"Comet Line" border crossing

 Second World War 1939-1945  Add category

 Upload a photo

A critical point on the "Comet Line", an escape route used by the Résistance to escort downed Allied flyers out of France to Spain. Merely getting to southwest France without being captured required the work of hundreds of Résistance members, each of whom was risking a death sentence for collaborating. A popular crossing was to follow the Lanzetta Erreka stream to the Bidasoa, and cross to the disused train station at San Miguel. The river is relatively shallow at this point, but after heavy rains this crossing was at least dangerous and sometimes impassable. Another route was to cross into Spain to the south, where the border turns east away from the Bidasoa, and then cross the Bidasoa on a footbridge at the Spanish town of Endarlaza. Once in Spain, the goal was the British Consulate in Donostia, then to the Embassy in Madrid, then to Gibraltar. Though Spain was nominally neutral, the Guardia Civil routinely returned captured escapees to the Nazis, so safety was not guaranteed until reaching Gibraltar. But crossing into Spain was considered to be a major step towards safety.