290:. The local Comet Line helpers decided to rescue him. On 27 July Elvire de Greef visited him in the hospital and told him a rescue would be attempted. Later that day two German-speaking Bayonne policemen showed up at the hospital in an ambulance driven by Fernand, Elvire's husband. They pretended to be
269:
diplomats who arranged their return by air to Great
Britain. To cross the mountains they hired Basque guides, often smugglers, who could avoid the German soldiers and border guards in France and the border guards in Spain. In April 1942, Florentino Goikoetxea became the principal guide of the Comet
277:, a Belgian and head of the Comet Line in southwestern France, and Kattaline Aguirre, a Basque women who sheltered escaping airmen in her house. Until her arrest in January 1943, Andrée de Jongh usually accompanied the airmen and Florentino across the border.
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On 26 July 1944 Florentino was shot four times by German border guards although he managed to hide the documents he was carrying before being captured. His leg was shattered. The
Germans took him to a hospital in
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agents, demanded to take
Florentino with them, put him in the ambulance, and drove away. He remained in hiding until the Nazis abandoned southwestern France a month later.
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died in 1975, he was honored with both the George Medal of the United
Kingdom and the Legion of Honor from France. When asked what his occupation was in the ceremony at
138:...His tremendous physical strength enabled him to withstand the rigours of constant journeys, summer and winter, from 1941 until the liberation of France in 1944.
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Line, and was credited in his Legion of Honor citation with having led 227 airmen and a number of French and
Belgian agents across the border to safety in Spain.
507:
442:
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and Arnold Deppé created what became known as the Comet Line to help an increasing number of Allied airmen shot down over
Belgium, occupied by
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Florentino's knowledge of the mountains was fabulous. He was able to find his way even when under the influence of copious quantities of
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Of humble birth and nearly illiterate, Florentino (as he was universally known) was a hunter as a youth and became familiar with the
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497:
226:
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Warren, Geoff and
Connart, Philippe, "The Saint-Jean-De-Luz Passage, Comet's Classical Crossing of the Bidassoa into Spain,"
257:, evade capture by the Germans and return to the United Kingdom. In 1941, they pioneered a route by train from Belgium to
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Florentino, still a wanted man in Spain, kept a low profile after World War II. After Spain's long-time dictator
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Verstraeten, Peter and
Lippens, Willy (Mar-Apr 2010), "The George Medal Awarded to Belgians,"
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mountains into neutral Spain. Once in Spain, they turned the exfiltrated airmen over to
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Jimenez be
Aberasturi Corta, J. C. (2011), "La red "Comete" in el Pais Vasco,"
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in the Basque country of southwestern France and hence by foot over the
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during World II. A smuggler by profession, he guided more than 200
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assisting Allied airmen to escape occupied Europe in World War II
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Silent Heroes: Downed Airmen and the French
Underground,
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Florentino's associates in the Basque country included
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Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, pp. 119-127
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221:. As an adult he became a smuggler. During the
209:on the Franco-Spanish border near his home in
155:Florentino Goikoetxea (Goicoechea, Goikoetxe)
185:from where they could be repatriated to the
241:where he resided for the rest of his life.
508:Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in France
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410:Garden City, NY: Doubleday, pp 138, 161
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225:(1936–1939), he escaped arrest by the
443:"Intertwined: The Tail of the Comet"
441:JUARISTI, VINCE J. (5 March 2016).
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341:London: Biteback Publishing, p. 34
14:
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430:JOMSA," Vol. 61, No. 2, pp 36-37
193:from the United Kingdom and the
503:Knights of the Legion of Honour
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498:Recipients of the George Medal
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363:Ottis, Sherri Greene (2001),
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169:airmen shot down in occupied
35:Florentino Goikoetxea Beobide
237:, just across the border in
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354:Vol. 56, No. 2, pp. 540-541
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189:. He was honored with the
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16:Basque smuggler, 1898–1980
488:French Resistance members
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79:Basque, Spanish, French,
233:and fled from Spain to
406:Neave, Airey, (1970),
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352:Rev. int. est. vascos,
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493:Spain in World War II
447:Elko Daily Free Press
337:Neave, Airey (2013),
181:mountains to neutral
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25:Florentino Goikoetxea
419:Jimenez, pp. 562-563
483:People from Hernani
161:who worked for the
249:In 1941, Belgians
157:(1898–1980) was a
308:Buckingham Palace
259:Saint-Jean-de-Luz
223:Spanish Civil War
163:Comet Escape Line
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84:Years active
49:Hernani, Gipuzkoa
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231:Francisco Franco
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118:(United Kingdom)
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64:(aged 82)
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450:. Retrieved
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255:Nazi Germany
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227:Nationalists
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191:George Medal
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116:George Medal
62:(1980-07-27)
60:27 July 1980
18:
478:1980 deaths
473:1898 births
144:Airey Neave
76:Nationality
467:Categories
452:4 November
326:References
201:Early life
96:Comet Line
41:1898-03-14
177:over the
87:1941–1944
320:Mugalari
314:See also
263:Pyrenees
207:Pyrenees
179:Pyrenees
124:(France)
70:, France
292:Gestapo
288:Bayonne
267:British
235:Ciboure
213:in the
211:Hernani
171:Belgium
68:Ciboure
51:, Spain
298:Awards
239:France
175:France
167:Allied
159:Basque
136:cognac
110:Awards
219:Spain
183:Spain
92:Agent
454:2023
173:and
57:Died
31:Born
229:of
217:of
148:MI9
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