The Story
Arthur's Path to Freedom
On December 31, 1943, Staff Sergeant Arthur Meyerowitz's B-24 Liberator was struck by flak near Lesparre, France, and went into a death spiral. Arthur bailed out at 18,000 feet. He was 22 years old.
What followed was an extraordinary 168-day journey through Nazi-occupied and Vichy France. Hidden by farmers, doctors, and Resistance fighters, Arthur moved through a network of safe houses from the Bordeaux region to Toulouse, where he spent three and a half months in hiding under multiple assumed names, posing as a deaf-mute to evade the Gestapo.
At the heart of his rescue was Marcel Taillandier, founder of the Morhange Resistance network, who risked everything to coordinate Arthur's movements. Arthur also crossed paths with downed British RAF pilot Lt. R.F.W. Cleaver, with whom he would share the perilous trek over the Pyrenees.
On May 29, 1944, Arthur began his final escape south through Perpignan, then three nights on foot over the snow-covered Pyrenees to Spain. He reached Gibraltar on June 16, 1944. He arrived home alive.
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