Not well known events in history, circa WW2, are related to the Baztan Route that may be of interest to some walkers.
During the period 1941-1944, several hundred Allied aviators who had been "downed" over occupied Europe successfully crossed the Pyrenees to reach relative safety in "neutral" Spain and thence onwards to Gibraltar and back home to England.
These men were only able to reach southern France from the Netherlands, Belgium and northern France through the efforts of several "Escape Lines" specializing in secretly and safely moving "Evaders" south without them being captured by the Gestapo.
One of the most successful escape/evasion organizations was known as the "Comet Escape Line" which was founded in Belgium and moved their airmen over the Pyrenees at various locations between St. Jean Pied de Port and Bayonne. They are credited with guiding 200+ Allied evaders over the mountains at those locations with 50% of the men using a route from Bayonne, through or near villages/towns such as Ustaritz, Larressore, Espelette, Souraide, Ainhoa, Dancharia, Urdax, Elizondo, then onwards south or towards San Sebastian where they were "rescued" by British Consulate officials from Madrid.
Should anyone be interested in learning more about the significance of the "Baztan Route" and its connection to evading airmen, they can access additional information through
http://www.cometekinshipbelgium.be or
http://www.evasioncomete.be. (and several other sites which can be accessed with a Google of "Comet(e) Line")
In particular, there are two articles on those websites which describe in detail the two main routes used by the "Comet Line": the Classic Route, via St. Jean de Luz; or the Alternative Route via the villages noted above and then south down the Baztan Valley.
While this post is not specifically related to the Camino Baztan/Frances, I thought it might pique the interest of those considering the Camino Baztan and add an extra dimension to the journey of anyone who finds themselves walking the route from Bayonne to Pamplona.
Buen Camino to All,
Geoff