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<p>[QUOTE="smallaxe, post: 8604238, member: 13430"]My wife's great aunt Helen (who was an American), worked as a nurse in Belgian military hospitals during WWI. She married a Belgian she met there and lived in Belgium. She was 54 when Germany invaded. Her husband died soon after, but she chose to stay. She joined a resistance cell in Liège that fed downed allied airmen into the Comet line that smuggled them through Belgium, France and Spain to freedom in Gibralter. Another WWI nurse that was her friend, and was from Canada had also married a Belgian and was similarly in the Belgian resistance. After some time, the cells were broken up by the Germans, and many of the members of her cell were captured and executed. Eventually Helen was arrested, but survived the war, and passed away in Liège in the 1960's.</p><p><br /></p><p>One of the British airmen they saved mentioned her in his memoir, saying "Mike and I received a visit from a tall, rather aged, gaunt lady who to our surprise spoke French with a strong American accent." She brought them civilian clothes, and a few days later, brought them work permits. He later commented that her French accent was “absolutely appalling”, and he wondered how she got away with living in occupied Belgium without getting picked up.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="smallaxe, post: 8604238, member: 13430"]My wife's great aunt Helen (who was an American), worked as a nurse in Belgian military hospitals during WWI. She married a Belgian she met there and lived in Belgium. She was 54 when Germany invaded. Her husband died soon after, but she chose to stay. She joined a resistance cell in Liège that fed downed allied airmen into the Comet line that smuggled them through Belgium, France and Spain to freedom in Gibralter. Another WWI nurse that was her friend, and was from Canada had also married a Belgian and was similarly in the Belgian resistance. After some time, the cells were broken up by the Germans, and many of the members of her cell were captured and executed. Eventually Helen was arrested, but survived the war, and passed away in Liège in the 1960's. One of the British airmen they saved mentioned her in his memoir, saying "Mike and I received a visit from a tall, rather aged, gaunt lady who to our surprise spoke French with a strong American accent." She brought them civilian clothes, and a few days later, brought them work permits. He later commented that her French accent was “absolutely appalling”, and he wondered how she got away with living in occupied Belgium without getting picked up.[/QUOTE]
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