Sir Michael Justin Creswell (21 September 1909 – 25 April 1986) was a British diplomat. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he was an attaché at the British Embassy in Spain. He worked with the Comet Escape Line to help allied airmen who had been shot down over Nazi-occupied Europe to escape to neutral Spain and return to Britain. He was Ambassador to

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

from 1954 to 1958, Ambassador to

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

from 1960 to 1964, and Ambassador to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

from 1964 to 1969. In 1961 he attended the 1st Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Belgrade as a guest on behalf of

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He was the son of Col Edmund William Creswell (who played for the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

in the 1872 FA Cup Final) and Isabel Agnes Vulliamy. Michael's son,

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

is a renowned architectural artist.

World War II

During World War II, Creswell was stationed as an attaché at the British Embassy in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Spain. The diplomatic objective of Great Britain was for Spain to remain neutral in the war despite the close association of the

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" * Franco of Cologne (mid to late 13th cent ...

government with fascist

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. In August 1941, a young Belgian woman,

Andrée de Jongh Countess Andrée Eugénie Adrienne de Jongh (30 November 1916 – 13 October 2007), called Dédée and Postman, was a member of the Belgian Resistance during the Second World War. She organised and led the Comet Line (''Le Réseau Comète'') ...

, appeared in the British consulate in

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

along with a British soldier and two Belgian volunteers. She had guided them through Nazi-occupied Belgium and France to Spain, traveling mostly by train but crossing the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

mountains into Spain on foot, evading capture by both the Germans and Spanish border guards. As the leader of a volunteer organization called the

Comet Line The Comet Line (; 1941–1944) was a Resistance organization in occupied Belgium and France in the Second World War. The Comet Line helped Allied soldiers and airmen shot down over occupied Belgium evade capture by Germans and return to Great ...

, she said she would exfiltrate additional Allied soldiers and airmen from occupied Europe. She asked the British to pay the Comet Line's expenses of 6,000 Belgian francs and 1,400 Spanish pesetas (the sum of the two currencies amounting to the equivalent of $2,000 in 2018 U.S. dollars) for each Allied airmen or soldier exfiltrated. The British consul in Bilbao reported de Jongh's visit to Creswell, code named "Monday," in Madrid. When de Jongh reappeared at the Bilbao consulate in October 1941 with additional British soldiers, Creswell journeyed to meet her and concluded an agreement with her for the British to finance the Comet Line. Except for money, de Jongh turned down all other British offers of advice and assistance. She retained her operational independence. Creswell became her link in Spain. During the next three years, until the reconquest of western Europe by the allies, De Jongh and other Comet Line guides accompanied hundreds of allied military personnel to Spain. Most of the exfiltrated military personnel were airmen shot down over Europe who had evaded capture by the Germans and made their way to Spain with the help of the Comet or other escape lines. Once the airmen were in Spain, Creswell met them near the city of San Sebastian and drove them to the British Embassy in Madrid. From there the airmen were driven to British-controlled

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

from where they were returned to Britain by air or sea. Creswell also served as an intermediary between the Comet Line and

MI9 MI9, the British Directorate of Military Intelligence Section 9, was a secret department of the War Office between 1939 and 1945. During World War II it had two principal tasks: assisting in the escape of Allied prisoners of war (POWs) held b ...

in London, receiving and delivering messages and money. By October 1943, most leaders of the Comet Line, including de Jongh, had been imprisoned or killed by the Germans. Creswell smuggled the new Comet Line leader, Baron Jean-Francois Northomb, into

in the boot of his

Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of Luxury vehicle, luxury cars and Sport utility vehicle, SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Crickle ...

automobile. There, Creswell and Northomb met with

Airey Neave Lieutenant Colonel Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave, () (23 January 1916 – 30 March 1979) was a British soldier, lawyer and Member of Parliament (MP) from 1953 until his assassination in 1979. During the Second World War he was the first ...

of the

section of the British Directorate of Military Intelligence, a highly secret department of the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

. The meeting secured the continued operation of the Comet Line despite its decimation by the Germans.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Creswell, Michael Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Finland Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Yugoslavia Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Argentina Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George 1909 births 1986 deaths British intelligence operatives World War II spies for the United Kingdom