US Archives Reveal American Airmen’s WWII Escape Routes Through Andorra

### American Airmen’s Wartime Escape Routes Through Andorra Uncovered in US Archives

Newly examined records from the US National Archives have shed light on the perilous journeys of several American airmen who evaded capture in Nazi-occupied Europe and crossed into Andorra during World War II. The documents, part of the "Escape & Evasion" collection, detail the experiences of crews from downed B-17 bombers, including one linked to Sergeant Charles P. Peacock, the only US serviceman presumed killed en route to Andorra whose body was never recovered.

Peacock, a radio operator, served aboard a B-17 piloted by Lieutenant Glen Ransom, shot down over Stuttgart on 6 September 1943 by German fighters. One engine failed en route to the target, forcing the aircraft to drop its bombs and lag behind the formation. Spotted by two Focke-Wulf fighters and then dozens more, the plane was riddled with fire. Ransom ordered the crew to parachute out; he jumped last, landing near Gandelain in Normandy’s Alençon district. Local residents connected him with escape networks.

Ransom soon reunited with crewmates Pasquale Delvento, Ralph Houser, Vincent Cox, and Peacock. The group split up shortly after: Ransom, Houser, and Delvento reached Paris, then Pamplona by train. From there, they joined a larger party of 13 Americans and two RAF airmen, trekking by bus and foot to a mountain cabin. On 7 October, a guide led them into Andorra. After two days’ rest in a hotel, they walked to Manresa, took a train to Barcelona, reached the British consulate on 14 October, arrived in Madrid on 21 October, and Gibraltar on 26 October. Ransom filed his report on 28 October, initially listing Peacock as missing in action before updating to killed in action. He was last seen before the separation.

Other reports reveal varied fortunes. Lieutenant Leonard Fink, navigator of a B-17 downed on 26 June 1943 near Versailles’ Villacoublay airfield, parachuted into Rambouillet forest. Evading Germans, he struck a Feldgendarmerie soldier with a stick and fled. After a failed air evacuation, networks moved him through Paris, Jinville, Fontenay-sous-Bois, Toulouse, Pamplona, and Lavelanet to Foix. With six others, he got lost in woods near Mercus, then joined a group of 27 evaders for a three-day march into Andorra. They rested two days in a hotel before heading to Manresa, Barcelona, Madrid, and Gibraltar. Fink signed his account on 29 October.

Gunner Edward Chonskie, from a B-17 lost on 7 July 1943, faced betrayal. A network got him and two others to Tarbes, where a Spanish guide took 3,000 francs, demanded more, then abandoned them midway. Undeterred, they trekked six days alone to Andorra, finding shelter in a hayloft. A French youth aided them, followed by a policeman who provided boots and linked them to a contact named Sherry. An American woman’s hotel—possibly Lina Pla’s—offered refuge before a guide took them to Spain on 7 October.

Sergeants Claude Sharpless and George Elliott, gunners from a B-17 downed 24 August 1943, started their final leg from Tarbes on 25 September via Foix to Verdun. On 3 October, Resistance member Jean guided them with a Jewish couple and a French soldier across Andorra without a local guide. Taxis took them to Sant Julià and a national hotel. On 6 October, they crossed into Spain, stayed at a farmhouse, joined a Spanish-led party, and reached Barcelona’s British consulate on 13 October.

These accounts highlight the risks and generosity of French and Andorran escape helpers, who faced execution if caught by Germans. While Peacock’s remains eluded searches near Incles and Soldeu—unlike bones found in 1953 at Marrades Mortes, later disproven as his—the archives preserve vivid testimony of their odyssey.