brow was bathed in the flickering light. She'd decided to leave her father at another safe house back along the seacoast and now she feared for his life. The plan had been to bring him here and then cross over to Spain. But he was fifty-eight years old and she didn't think he'd be able to manage under these conditions. She'd kissed him good-bye, promising to come back and fetch him when the weather opened up.

Dédée had misgivings and was feeling more responsibilities than ever. She had finally convinced her father that he could no longer stay in Paris, because the Nazis were on his trail; it was time for him to escape to England. There had been two close calls in the last year, and many of their friends were arrested. It was only a matter of time before the Gestapo would track him down. Reluctantly, he'd agreed to go with her on the next mission south to Spain, as they smuggled another group of airmen to safety.

Florentino, a huge, chisel-faced sort from the mountains, glowered and said nothing, pacing the length of the floor. He knew the mountains; he warned Dédée against chancing the trip when it was raining and the river was high. When the relentless winter rain muddied the dirt paths, the passage was perilous even for him. They would have to crawl in the muck over rocks and boulders, hugging the paths that wound up the hills with barely enough room for a man to avoid sliding off the edge of a cliff. There might even be ice in the higher elevations. The rocks were slippery enough even without ice; legs would be broken, and he was the one who would end up carrying out the injured person on his back. Last year, one of the women guides did break her leg when she slipped and fell in weather not even as bad as this. Florentino carried her for a while, and then fetched a mule and took her to a safe house,where a doctor set the fracture. They were lucky that night to have been on the Spanish side: the Gestapo didn't cross the border on patrol, although the Spanish guards were almost as dangerous.

There were sudden gusts and the raindrops slashed at the windows. The wind had blown the door open a while earlier and gave them a fright. Now, one of the dogs was barking.

Donato is here, said one of Frantxia's three little boys, running in from the storm.

Donato was a farmhand who once worked at this house and was now with a neighbor down the road. He came to the door, peering inside at Florentino and the pilots. Several months ago, Donato had come along with them as a guide over the mountains, but Dédée hadn't trusted him and never asked him along after that. Donato was speaking with Frantxia, in Euskera, the Basque language. Dédée didn't understand a word, but she saw greed in his smile and betrayal in his darting eyes. Perhaps he held a grudge because she'd chosen Florentino and not him as their guide. Donato left and the dog quieted down.

In the dark, everything was uncertain. It was too risky to move the pilots back to town. They could speak neither French nor Euskera nor Spanish. Even disguised in local dress, they would be found out. They were trapped.

I will stay here with them, she told Florentino. You can wait for us at Kattalin's house.

Kattalin, the widow, lived in the village by the sea where Dédée and her group hid Allied airmen after guiding them south. She had a little house on a cobblestone street that dipped down toward the bay. It was just off the main highway, a few miles north of Spain ...

The Freedom Line
The Brave Men and Women Who Rescued Allied Airmen from the Nazis During World War II. Copyright © by Peter Eisner. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

Table of Contents

Part 1	January 1943
1	Stopped at the Border	3
2	Restoring the Line	28
Part 2	October 1943
3	The American	53
4	Crossing the Border	82
5	Gaining Strength	100
6	Intrigue and Mist	128
7	The Autonomy of the Line	140
Part 3	December 1943
8	By Train Across France	155
9	The Life of a Traitor	173
10	Death and Survival	190
11	Uncertainty in Spain	224
Part 4	January 1944
12	The Gestapo's Trap	247
13	Lily's Defiance	258
14	Tracking Jean Masson	269
15	A Matter of Time	278
16	Justice Restored	292
Part 5	1945
17	Liberation	299
	Epilogue	305
	Sources	321
	Notes	323
	Bibliography	333
	Author's Note	337

Editorial Reviews

Like the cinema classic "Casablanca," this is a gripping saga of undercover resistance, dangerous intrigue and inspiring courage in Nazi-occupied territory in World War II. Instead of in French Morocco, however, the story unfolds in German-held Belgium and France and legally neutral Spain. Instead of Humphrey Bogart's Rick and Ingrid Bergman's Ilsa, the main characters in this escape include a pert young Belgian nurse; a handsome, 20-year-old American B-17 pilot; and a beret-wearing Basque smuggler, a giant of a man who led groups of downed Allied airmen to safety across the rugged Pyrenees Mountains. But the most important difference between the 1942 Hollywood screenplay and Peter Eisner's book is that the story he tells is true. — John Whiteclay Chambers II

The Washington Post

Chronicling a group of young resistance fighters from Spain, France and Belgium, Washington Post deputy foreign editor Eisner brings to life "the Comet Line" they formed to lead Allied troops caught in the Basque region of Spain to safety. Eisner, whose wife is Basque, has spent a great deal of time in the area, and that familiarity permeates this taut account of trust and bravery among civilians and military men. (On sale Apr. 6) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

This is a highly readable, gripping, and inspirational account of a little-known aspect of resistance history: the story of a band of Basque, Belgian, and French freedom fighters who conducted a secret rescue operation to lead downed Allied airmen to safety along the French-Spanish border during the height of the war years. Award-winning investigative journalist Eisner, deputy foreign editor for the Washington Post, was first drawn to the dramatic narrative because of his own family ties to the Basque region. He has used both archival sources and personal interviews with survivors and operatives to re-create the heroism and courage of those involved in the so-called Comet Line. Using a complex network of personal contacts, safe houses, and support services and without counterinsurgency training, these young men and women rescued approximately 800 American, Canadian, and British airmen and took them to safety across the Pyrenees. Focusing the narrative on the experiences of 20-year-old American Lt. Robert Grimes, shot down over Belgium in October 1943, Eisner's tale is noteworthy for two reasons: it reveals the role played by women in these operations and yields insights into Basque tradition. In the words of one survivor, "It was a beautiful time it was the proper fight." Highly recommended. Marie Marmo Mullaney, Caldwell Coll., NJ Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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