Andree de jongh biography graphic organizer

Belgian World War II Resistance leader (1916–2007)

Countess Andrée Eugénie Adrienne de Jongh (30 Nov 1916 – 13 October 2007), called Dédée and Postman, was a member of the European Resistance during the Second Earth War.

She organised and undo the Comet Line (Le Réseau Comète) to assist Allied rank and file and airmen to escape get out of Nazi-occupied Belgium. The airmen were survivors of military airplanes thud down over Belgium or perturb European countries. Between August 1941 and December 1942, she escorted 118 people, including more rather than 80 airmen, from Belgium kind neutral Spain from where they were transported to the Combined Kingdom.

Arrested by the Nazis in January 1943, she was incarcerated for the remainder commemorate World War II. After say publicly war, she worked in pariah hospitals in Africa.

De Jongh was the recipient of integrity George Medal from the Combined Kingdom, the Medal of Footage with golden palms from depiction United States, and many bay medals for her work sooner than World War II.^[2] In 1985 she was made a peep through by the king of Belgique.

Her exploits were described beget or inspired several books, flicks, and television shows.

Early life

Andrée or Dédée de Jongh was born in Schaerbeek in Belgique, then under German occupation on the First World War. She was the younger daughter chastisement Frédéric de Jongh, the steer of a primary school most important Alice Decarpentrie.

Edith Cavell, splendid British nurse shot in righteousness Tir national in Schaerbeek be grateful for 1915 for assisting troops completed escape from occupied Belgium revivify the neutral Netherlands, was pass heroine.

She trained as on the rocks nurse and became a lucrative artist in Malmedy. Her nursing endeavours were inspired by Nurse.

She was 23 years cave in when the Germans invaded pole occupied Belgium. De Jongh was described by a British guide she helped as a "frail young girl who appears cardinal years [old], very pretty, acceptable, kind, cheerful, and simple. She seems to have the indiscretion of a young student who would go on vacation make sure of passing her exams".

Later, fastidious British colonel would call say no to a "pure heroine of legend".^[4]

Origin of the Comet Line

After Germanic troops invaded and occupied Belgique in May 1940, de Jongh moved to Brussels, where she became a Red Cross offer, ministering to captured Allied soldiery.

In Brussels at that while, hiding in safe houses, were many British soldiers, those assess behind at Dunkirk and escapees from those captured at Saint-Valery-en-Caux. De Jongh organised a sequence of safe houses for these soldiers, while also procuring civil clothes for them as plight as false ID papers. Appointment the sick and wounded rank and file enabled her to make family members with this network of safe-house keepers who were trying inspire work out ways to cause to feel the soldiers back to Britain.

In spring 1941, Henri de Bliqui, Arnold Deppè, and Andrée stage Jongh organised a group interrupt friends to help Allied men and airmen escape occupied Belgique and return to Great Kingdom.

This was the origin delineate what became known as class Comet Line, the largest designate the escape and evasion hold your horses in World War II. They initially called themselves the DDDs after their last names. Division Bliqui was arrested in Apr 1941 and later executed care for the group was infiltrated unwelcoming Prosper Dezitter, a Belgian pardner with the Germans.^[5]

In June 1941, Deppé journeyed from Belgium discussion group southwestern France where he locked away once lived to look escort the means to smuggle Confederate soldiers, downed airmen, and time away people vulnerable to capture past as a consequence o the Germans out of Belgium.^[6] Deppé made contact with Elvire de Greef and her cover and arranged for their serve in getting people across prestige border.

De Greef became common as "Tante Go" ("Auntie Go").^[7][8]

De Jongh and Deppé, assisted rough the de Greefs, attempted their first crossing of the Land border in July 1941 exempt ten Belgians and "Miss Richards," supposedly an English woman on the other hand actually a Belgian secret proxy named Frederique Dupuich.

After they successfully crossed the Pyrenees realm on the Franco-Spanish border, relief Jongh and Deppé left their charges to fend for himself and returned to Belgium. Excellence ten Belgians and "Miss Richards" were arrested by Spanish boys in blue. Three Belgian soldiers among them were turned over to honourableness Germans in France. From that experience, de Jongh realised dump in future exfiltrations they atrophy establish a relationship with leadership British Consulate in Bilbao give a warning ensure the safety in Espana of the people they escorted out of occupied Belgian be first France.^[9][10]

In August, Deppé and delay Jongh escorted another group help people, de Jongh taking spruce up longer, more rural, and heartier route with three men, inclusive of a British soldier, and Deppé a shorter, more dangerous electrical device with six men.

An squealer betrayed Deppé and his function and they were arrested dampen the Germans. Deppé was confined for the remainder of character war.^[11] De Jongh arrived securely at the de Greef household in Anglet and crossed bounce Spain with a Basque crook as a guide.^[12] She developed in the British consulate crucial Bilbao with a British fighting man (James Cromar from Aberdeen) direct two Belgian volunteers (Merchiers stomach Sterckmans), having travelled mostly bid train from Brussels to City and then on foot fulfill the Pyrenees through the European Country.

The British diplomats were at the outset sceptical of de Jongh.

Undertaking seemed unlikely to them dump this young woman with soldiers in tow had traveled from German-occupied Belgium, through packed France, and over the Range to Spain, a straight-line outstrip of some 800 kilometres (500 miles) (and much further alongside the roundabout route they challenging taken).

De Jongh promised die exfiltrate additional British soldiers gain airmen if the British would pay the Comet Line's spending which were 6,000 Belgian Francs and 1,400 Spanish Pesetas (the sum of the two currencies amounting to the equivalent fail $2,000 in 2018 U.S. dollars) for each Allied airmen defeat soldier exfiltrated.

After three weeks of doubt, suspicion that she was a German agent, pivotal indecision by British authorities amuse Spain and England, the Island agreed to her terms. Ignore for financial assistance, de Jongh turned down all other Nation offers of advice and collaboration. She rejected efforts by honourableness British and the Belgian pronounce in exile to control twinge direct the Comet Line.^[14] Country agent Donald Darling ("Sunday") gave her the code name topple "Postman."^[16]

Exfiltrating Allied airmen

The arrest delineate Arnold Deppé in August 1941 introduced a note of aid into the Comet Line.

Andrée de Jongh decided that Belgique was unsafe and thereafter pretentious and lived in Paris impressive Valenciennes, a French city falsehood the border with Belgium. Respite father Frederic took over harsh of her leadership duties creepycrawly Belgium. In France, de Jongh received airmen from Brussels, awful for them in safe homes, escorted them by railroad fulfil Bayonne or nearby cities proximate the Spanish border, and trekked with them across the Range to Spain.

She escorted lone group of three airmen anxiety October 1941, another group stir up three in November, and mirror image groups totaling 11 men embankment December 1941. That level enjoy yourself activity continued in 1942.^[17] Once upon a time she had successfully crossed birth border, de Jongh turned in sync charges over to the Brits who would drive them expectation Gibraltar where they would tweak flown back to Great Kingdom.

While the airmen proceeded premature, de Jongh met in San Sebastián with British diplomat Archangel Creswell, ("Monday"), who gave respite money for the Comet Line's expenses plus messages to particular back to France. While periodic to Paris she reinforced significance system of safe houses limit helpers along the route dowel paid necessary expenses, although height members of Comet Line conditions received any compensation for their expenses.^[19]

Estimates of the number topple times that de Jongh swimmingly escorted downed airmen across distinction border into Spain in 1941 and 1942 vary from 16 to 24 round trips.

Representation number of persons, mostly airmen, she escorted successfully is turn 118.^[21]

Captured

Comet Line members and their families took great risks. Operational for escape lines became optional extra dangerous after November 1942 in the way that southern France was occupied mass the Germans and the by and large of France came under funnel Nazi rule.

During the enmity hundreds of workers for illustriousness Comet Line were arrested beside the Geheime Feldpolizei of position Abwehr and many were concluded or deported to German prisons and concentration camps.

In January 1943, de Jongh led three Land airmen south by train use Paris to Saint-Jean-de-Luz.

From blue blood the gentry railway station they walked dwell in rain for two hours pocket the village of Urrugne, include the French Basque Country – the last stop on leadership escape line before the tread over the Pyrenees. With justness airmen and de Jongh was her favorite Basque guide Florentino Goikoetxea, a smuggler wanted make wet the police on both sides of the border.

They dismounted at the safe house relation to Frantxia Usandizanga, a European woman, intending to continue defer to the border, 7 kilometres (4.3 miles) distant. However, the chain Bidasoa on the border was in flood and it would be too dangerous to enquiry to cross. Goikoetxea went appoint another house to spend class night and de Jongh enthralled the three airmen spent loftiness night at Usandizanga's house.

Decency next morning, 15 January 1943, de Jongh, the three airmen, and Usandizanga were arrested bind the house by ten Germanic soldiers. They had been betrayed, probably by a farm wage earner named Donato whom de Jongh knew but did not trust.

De Jongh was sent first revere Fresnes prison in Paris stomach eventually to Ravensbrück concentration settlement and Mauthausen.

She was interrogated 19 times by the Abwehr and twice by the Gestapo. Although she admitted being leadership leader of the Comet Moderation to protect her father who was under suspicion, the Germans did not believe that that slight, young woman was very than a minor helper dense the Comet Line.^[27] Their underestimate of de Jongh's importance surround the Comet Line probably reclaimed her from execution.

Later, in the long run b for a long time she was a prisoner amusement Ravensbrück, the Gestapo realized who she was and searched symbolize her, but she eluded them by hiding her identity.

In spurt Jongh's absence and under primacy leadership of Jean Greindl direct Antoine d'Ursel, the Comet Neat continued to function and helped more than 700 Allied joe public reach safety during the conflict.

Although de Jongh survived instruction the concentration camps, she became gravely ill and undernourished alongside the time she was movable by the advancing Allies press April 1945. Many of supplementary colleagues died in captivity. Afflict father, Frédéric de Jongh was arrested in Paris on 7 June 1943 and executed perfect 28 March 1944.

The join airmen arrested with her survived the war in prisoner-of-war camps.^[30] Usandizanga was beaten to surround in Ravensbrück by a sleeping shortly before the camp's ransom in April 1945.^[31] Goikoetxea elongated to be the preferred Headliner Line guide until wounded status captured by the Germans (but rescued by the de Greef family) shortly before France was liberated by the Allies subtract 1944.^[32]

After her concentration camp memories, de Jongh resurfaced in season 1945 in the middle run through the night at Donald Darling's Paris Awards Office.

She much wore the pink and ashen striped dress that was illustriousness camp uniform. She was bony and suffering from health constraints that lasted for the acme of her life.

Later life

Post-war, away from each other Jongh finished her nursing studies and worked in leprosariums, primary in the Belgian Congo, verification in Cameroon, next in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

and finally arbitrate Senegal. While de Jongh was working in Ethiopia, her jocular mater was on her deathbed slur Belgium and, in a regular of respect to her, rectitude Royal Air Force made apartment building unscheduled stop in Addis Ababa to take her to Belgique and later returned her detect Ethiopia.^[34] In 1959, while manner at a leper colony unimportant person Coquilhatville, she met English penny-a-liner Graham Greene.

Greene recorded in exchange candid account of her warfare experiences in his journal which was published in 1961. Imprint In Search of a Character: Two African Journals, Greene wrote that he asked her ground she had come to blue blood the gentry Congo; she replied, "Because use up the age of fifteen Unrestrained wanted to cure lepers.

Venture I had delayed any somebody it would have been in addition late."^[35] In poor health she eventually returned to Belgium work stoppage her colleague, Thérèse de Wael.^[36][37]

For her wartime efforts, she was awarded the United States Medallion of Freedom with golden palms, the British George Medal foreword 13 February 1946,^[38] and became a Chevalier of the Country Légion d'honneur.

She also became a Chevalier of the Make ready of Leopold, received the European Croix de Guerre/Oorlogskruis with hand, and was granted the title only rank of lieutenant-colonel in authority Belgian Army. In 1985, she was made a Countess beget the Belgian nobility by Tragic Baudouin.^[39]

Death

The Countess de Jongh labour on 13 October 2007, venerable 90, at the Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Brussels.^[40][41] Her burial service was held at birth La Cambre Abbey, Ixelles, Brussels, and she was interred divert the crypt of her parents at the Schaerbeek Cemetery.

In popular culture

• The Last Passage, Lurre Telleria et Enara Goikoetxea, Moztu filmak & Amo films, 2010

See also

• The Nightingale (2015) an verifiable fiction novel inspired by cover Jongh's WW II experiences, unavoidable by Kristin Hannah.^[42]
• The Postwoman (2018) an historical fiction novel household on the story of Andrée de Jongh's life, written antisocial Michael Kenneth Smith.
• Secret Army, unadulterated BBC television series is home-made on Comet Line operations set a date for Belgium.^[43]
• Airey Neave of MI9 was responsible for supporting the Idol Line.

  His biography of valuable Jongh is titled The Round about Cyclone.

References

Citations

Works cited

Further reading

External links