In November 1943, George Watt, Flying Fortress gunner, parachuted out of his burning bomber and landed in a village in Nazi-occupied Belgium. The villagers risked their lives to hide him in a field, sneaking him past the German patrols, and bringing him safely to Brussels, where he connected with the Comet Line, the rescue arm of the Belgian resistance.
While hiding in “safe houses” in Brussels, Watt had a ringside view of bold acts of defiance by Belgian patriots against the German occupation. From Brussels, he traveled by rail past Gestapo control to Bordeaux, rode a bicycle through southern France, and was led by Basque guides along ancient smugglers’ trails over the Pyrenees into Spain.
Six years earlier. Watt had climbed those same Pyrenees to join the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War against General Franco. Watt’s experience in that prelude to World War II adds insight and drama to the story of his escape from Fortress Europa, his fears of capture heightened by his having been a Lincoln Brigadista as well as a Jew.
Join us for a with Sebastiaan Faber, Meg Ostrum, ohn Morgan, and Special Guests, Dan Lynn Watt and Steve Watt discussion on these Basque Country escape routes through George Watt’s experience.
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