The Comet Line

Over the past several hundred years, the Basque people have been divided between north central Spain and southwestern France. As a result of the international border that divides them, they have become adept smugglers of both goods and people. During the time that Franco ruled Spain (1939-1975), for example, the Spanish Basques often smuggled animals across the border into France where they could obtain better prices, and brought back goods that simply could not be purchased in Spain. 

But, it was at the very beginning of the Franco period, during WWII, that the Basques were able to use their smuggling skills to great effect by helping allied pilots who had been shot down over Nazi-occupied Europe escape to Spain and ultimately return to England for further action. As you can imagine, a trained pilot was extremely valuable, and worth taking the risks involved in moving them through France and across the border. In addition, but to a lesser degree, a number of Jews were smuggled out of France into Spain with the ultimate stop being England.

The path that these people took was known as The Comet Line. For our tour of The Comet Line, we drove to a small village very near the French/Spanish border where we saw a number of safe houses that were used in the process of transferring people to relative safety in Spain. These safe houses were the end of the line of a number of safe spaces throughout France that were used to move pilots from where they were shot down to this point. From there, the final step was a 26 km (about 15.5 miles) trek over the mountains, across the Bidasoa River into Spain, and then to a safe house in Spain. This journey, which the pilots/smugglers had to complete overnight in darkness, we did part of on a beautiful October day.

As we hiked up into the hills on the French side, we encountered a number of beautiful horses, but could never figure out who they belonged to or where they came from. They mostly ignored us, although they would not let us approach too closely.

As we reached an early peak. we got to relive the first view of Spain that the pilots would see on their journey (of course, they would mostly see lights because it was dark). You can see the Bidasoa leading away from the ocean - everything on the other side of that is Spain. Unfortunately, this view came just a few miles into the trek and it was a long and dangerous way before the pilots and their Basque guides approached the river.

Slightly further along and higher up, our guide Georgina (kneeling), friend Carol and I take in a view back toward France:

Georgina is a real expert in the Comet Line and had a lot of great stories about the people involved on both sides of the border. One of my favorites was about two children who were involved, one in a safe house on the French side and another whose house was a safe destination in Spain. These two had never met until Georgina organized an introduction for them just a few years ago.

It was a beautiful (but windy) day as we walked, and when we reached the summit of the hike, we could see where the pilots and their guides would head down the mountain toward the river. Of course, what was not there was the Vichy French/Nazi patrols that had to be avoided as everyone moved as quietly as possible along the trail. In order to enhance the quiet, everyone wore traditional Basque espadrilles, which were quiet but also terribly uncomfortable and even painful over such a long distance. This type of cloth and rope shoes weren't made for this type of hiking.

Georgina drove us along the river and showed us some of the crossing points that were used depending on weather and patrols. Even there, pilots and guides still ran the risk of being caught. Once on the Spanish side of the river, the risk was reduced but not eliminated as Franco's national police, the Guardia Civil, patrolled the area.

Even though we walked far short of the total distance of The Comet Line, when we were done we treated ourselves to a celebratory drink in a small village, Biriatou, on the French side of the river, sitting outside and looking across to Spain:

Biriatou played a role in the story as well. The Nazis laid out the corpses of two men who drowned attempting to cross the Bidasoa as part of a smuggling operation as part of a threat to anyone who was collaborating with the resistance. The people of Biriatou, rather than be intimidated, decorated the two men's bodies with flowers as a sign of support for the resistance. 

We had a fascinating day learning about The Comet Line and the role the Basque people and their smuggling abilities played in this important part of WWII history.

Hasta luego,

Jeff and Shana