The helpers gambled their homesβeven the lives of their familiesβto help the airmen escape, and many of them lost The Comet Line began in Brussels where the airmen were fed, clothed, given false identity papers, and hidden in attics, cellars, and people's homes. A network of volunteers then escorted them south through occupied France into neutral Spain and home via British-controlled Gibraltar.
The motto of the Comet Line was "Pugna Quin Percutias", which means "fight without arms", as the organization did not undertake armed or violent resistance to the German occupation. The Comet Line was the largest of several escape networks in occupied Europe.
In three years, the Comet Line helped people, mostly British and American airmen, escape to Spain or evade capture in Belgium and France. They are usually called "helpers". Seven hundred helpers were arrested by the Germans and were executed or died in prison or concentration camps. For the Allies, the rescue of downed airmen by the Comet and other escape lines had a practical as well as a humanitarian objective.
Training new and replacement air crews was expensive and time-consuming. Rescuing airmen downed in occupied Europe and returning them to duty was a priority. She was imprisoned by the Germans in , but survived the war. Subsequent leaders were also imprisoned, executed, or killed in the course of their work getting airmen to Spain. Young women, including teenagers, played important roles in the Comet Line.
Sixty-five to 70 percent of Comet Line helpers were women. In , an increasing number of British and allied aircraft were being shot down in Nazi-occupied Europe. Most downed airmen were killed or taken prisoner but some evaded capture and were sheltered by allied sympathizers and an emerging resistance movement to German rule. The Belgians were arrested by Spanish police and three Belgian soldiers among them were turned over to the Germans in France.
