Passage from UK to Vienna, May 1942?

[winterlight]

For purpose of a novel I'm working on, I have a character whom I need to have travel from the UK to Vienna, May 1942. She has a valid German passport and is planning to work undercover for the Allies in Germany (Vienna) even though we all know this really didn't happen much, if at all, in 1942 (it's fiction). If you needed to make such a journey at that time, how would you do it? Fly to Lisbon or Gibraltar and take a train? Sail to L/G and take a train? I'm looking for ideas that were feasible, even if difficult, but excluding really illegal means of entry (no airdrops, it's not a sabotage mission). For example, were there any flights (military or otherwise) from UK to Portugal or Gibraltar? Could one do this trip through Sweden somehow? Thanks in advance for any info; "can't be done" type of info is equally useful to me.

[Knouterer]

BOAC had regular flights to Lisbon all through the war. To spice things up, you could work in an attack by a Ju88, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BOAC_Flight_777
From there on, your character, who would normally travel by train, would need a very good story to cross the various borders (and pass numerous controls in between). She would have to explain not only where she was going and why, but also where she came from and how it was possible that the British authorities had allowed a German national to leave the country.
About the only plausible scenario I can think of (on the spur of the moment) is that she enjoys some sort of diplomatic protection. Perhaps on her way to work for the Swiss consulate in Vienna? Or perhaps work for the International Red Cross?

[Knouterer]

Alternatively, she could perhaps fly to Sweden on one of the "ball-bearing runs" (http://www.lookandlearn.com/blog/19457/ ... d-war-two/ ) and from there cross into occupied Norway on foot, as many members of the Norwegian resistance did (the border was too long and too densely wooded to seal off).
With a good cover story and false papers (perhaps provided by the resistance), she could then pose as a member of the German administration going to Germany on leave and get passage on a German ship.

Or go directly to Norway on one of the trawlers/MTBs that regularly carried SOE agents and supplies there.

[Carl Schwamberger]

Diverting through the US, & then to Portugal, Spain, or Turkey might help cammoflage the individuals origin in Britain. Have to be some document changes in the US, but that is not impossible.

[winterlight]

Actually this person, who started off life in Vienna until age 18 (1932) has just spent the last decade ('32-'42) in the US. (To add another level of detail, she became a US citizen in 1938 or so and was later encouraged by the pre-OSS group to obtain a German passport in the months PRIOR to Pearl Harbor. I know this sounds far fetched but I did check it out with the current consulate here and they said they would have done this for someone with an expired Austrian passport.) I could not figure out any way for her to get directly from the US to Portugal or Spain in May of 1942. It would be easier if I didn't have to get the UK involved in it. The Clipper I think was not operating at that time, having been diverted for military purposes. I'm trying to avoid shipping for safety reasons but I might have to go with that. This is a VERY small point in this book, worth one paragraph or less, but I do like to get things right so that readers won't shake their heads and roll their eyes! (I just read Zone of Interest by Amis and that was a real eye-roller, many errors.)

[Knouterer]

Well then, since the US was not yet in conflict with Vichy France, why not get her into Europe via North Africa? Have her spend an evening in Rick's Café in Casablanca https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaAqze81y4Y