Editing Nazi ghost train (section)

==Aborted deportation==
[[File:Bruxelles Midi 1920s.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Brussels Midi Railway station. 1927.]]
Without the knowledge of the diplomats, the Germans were organizing the deportation of the political prisoners and POWs. During the nights of 1 and 2 September they collected 32 cattle cars and lined them up on the railroad tracks at the Brussels midi railway station. In the early morning of 2 September the prisoners at Saint-Gilles were assembled, loaded in lorries, and driven into the railway station. Each was given two Red Cross food parcels and loaded onto the cattle cars, which were so crowded that the prisoners could not sit down.<ref name="Verstraeten"/>{{sfn|Daley-Brusselmans|2001|pages=115-119}}  

Two Belgian officials of the railway station, Michel Petit (a member of the [[Belgian Resistance]] to the German occupation) and his namesake Leon Petit, plus members of the resistance decided to prevent the transport of the prisoners. They sabotaged and diverted locomotives. Engineers to drive the locomotives disappeared or were "injured," and repairs were necessary. Not until 4:50 did the train leave the station with the prisoners and more than 150 German SS soldiers. After its departure the train was further delayed by mistaken signals and mechanical difficulties.<ref name="Verstraeten"/>{{sfn|Daley-Brusselmans|2001|pages=115-119}}   

The train traveled only about {{cvt|30|km|mile}} to Malines ([[Mechelen]]) where it halted for the night. Additional problems with disappearing engineers and sabotaged locomotives prevented the train from continuing. The next morning, 3 September, the Germans ordered the train to return to Brussels. Faced with the liberation of Brussels by the allied armies which would occur later that same day, the Germans were eager to collect all available transportation to evacuate their soldiers. About noon, the German Ambassador informed a delegation of Swiss and Swedish diplomats and Belgian officials that the SS had agreed to order the release of the political prisoners. The diplomats proceeded to the Klein-Eiland station (near Brussels) where the train and its prisoners were. The diplomats persuaded the German railway commander (who had not received the SS order) to release the political prisoners. About 12:30 p.m. the cattle cars were opened and the political prisoners released.<ref name="Verstraeten"/>{{sfn|Daley-Brusselmans|2001|pages=115-119}}

The German order to release the political prisoners did not include the release of the 53 POWs. In the chaos of the German evacuation of Brussels, the POWs escaped the night of 3 September.{{sfn|Clutton-Brock|2009|page=315}}
Belgian resistance workers directed the POWs to report to British headquarters which had been set up in the [[Hotel Métropole, Brussels|Metropol Hotel]].{{sfn|Daley-Brusselmans|2001|page=119}}