The Pat Line helped stranded Allied soldiers and downed airmen escape France which had been defeated by Nazi Germany in June 1940.
Nouveau, who was wealthy, and his wife Renée helped finance the Pat Line and gave temporary shelter to 145 allied soldiers and airmen in their Marseilles apartment.
Nouveau also guided groups of downed airmen from northern to southern France from where they were smuggled across the border to Spain and hence returned to the United Kingdom.
Jean-Pierre fled France in January 1941 and joined the Free French army, receiving the Legion of Honor for his wartime service.
A major expense was to pay guides to lead escapers across the border from France to Spain, a highly hazardous undertaking.
[6][7] Besides fund raising, the Nouveaus sheltered 145 escaping airmen and soldiers and eleven French refugees between May 1941 and February 1942 in their luxurious apartment.
He was instrumental in establishing branches of the Pat line in Brittany, Pas de Calais, and Normandy which involved finding safe houses and recruiting couriers and guides.
Nouveau was arrested by the Germans near Tours in February 1943 while accompanying a group of five American airmen by train from Paris to Toulouse.