Monique Hanotte

Henriette "Monique" Hanotte MBE (10 August 1920 - ) is a former Belgian resistance member during World War II. From the age of nineteen, she aided the escape of nearly 140 airmen from occupied Belgium into France as part of the Comet Line. She was given the codename 'Monique' by the British War Office - a name she then used throughout her life.[1]

Early life

Henriette Hanotte lived in the rural village of Rumes in Belgium, close to the French border. Her parents ran a hotel and a farm, where she and her younger brother helped look after the animals. She went to school each day in the nearby French village of Bachy, and thus became known to the officers manning the customs posts.[1]

Resistance activities

In May 1940, shortly after the German occupation of Belgium, Hanotte and her father assisted two officers who had become separated during the retreat of the British Expeditionary Force to Dunkirk. They were disguised, and led the short distance through a customs post and into France.[1]

Hanotte was subsequently recruited by the British War Office section, MI19 to actively participate in the Belgian resistance network called Comet Line, and was given the codename "Monique". Over the course of the war, she and her family aided the escape of nearly 140 Allied forces airmen, either by accompanying them across the border, or travelling with them by train to cities such as Lille and Paris. In doing so she risked her own life and those of her family, if caught.[1]

In 1944, whilst travelling to the safe house she used in Paris she discovered that her network had been revealed by a Belgian collaborator. She was ordered by her British handlers to escape to England by following the same route as that used by the airmen she had assisted. After travelling through France to Spain via the Pyrenees she reached Gibraltar, and from there flew to Britain. Once there, she was taught to parachute and to be a secret agent in advance of being dropped into France as part of the Ardennes Counteroffensive. However, she was never sent, and remained in England until after the war.[1]

Post war

Hanotte celebrated VE Day in London before returning to her family home in Belgium. In 1945 she married the boyfriend she had known during the war who had been a Belgian border guard. They subsequently had two children. Hanotte continued using the name Monique throughout her life.[1]

Honours

In May 2015 a hiking circuit was opened to mark the route taken by Monique Hanotte to help airmen escape from Belgium into France.[2]

A statue of "Monique" was installed in Place de la Liberté in the French commune of Bachy, depicting her assisting American bombardier, Charles Carlson, to escape from Belgium.[3][4] In 2015 Hanotte was given honorary citizenship of Bachy.[5]<

See also


References
  1. Shute, Joe (8 August 2020). "Monique Hanotte: The teenage Belgian spy who walked 140 airmen to freedom". The Telegraph. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  2. "Inauguration du chemin «Dans les pas de Monique»" (PDF). Bachy magazine (in French). Bachy: Mairie de Bachy. January 2016. p. 17-18. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  3. "Memorial to Comete Line Helpers". Air Forces Escape & Evasion Society. 29 April 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  4. Polyn, Clement (13 May 2018). "Bachy : une statue en l'honneur de la résistante Henriette Hanotte". France 3 Hauts-de-France (in French). Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  5. Morris, AJ (12 November 2015). "A veteran's long trek home". The Jackson Sun. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
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