Janine was one of the last surviving heroines of the Comete Escape Line that assisted over 300 aircrew shot down behind enemy lines to escape through France and over the Pyrenees into Spain. Her family travelled to Biarritz from their home in Brussels when the German invasion began on 10 May 1940. The family became the key element of the southern section of the Belgian run Line. Janine, who was 16 years-old, escorted evaders, sometimes on trains from Paris, but more particularly in the dangerous border region between her home in Anglet and the ‘last house’ close to the border where Basque guides took the airmen across the mountains. After many betrayals and the loss of key personnel, the De Grief family continued their work under great threat. The threat became so great that MI9 arranged for her to leave France. She, and her family, received numerous decorations for their bravery.

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