The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
Ciboure, France. August 1946. Colleagues who had been part of the Comet escape route sit on the grass in a field, the Pyrenees Mountains in the background. This route was used by 288 Allied airmen and soldiers to escape over the Pyrenees from France to Spain. The Comet (Comete) route ran from Brussels via Paris, Bayonne, Ciboure and into northern Spain. Small groups of usually four airmen accompanied by an english-speaking escort and a local guide made their way over the dangerous route. Towards the end of the war, it was not possible to take the airmen over the border and they were held in camps hidden in the Ardennes in Belgium and the Freteval Forest in France. (Donor W. Jay)
Lille, France. June 1945. Joe Balfe presents members of the Lille area with a certificate for their participation in assisting Allied airmen to escape. From left to right: John Madge RAF, an escaper (
Probably Ciboure, France. c. 1945. Florentino Goicoechea (front), a Basque peasant sits by the side of the road, his leg wrapped in a blanket while he is convalescing from a broken leg. He is with co
Forest of Freteval, France. c. July 1944. Eight of the 152 allied airmen hidden in the forest, part of the Comet (Comete) escape route organised by the Underground which included camps in the Forest o
Forest of Freteval, France. April 1980. Noel Eliot stands at the probable site of the first camp in the forest where eventually 152 allied airmen were hiding waiting for liberation. The camps were par
Forest of Freteval, France. April 1980. The memorial commemorating the participation of the Underground in setting up two camps in the forest where eventually 152 allied airmen were hiding between May
Forest of Freteval, France. April 1980. Noel Eliot stands beside the memorial commemorating the participation of the Underground in setting up two camps in the forest where eventually 152 allied airme
