Ian Garrow
Encyclopedia
Captain Ian Garrow was a Scottish army officer with the Highland Light Infantry. Following the surrender of the Highland 51st Division at Saint-Valéry-en-Caux
on the Normandy
coast on 12 June 1940, Garrow evaded to Vichy France where he was interned.
Operating in Marseilles from October 1940 and working alongside other British officers, he helped organise the escape to Britain of military personnel stranded in France after the British retreat from Dunkirk and the subsequent French defeat.
He was joined by Albert Guérisse
in June 1941, whose nom de guerre of Pat O'Leary became the name of the first network, the Pat Line to organise the escape of British military personnel from France.
Garrow was arrested by Vichy French police in October 1941 and later interned at Mauzac
(Dordogne
). His role as head of the escape line was taken over by Pat O'Leary. Garrow was rescued from Mauzac in December 1942 by the Pat O'Leary organisation and sheltered with Francoise Dissard in Toulouse before he was taken across the Pyrenees to the British Consulate in Barcelona. Garrow returned to England at the beginning of February 1943.
Michael Foot and Jimmy Langley describe him as a tall dark-haired captain in the Seaforth Highlanders (sic) in his early twenties (sic), who spoke French with a noticeable Scots accent' .
See : WO208/3312-1075
Saint-Valery-en-Caux
Saint-Valery-en-Caux is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.-Geography:A small fishing port and light industrial town situated in the Pays de Caux, some west of Dieppe at the junction of the D53, D20, D79 and the D925 roads...
on the Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
coast on 12 June 1940, Garrow evaded to Vichy France where he was interned.
Operating in Marseilles from October 1940 and working alongside other British officers, he helped organise the escape to Britain of military personnel stranded in France after the British retreat from Dunkirk and the subsequent French defeat.
He was joined by Albert Guérisse
Albert Guérisse
Major-General Comte Albert-Marie Edmond Guérisse, GC, KBE, DSO was a Belgian Resistance member who organized escape routes for downed Allied pilots during World War II under the alias of Patrick Albert "Pat" O'Leary, the name of a Canadian friend...
in June 1941, whose nom de guerre of Pat O'Leary became the name of the first network, the Pat Line to organise the escape of British military personnel from France.
Garrow was arrested by Vichy French police in October 1941 and later interned at Mauzac
Mauzac
Mauzac may refer to:* Mauzac , a grape variety mainly grown in the Gaillac region southeast of Bordeaux in France* Mauzac, Haute-Garonne, a commune of the Haute-Garonne département in France...
(Dordogne
Dordogne
Dordogne is a départment in south-west France. The départment is located in the region of Aquitaine, between the Loire valley and the High Pyrénées named after the great river Dordogne that runs through it...
). His role as head of the escape line was taken over by Pat O'Leary. Garrow was rescued from Mauzac in December 1942 by the Pat O'Leary organisation and sheltered with Francoise Dissard in Toulouse before he was taken across the Pyrenees to the British Consulate in Barcelona. Garrow returned to England at the beginning of February 1943.
Michael Foot and Jimmy Langley describe him as a tall dark-haired captain in the Seaforth Highlanders (sic) in his early twenties (sic), who spoke French with a noticeable Scots accent' .
See : WO208/3312-1075
External links
- http://www.christopherlong.co.uk/pri/secpap1.html
- http://www.conscript-heroes.com/Art50-Ian-Garrow.htm