Just like Dutch-Paris was not the only escape line running through western Europe during WWII, I am hardly the only historian who has been researching escape lines. One of the most dedicated and most helpful of my fellow researchers is Bruce Bollinger. If you’ve done any research on the subject at all, you’ve probably come across his extensive and extremely helpful website: https://wwii-netherlands-escape-lines.com/

Bruce’s interest in escape lines began decades ago when he visited an uncle in Belgium who told him about hiding an American aviator during the war. Unfortunately the uncle died the next year, but Bruce found the American aviator and began tracking down every detail of his evasion to Spain and everyone who helped him along the way.  Much of his research has focused on the Karst Smit – Eugene van der Heijden line that escorted fugitives over the Dutch-Belgian border. Bruce conducted many interviews over the years and gathered 32 boxes worth of research notes and some 70 books on escape and evasion.

Continuing his commitment to scholarship as the pursuit of knowledge for the benefit of all, Bruce has just donated his amazing collection to the McDermott Library at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. The Bollinger Collection will join other collections about escape and evasion during WWII that are housed there.

Because it is already highly organized and thoroughly cataloged, I can give you a short run-down of what’s in there. The files are organized into solid categories such as: Tom Applewhite’s evasion in late 1943/early 1944, organized by place; The Smit-van der Heijden Line; files on other escape lines, most of which have some connection to the Netherlands; helpers organized by town; traitors, collaborators and German agents; maps and a lot of useful information for researchers.

All this is in addition to the extensive website that he’s been running for years. Thank you Bruce!