MI9, the British intelligence agency formed to help soldiers and airmen stranded behind enemy lines evade German capture, parachuted agent Dick Kragt into the Netherlands in June 1943. Prior to the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944, Kragt, his deputy Joop Piller, and their escape organization helped more than 100 allied airmen shot down over the occupied Netherlands to escape to Brussels, Belgium from where the Comet Escape Line guided the downed airmen to Spain and hence to safety in England. Thus, by the time of the Battle of Arnhem, MI9 had experienced agents in the Netherlands to help stranded allied military personnel.