WW2 Escape Lines Memorial unveiled at National Memorial Arboretum

01/06

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The WW2 Escape Lines Memorial, hewn from a quarry in the High Pyrenes’ along the route of many escapes, The quarry is owned by a family of mountain guides.

02/06

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A Home Run… The term used to indicate a successful escape from Enemy held Europe back to Blighty. The memorial also acknowledges the debt to the helpers left behind in occupied Europe.

03/06

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The Plaque by the Escape Lines Memorial gives the overview and an indication of the sacrifices by the civilian populations along the route of the escape lines in WW2.

04/06

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The WW2 Escape Lines Memorial, hewn from a quarry in the High Pyrenes’ along the route of many escapes, The quarry is owned by a family of mountain guides.

05/06

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Hiding behind the Home Run were three teddy bears from the Special Forces Association who were also at the unveiling. The SF people are everywhere but come and go quietly.

06/06

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Hiding behind the Home Run were three teddy bears from the Special Forces Association who were also at the unveiling. The SF people are everywhere but come and go quietly.

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The memorial to the military personnel and other agents who escaped from occupied Europe in WW2 and the civilian and partisan helpers who made it all possible was unveiled at the National Memorial Arboretum. The Special Forces Assn. Also attended.

The WW2 Escape Lines Memorial has been set up by ELMS the Escape Lines Memorial Society whose motto is “We remember”. The memorial remembers the “helpers” whilst some were SOE and other professionals working behind the lines most were civilian with no training or help. Some estimates say for every Home Run where one person escaped ten helpers perished directly at the time or indirectly later in a camp.

Often it was not just the helper who risked everything but his or her family. Unlike the escapers whose families were in another country. If a helper was discovered by the enemy they could expect their whole family to be shot. Which was possibly a better option than torture for information or going to a concentration camp. It was not like the Hollywood films see
http://www.ww2escapelines.co.uk)