The Untold Story of the Nazi Ghost Train Rescue
A remarkable new book has brought to light one of World War II's most extraordinary acts of resistance, where more than 1,400 people were saved from almost certain death in a Nazi concentration camp through the courage and cunning of Belgian civilians. The Nazi Ghost Train by Greg Lewis, published last month and currently ranking at number eight on the Sunday Times bestsellers list, details this audacious operation that became legendary as 'le Train Fantôme'.
A Hidden Chapter of Heroism
"This is almost certainly one of the biggest and most important single acts of resistance in the war, but it's a story that's never been properly told," said Lewis, a Pembrokeshire author. The book reveals how in 1944, as Allied forces approached Brussels, SS General Richard Jungclaus ordered the deportation of prisoners from Saint-Gilles prison to Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg.
The prison, known to Belgians as 'l'hôtel des patriotes' during the war, held a diverse group including Allied airmen, SOE agents, and Resistance members. Among them was American pilot Al Sanders, whose B-24 Liberator had been shot down over Leipzig in May 1944. Sanders had evaded capture with help from Belgian farmers and Resistance networks, only to be betrayed by Prosper Dezitter, a notorious traitor working for German intelligence.
The Railway Workers' Defiance
As 1,400 prisoners were loaded into 32 cattle trucks on September 2, 1944, Brussels railway workers launched a coordinated campaign of sabotage and delay. They damaged locomotives, dispersed engines around the station, blew up railway points, and set all signals to 'stop'. One driver deliberately fell from his engine footplate, breaking his leg to avoid operating the train.
When SS guards forced driver Louis Verheggen to take the train at gunpoint, he whispered to the station manager: "This train will not cross the border." Verheggen employed ingenious tactics including trapping the train on dead-end tracks, stopping frequently for water, releasing steam, and obeying false signals. By nightfall, the train had traveled less than 20 miles.
The Miraculous Escape
Verheggen's delaying tactics created enough chaos that by Sunday, September 3, the train had become stranded in Brussels. As some SS guards looted a cognac truck, Verheggen escaped across the tracks. International Red Cross diplomats secured the release of most prisoners, though airmen and some agents remained captive.
When the train slowed in northeast Brussels, several airmen including Sanders pried open their carriage door and escaped. They navigated through streets filled with retreating German forces until reaching safety. The railway workers' efforts had successfully 'disappeared' the train long enough for liberation to arrive, saving all 1,400 prisoners.
Aftermath and Legacy
After the war, Sanders returned to Europe to thank those who helped him and discovered his son had been born two days after his plane was shot down. The traitor Dezitter was eventually captured and executed by firing squad in 1948, with his mistress meeting the same fate the following year.
Lewis's research took him to Britain, the US, Canada, and Belgium, where he tracked down descendants of those involved. "It was a case of uncovering the stories of some truly unsung heroes," he said. The story of the Ghost Train rescue, long part of Belgian Resistance folklore, now receives the comprehensive telling it deserves in this groundbreaking work.
