The Comet Line was a Resistance organization in occupied Belgium and France in the Second World War. The Comet Line helped Allied soldiers and airmen shot down over occupied Belgium evade capture by Germans and return to Great Britain. 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.
Andrée de Jongh, head of the Comet Line, receiving the George Medal in 1946
Commemorative plaque on the site of Villa Voisin, the de Greef's house in Anglet.
The routes used by the Comet and other lines to smuggle airmen out of occupied Europe.
A plaque honoring Jean Greindl ("Nemo") in Brussels. Photo: Benoît Prieur.
The Belgian Resistance collectively refers to the resistance movements opposed to the German occupation of Belgium during World War II. Within Belgium, resistance was fragmented between many separate organizations, divided by region and political stances. The resistance included both men and women from both Walloon and Flemish parts of the country. Aside from sabotage of military infrastructure in the country and assassinations of collaborators, these groups also published large numbers of underground newspapers, gathered intelligence and maintained various escape networks that helped Allied airmen trapped behind enemy lines escape from German-occupied Europe.
Members of the Belgian resistance with a Canadian soldier in Bruges, September 1944
Examples of mimeograph machines used by the Belgian resistance to produce illegal newspapers and publications
Het Vrije Woord, a typical Dutch-language underground publication, October 1940 issue.
The entrance to Fort Breendonk where many captured members of the resistance were held