Complex sentence: In 1940 the Langs were staying with their old friend Dornford Yates and his wife at their house near Pau in France when France surrendered and had to escape from the advancing Germans through Spain to Portugal.
Split into simpler sentences: In 1940 the Langs were staying with their old friend Dornford Yates and his wife at their house near Pau in France when France surrendered. The Langs had to escape from the advancing Germans through Spain to Portugal.