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" The Chauny Escape Line
by Virgil R. Marco Sr., 366BS Tail Gunner, 305BG
When the World War II "Air Offensive Europe" grew larger, so did the allied losses. Many downed airmen found that they needed assistance in the form of food, clothing and shelter in their attempt to escape. The various escape lines also found they had more airmen than they could shelter and move safely.
After the first important air raids by the RAF in 1942, Captain Etienne Dromas resolved to help airmen who parachuted in France. To this end he organized surveillance in each community to act during the course of these air raids. In 1943 he had districts of Chauny, La Mere St-Gobain, Coucy le Chateau and St-Simon organized with "helpers" placed in the regions of Guise, Cambrai, St-Quentin, Laon, Compiegne, Criel and others.
By the end of 1942 recovery of airmen had begun and by September 1944, eighty-six allied airmen were saved from capture by the enemy. Of the nineteen wounded airmen saved, ten were wounded seriously enough to require surgical operations. The Germans recaptured three airmen.
Etienne Dromas was born on December 17, 1911 in Viry-Noureuil (Aisne), France. He married Renee Hibant, a schoolteacher. Together with their two children they resided in Urgy-le-Gay near Chauny. Etienne was a draftsman employed by the French National Railway at Tergnier a few miles from Chauny. He was a reserve officer in the French Army and was called to duty in 1939 serving with the 20th Company until wounded in battle in 1940 resulting in the amputation of a leg. He then became a member of the resistance in 1942 as Captain in the French Forces of the Interior (FFI). He was appointed Commander of Groupment B serving with the 2nd Military Region in the Department of Aisne (district of Laon). During the war he was known as "LeNoir".
One of his Lieutenants, Alfred Logeon, was the radio operator for the Resistance, sending and receiving messages from London. This operation was performed in his automobile garage at rue du Brouage in Chauny. On August 8, 1944, one of his messages to London was responsible for the destruction of a German ammunition train that was transporting munitions, including V1 and V2 bombs, to the front lines.
Alfred Logeon's garage, which was also his home, played a prominent roll in hiding allied airmen. On the street behind the garage a Garrison of German soldiers were housed in the St. Charles Catholic College. This garage has now been designated as a historic monument in the Chauny Resistance operations during World War II.
The downed allied airmen who avoided capture after landing in occupied Europe were brought to this garage by members of the "Dromas" organization to be sheltered in local homes in the area.
Alfred Logeon had three daughters, Paulette, Ginette and Monique. Ginette, about 18 years old in 1944, helped find local patriots willing to take the risk of housing the airmen, knowing if caught by the Gestapo they would be shot and their homes burned. Ginette had a major role in decoding messages coming from London. Her mother was considered the " Brain" of many missions as she could keep essential instructions in her exceptional memory, rather than writing the instruction, which could be found by enemies. Her elder sister, Paulette, married with five children then also helped in hiding Resistant people and message equipment.
Monique was too young at the time to be involved with the secret missions.
Ginette's boy friend, Bob Pique, another Dromas Lieutenant, had in addition to other responsibilities the job of transporting downed airmen from various villages in the province of Aisne to this garage. Upon arriving a Patriot would be waiting to guide the evader to his home in Chauny. of Alfred Logeon's daughters, Ginette helped find local patriots willing to take the risk of housing the airmen, knowing if caught by the Gestapo they would be shot and their homes burned.
All types of French Patriots were members of this organization such as Catholic Priests, Mayors, farmers and other professions. Most of the civilian population was willing to help in some way even though they knew the risks were high. Bob had many friends in the Department of Aisne who were more than willing to provide him and his airmen a rest stop with food and drink during their motorcycle trip to Chauny, the hub of this escape line.
The Etienne Dromas Organization supplied other Escape Lines with downed airmen when they were able to transport them to freedom by escaping across the English Channel to England or by walking over the Pyrenees Mountains in to Spain.
In May 1944, the Gestapo became aware of some of these "Escape Lines" and it became necessary for the Resistance to stop their operations. However, the allied airmen continued to fall creating a "back-log of Evaders" to move to safety. The Gestapo never became aware of what was happening under their noses in the Chauny region.
Then D-Day happened and the airmen had to wait patiently with the French Patriots for the allied troops to reach and liberate them on September 2, 1944. Sheltering 86 airmen by the Dromas Organization in this region during the war was very remarkable and the proud City of Chauny celebrates this event each year.
The Dromas Organization decided to move the fifty allied airmen and fifteen Russians along with a band of Maquis (FFI) to the farm community of Ugny-le-Gay and Commenchon as a precaution when they learned of the D-Day landings about 125 miles away. Dromas was of the opinion that the Gestapo would be afraid of an uprising and start searching the homes for young men and send them to Germany. If this happened their operations might be discovered. This was a temporary move and after 5 or 6 days the evaders were moved back to their former shelters in and around Chauny where possible.
A few days later at a large farm in the Ugny-le-Gay and Commenchon farm area, a German patrol attacked Dromas and 15 Frenchmen, killing all the French patriots and setting fire to the farm buildings. One of the German soldiers stepped on Dromas head thinking he was dead. He later recovered to be the only survivor.
(This article is based on the Etienne Dromas files in the US National Archives which were obtained and translated from French to English by Michael Moores LeBlanc, a Canadian historian.) " 
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