tonycad Posted 10 February , 2005 Share Posted 10 February , 2005 I have just come across the following reference to a Belgian refugee family, that was accomodated in a community in the Swansea Valley in WW1:- "...... were a friendly and happy family who quickly settled in a what was virtually a Welsh speaking village. ..... and there were shock waves around the village when they tried to buy horse meat from the local butcher." With this example, and the several described in this thread, did these Belgians settle in the Uk on their own initiative, or was there a Government policy to encourage, welcome and support them to settle here for the duration. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NedRutland Posted 10 February , 2005 Share Posted 10 February , 2005 There is a stone plaque on a house in Ketton, Rutland, recording the gratitude of Belgian war refugees, T.H. Kieckens Verbeeck and family, from Alost, East Flanders. (Interestingly the placenames have been obliterated, presumably in WWII “to confuse German paratroopers”) Also the carriages and cars of the King of the Belgians were evacuated to Rutland along with their grooms etc and a courtier. The grooms remained in the County, and helped with farmwork after they had completed the day's duties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derwisj Posted 10 February , 2005 Share Posted 10 February , 2005 Ned, do you have something more about that plaque? perhaps a picture? Reason Is I live in Alost ( called Aalst nowadays in flemish) and am interested in our local history. Never before thought about investigating the refugees; looks like nice subject; think i go to the city archives next week see if I can find something on it; pascal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.r.f Posted 10 February , 2005 Author Share Posted 10 February , 2005 PALS You amaze me.Just a passing thought posed as a question to the forum and up comes these incredible answers.Every bit of information that we garner adds to the overall picture. THANK YOU. JOHN Ihope you dont mind my smiles but it helps to differenciat me from the other JOHNS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NedRutland Posted 10 February , 2005 Share Posted 10 February , 2005 Ned, do you have something more about that plaque? perhaps a picture? Reason Is I live in Alost ( called Aalst nowadays in flemish) and am interested in our local history. Never before thought about investigating the refugees; looks like nice subject; think i go to the city archives next week see if I can find something on it; pascal Sorry Pascal, but I don't have a photo. The full text as I noted it was: 1914 GRATEFUL THANKS 1918 TO THE --- BELGIAN REFUGEES COMMITTEE (HON.Y SEC.Y & TREAS.R MISS M.E. MOLESWORTH) AND OUR BRITISH BENEFACTORS FROM T.H. KIECKENS VERBEECK FAMILY 3 SISTERS ALOST, EAST FLANDERS BELGIAN WAR REFUGEES AT –- The plaque is on 58 High St, Ketton, Rutland (near Stamford, Lincs). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zijde26 Posted 10 February , 2005 Share Posted 10 February , 2005 To All, Does anyone know publications about Belgian refugees in France ? My grand-parents (mothers side) were in and after the first world war refugees in Southern France (Lot et Garonne). Gilbert Deraedt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkristof Posted 10 February , 2005 Share Posted 10 February , 2005 Gilbert, there is a lot of it in "Van den Grooten Oorlog, volksboek". It is about life behind the lines, but a lot of times the people tell about the refugees too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frie Posted 11 February , 2005 Share Posted 11 February , 2005 If your family was linving in Ypres I know that Freddy Bauwen is the best informed of all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelley Posted 12 February , 2005 Share Posted 12 February , 2005 Hawick is a braw place to bide! I enjoyed your story Derek. This thread is very informative. cheers Shelley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandyford Posted 12 February , 2005 Share Posted 12 February , 2005 Have been away for a couple of days and could hardly wait to see how this thread had developed. Ned - if only I had seen your post about the plaque in Ketton village before I left, I could have got a picture for Pascal, as I passed the Cement works and through Ketton village on Wednesday and again yesterday. Will try to get a picture for Pascal, later in the year. Kristof - I will try to see the compensation forms, you have mentioned, if I ever get to Zonnebeke museum. There were Belgian families where I lived as a child but I didn't question why they were there. This thread has provided a lot of food for thought. Kate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Missinne Posted 14 February , 2005 Share Posted 14 February , 2005 Kate, Most of the inhabitants of my village St-Julien (6 km of Ypres) fled in october 1914. The few ones who stayed the first winter (mostly farmers on the west side of the village) fled on April 22 1915 with the first gasattacks. Almost all the people from St-Julien fled to France. Before the Great War, the village had some 1200 inhabitants. After the war, the village grow to max. 700 people, so 500 people stayed in France... The first family to come back and to build a barrack, arrived in january 1920, 14 months after the armistice. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandyford Posted 14 February , 2005 Share Posted 14 February , 2005 Robert The troops marching up to 2nd Ypres at the end of April 1915 passed Belgian civilians with a few possessions on carts leaving the area. I have always been surprised that any civilians would have stayed for so long considering previous action in the area. Of course they would stay as long as possible, in the hope that it wouldn't come to them having to leave. Some of the farms round St. Julien were used as HQ and medical facilities. Frie and Kristof have also drawn our attention to the difficulties the Belgians faced making a life in a foreign land. I also liked Kristof's explanation of people falling in love with people in their new country. I don't think falling in love would account for 500 non returners to St. Julien but it would be nice to think that it accounted for some of them. Kate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zijde26 Posted 16 February , 2005 Share Posted 16 February , 2005 To Kristof, Indeed, the book "Van den Grooten Oorlog, volksboek" is very interesting. It comprises nowadays a CD with the voices of some persons, which have left their villages during ww1 for France. Gilbert Deraedt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkristof Posted 16 February , 2005 Share Posted 16 February , 2005 Yep gilbert, i have the CD too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlotte cardoen-descamps Posted 16 February , 2005 Share Posted 16 February , 2005 A,dy and Frie, When I told you that our farm was rebuilt with public money, I did mention that the property at that time was in the hands of a noble family, that lived in Brussels. As Frie stated people like that surely knew the way how to get to the money. In the case of our farm, they asked for advice to find out what the needs of a "modern" farm (the original Varlet Farm dated back to 1745 - or at least that is as far as we could trace it) were in the early 1920's. I also mentioned that my husbands great - grandmother arrived here late 1920 but the actual buildings were only established in 1922. It did take some time to organise the rebuiling of the area. charlotte PS: sorry for my late reaction, we have been away for a couple of days and I missed this threat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacky Platteeuw Posted 16 February , 2005 Share Posted 16 February , 2005 A propaganda postcard of the beginning of the war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 18 February , 2005 Share Posted 18 February , 2005 the British government gave assistance during the war and there were Belgian communities in Birmingham and Manchester and Hawick! ...and Burnley! I was looking at 1915/16 editions of the "Burnley News" (for something totally unrelated) only yesterday and was surprised to see mentions in several editions of Belgian refugees (mainly children by the sound of it) arriving in batches of 15 or so over several months. I didn't really look into it (too busy), but I'll go back and see what I can find out when I've got time. Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zijde26 Posted 18 February , 2005 Share Posted 18 February , 2005 It seems that the PRO has a file on Belgian refugees. Is anyone aware of this ? Gilbert Deraedt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrtle Posted 21 February , 2005 Share Posted 21 February , 2005 The following site has a rather good photograph of two Belgian Refugees who found their way to Aberdare. www.gtj.org.uk/en/index Look at War and Rebellion section then click on First World War then click on Refugees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.r.f Posted 21 February , 2005 Author Share Posted 21 February , 2005 PALS When I started this thread it was as a result of a passing thought.I had never even thought of refugees in ww1.I had assumed that the war took place in an uninhabited area.Then I thought again and my heart goes out to these people and their descendants.I salute them for coping in the first place and then having the strength to pick up the pieces and start again. I do wonder how us,famously free,inhabitants of the U.K. would have coped. Thanks for all your comments. cheers. john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Ruggenberg Posted 22 February , 2005 Share Posted 22 February , 2005 In the beginning of the war more than one million Belgians fled to neutral Holland (The Netherlands). Most of them found lodging with civilians. After a couple of weeks, months, many returned to their homes. In May 1915 about 105.000 were still in Holland. They stayed until the end of the war. Rob Picture below shows Belgian refugees Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zijde26 Posted 22 February , 2005 Share Posted 22 February , 2005 In this respect, a very good book is ' Oorlogsgasten ', (dutch language), written by Evelyn De Roodt. Gilbert Deraedt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkristof Posted 22 February , 2005 Share Posted 22 February , 2005 The book is ok, but doesn't tell about the bad things... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonycad Posted 22 February , 2005 Share Posted 22 February , 2005 I have just finished reading a book, the subject of which is highly relevant to this topic. It is "The Long Silence. Life under German Occupation of Northern France, 1914 - 1918", by Helen McPhail (associated with the Historial in Peronne), published by L. B. Tauris and Co. Ltd. 1999. The book deals with Belgium as much as France. Quote - "For the French Civilian population within the invaded territory, stalemate and stabilisation represented a loss of autonomy and identity, a permanent foreign presence - a major personal and communal crisis, without the support and comfort of the accustomed national framework." The author describes the harrowing social, economic and political development of the population within this framework. And it was indeed harrowing. An American, Herbert Hoover, was instrumental in etablishing the Committee for the Relief of Belgium, the funding, political constraints on, and the delivery of food into occuped Belgium and France, makes for fascinating reading. Manny, many tons of food was shipped through Rotterdam, and onto the canals of Belgium, which sustained the population above starvation level for the duration of the war. Essental reading in understanding all aspects of the Western Front. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zijde26 Posted 22 February , 2005 Share Posted 22 February , 2005 To Tony, Thanks a lot. Gilbert Deraedt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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