Belgian refugees
Followingthe creation of Belgiumas a nation state, Belgian people have sought refuge abroad on several occasions. From the early days of independence and the threat of The Netherlands or France, to two World Wars and the Independence of Congo, Belgians have been on the run themselves, for various reasons, as refugees.
Before 1914
[edit]Little England beyond Wales (12th c.)
[edit]Part of southPembrokeshireis sometimes referred to still as "Little England beyond Wales". AlthoughSaxonswere among the first foreign settlers there, steering the language, quite a fewFlemisharrived too. They came after theNorman Conquest.William of Normandyhad been married to Mathilda, princess of Flanders and quite a number of Flemish nobles and soldiers had joined William in 1066. Henry I allowed a large number of Flemings to settle across England and Wales, including south Pembrokeshire. This systematic planting of Flemish settlers byHenry Ihad significant consequences for the people of south Pembrokeshire.Henry IIequally sent Flemish people, mainly soldiers and mercenaries, to Pembrokeshire, but to a large extent this operation was driven by the desire to have the warmongering Flemish (the "Flemish wolves" ) out of his way.[1]As an increasing number of "foreigners" settled, the original inhabitants were driven away. It has been called a "process of ethnical cleansing".[2]The Flemish showed a real zest for settling elsewhere, discarding the social fabric that was in place: they were "a brave and robust people, but very hostile to the Welsh and in a perpetual state of conflict with them".[3]The Normans and the Flemish built a line of over 50 castles – most of them earthworks – to protect south Pembrokeshire. This line of castles is known as theLandsker(old Norse for 'divide') and stretched fromNewgaleon the west coast toAmrothon the south east coast. InTenby,a castle and a church was erected for the Flemish colonists. The Flemish were experts in the woollen trade, and this flourished in the area.[4]Although the initial planting of Flemish was a move by Norman rulers, the influx of Flemings into south Pembrokeshire appeared to be so significant that the Welsh language there was heavily affected and thatFlemishallowed for English to become the dominant language in the region. The Landsker line represented a divide in language and custom in Pembrokeshire that remains tangible today. Until recently, intermarriage between the cultures north or south of the divide had been discouraged: those from the north were Non-conformist, and those from the south were mainly Catholic and Anglican.
Lace-making in Germany (16th c.)
[edit]Annaberg-Buchholz(German pronunciation:[ˈanabɛɐ̯kˈbuːx.hɔlts] ) is a town in theFree State of Saxony,Germany,in theOre Mountains,and is the capital of the district ofErzgebirgskreis.Annaberg, together with the neighbouring suburb, Buchholz, is the chief seat of the braid- and lace-making industry in Germany, introduced here by Barbara Uthmann in 1561, and further developed by Belgian refugees, who, driven from their country by theDuke of Alva,settled here in 1590.[citation needed]
First World War
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/Belgian_refugees_1914.jpg/220px-Belgian_refugees_1914.jpg)
When Germany invaded Belgium on 4 August 1914, after the Belgian authorities had denied German forces free passage through Belgium on their way to Paris, Britain declared war on Germany. This was a direct result of theLondon Treaty of 1830(which had been recognised by the Netherlands only in 1839).
Britain
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/Brittannia_with_Belgian_Refugees_by_Andr%C3%A9_Cluysenaar.jpg/220px-Brittannia_with_Belgian_Refugees_by_Andr%C3%A9_Cluysenaar.jpg)
Because archive material of the hundreds of local Belgian refugee committees is scant and incomplete and because systems of registration were not watertight (nor did they run from the very start of the conflict), it is very difficult to estimate the number of Belgians that sought refuge in Britain during World War I. Estimates vary between 225,000 and 265,000. The estimation does not include the roughly 150,000 Belgian soldiers that took leave in Britain at some point during the war, and an additional 25,000 wounded Belgian soldiers convalescing in Britain. The fullest account is given inBelgian Refugee Relief in England during the Great Warby Peter Calahan (Garland Publishing, New York and London, 1982).
Ireland
[edit]Because of the tension present already before the First World War and reaching a turning point with the Easter Rising, it is difficult to have Ireland listed here as part of Britain, or not. Given the fact that the story of Belgians in Ireland during the war was a rather different one to those in Britain, not least because of the major difference in numbers, Ireland is retained as a separate entity here.
- Dunshaughlin(Irish:Dún Seachlainn (Seachlann's fort))[5]or locallyIrish:Domhnach Seachnaill(St Seachnall's Church)[6]is a town inCounty Meath,Ireland.In the post-famine years, the workhouse rarely had more than a few dozen inmates. During the First World War, the building was used to accommodate Belgian refugees, some of whom died there and were buried in the paupers' graveyard. In 1920-21, the building was taken over as a barracks by theBlack and Tansduring theIrish War of Independence.
France
[edit]Edith Wharton(/ˈiːdɪθˈwɔːrtən/;bornEdith Newbold Jones;January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was aPulitzer Prize-winning Americannovelist,short storywriter, and designer. She was nominated for theNobel Prize in Literaturein 1927, 1928 and 1930.[7]Wharton combined her insider's view of America's privileged classes with a brilliant, natural wit to write humorous, incisive novels and short stories of social and psychological insight. She was well acquainted with many of her era's other literary and public figures, includingTheodore Roosevelt.Helped by her influential connections to the French government, primarily throughWalter Berry(then president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Paris), she was one of the few foreigners in France allowed to travel to the front lines during the First World War. Wharton described those trips in the series of articlesFighting France: From Dunkerque to Belfort.Throughout the war she worked tirelessly in charitable efforts for refugees and, in 1916 was named a Chevalier of theLegion of Honourin recognition of her commitment to the displaced. The scope of her relief work included setting up workrooms for unemployed Frenchwomen, organizing concerts to provide work for musicians, opening tuberculosis hospitals and founding the American Hostels for Belgian refugees. In 1916 Wharton editedThe Book of the Homeless,composed of writings, art, erotica and musical scores by almost every major contemporary European artist. When World War I ended in 1918 she abandoned her fashionable urban address for the delights of the country at the Pavillon Colombe in nearbySaint-Brice-sous-Forêt.
Netherlands
[edit]- Udenis a municipality and a town in the province ofNorth Brabant,Netherlands. After thepeace of Munsterin 1648, Uden remained outside theDutch Republicand was a haven of religious tolerance for Catholics from the nearby towns ofVeghel,NistelrodeandErp,who build their churches on the municipality its borders. During World War I (in which the Netherlands stayed neutral) North Brabant was inundated by Belgian refugees. A refugee camp was erected at Vluchtoord in Uden, which housed several thousand Flemish refugees until 1918.
- Simon Berman(1861–1934) was themayorofKwadijk,Middelie,Warder,Schagen,Bedum,andAlblasserdamin theNetherlands.He was the first mayor of Kwadijk, Middelie, and Warder to actually live in one of those villages.[8]As mayor of Schagen, he handled a double murder case that drew national media attention and advanced a professional school and regionallight rail.In Alblasserdam, he addressed the local impacts ofWorld War I.Shortly after Berman was installed in 1914 as Mayor ofAlblasserdam,World War Istarted. While the Netherlands remained neutral, local government of Alblasserdam and its mayor kept busy with such impacts as 60 Belgian refugees within the municipal boundaries. An ad hoc municipal fund for the unemployed was established.
Elsewhere
[edit]- Lou Henry Hoover(1874–1944) was the wife of President of the United StatesHerbert Hooverand served asFirst Ladyfrom 1929 to 1933. DuringWorld War I,she assisted her husband in providing relief for Belgianrefugees.For her work, she was decorated in 1919 by King Albert.
Interwar years
[edit]Ottoand Ernst Schiff, who had been instrumental in accommodating the Belgian refugees of Jewish origin, became crucial in the reception and accommodation of German exiles in Britain during the latter half of the 1930s.
Second World War
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ad/Four_young_Belgian_refugees_enjoy_bread_and_jam_for_tea_in_London_during_1940._D944.jpg/220px-Four_young_Belgian_refugees_enjoy_bread_and_jam_for_tea_in_London_during_1940._D944.jpg)
Theinvasion of Belgiumby Nazi Germany started on 10 May 1940 under the codenameFall Gelb( "Case Yellow" ) as part of the widerinvasion of France,theNetherlandsandLuxembourg.
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The German invasion triggered a panic amongst Belgian civilians in the path of the advancing German army. By 11 May, the roads leading westwards, away from the fighting, were blocked by refugees, hampering the eastward advance of French and British forces.[9]It is estimated that around two million civilians fled their homes during the campaign.[10]Eventually, the Belgian military held out against German forces for 18 days, against overwhelming odds. On 28 May, forced into a small pocketalong the Leie riverand after failed attempts to broker a ceasefire on the 27th, the Belgian king and military surrendered unconditionally.[11] Belgian casualties during the campaign numbered some 6,000 killed[12]and 15,850 wounded.[13][14]Some 112,500 French and Belgian troops escaped to England viaDunkirk[15]but the majority of the Belgian survivors were madeprisoners of warand many were not released until the end of the war.Belgian soldiersserved in the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy, serving in Belgian-only units as well as in majority-British units. Soldiers from the Belgian Congo fought on the Allied side against the Italians in East Africa.
With the surrender of the Belgian army,the government,led byHubert Pierlot,fled first toParisand formed agovernment in exileinBordeaux.With the Fall of France, the government transferred toEaton Square,London.[16] Unlike in the First World War, when most members of the government fled to Le Havre, France, the King stayed in unoccupied Belgium and some other politicians stayed in Britain or the Netherlands, most political leaders sought refuge in London in May 1940. In fact, theBelgian government continued in exile.
In 1940 one of the most pressing concerns facing theBelgian government in exilein London was the situation of Belgian refugees in the United Kingdom. By 1940, at least 15,000 Belgian civilians had arrived in the United Kingdom. Most of them hardly had the chance to take any of their possessions with them.[17]The refugees had originally been dealt with by the British government and in September 1940, pretty much like in December 1914, a Central Service of Refugees was established to provide them with material assistance and to organise employment for Belgians in Britain.[18] More than a century earlier the Battle of Waterloo had originated a cliché among the British that 'the Belgians ran away at Waterloo'. In the First World War mixed feelings had grown in Britain concerning the Belgian refugee men in Britain that did not join the Belgian army. In 1940 the British public was even more sceptical, if not outright hostile to Belgian refugees. The common perception was that Belgium had betrayed the Allies in 1940.[19]A BritishMass Observationreport noted a "growing feeling against Belgian refugees" in the United Kingdom,[20]closely linked to Leopold III's decision to surrender.[21] The Belgian government in exile was also thoroughly involved in the provision of social, educational and cultural institutions to Belgian refugees. In 1942, the Belgian authorities in London sponsored the creation of theBelgian Institutein London to entertain the Belgian refugee community in London.[22]By 1943, there were also four Belgian schools in Britain with 330 pupils between them, inPenrith,Braemar,KingstonandBuxton.[23] The formerSt Margaret of Antioch'sChurchbuilding is situated on Cardigan Road,Headingley,West Yorkshire, England, near Burley Park railway station. It is an example of LateGothic Revivalchurcharchitecture,and it was built in the first few years of the twentieth century, being consecrated in 1909. It was built in the Parish ofBurleyto serve the population of the newly built red-brick terrace houses in the area, part of the lateVictorianexpansion ofLeeds.[24]During the 1940s to the 1960s, the church played host to the Orthodox Liturgy and Communion in Slovak, thePolish Orthodox Churchand theRussian Orthodox Church in Exile,as well renting a local house for Belgianrefugeesduring the First World War.
Years after retirement and at the age of 73,SirWilliam Haldane Porter,a British civil servant who was responsible for the creation of the Aliens Branch of the Home Office (now theUK Immigration Service), was called back to service to supervise the reception of French and Belgian refugees fleeing in 1940 into British channel ports from their occupied countries.[25]For his services Porter was made an officer of theOrder of Leopoldof Belgium.
After Leopold's surrender, the British press denounced him as "Traitor King" and "King Rat"; theDaily Mirrorpublished a picture of Leopold with the headline "The Face That Every Woman Now Despises'". A group of Belgian refugees in Paris placed a message at King Albert's statue denouncing his son as "your unworthy successor".[26]
Post-WW2
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Cultural resonance of Belgian refugees
[edit]- Christian René, viscount de Duve(1917–2013)[27]was a Nobel Prize-winning Belgiancytologistandbiochemist.He was born inThames Ditton,Surrey,Great Britain,of an estate agent Alphonse de Duve and wife Madeleine Pungs, Belgian refugees during theFirst World War.[28]They returned to Belgium in 1920.
- The Mysterious Affair at Stylesis adetective novelbyAgatha Christie.It was written during the War in 1916, and first published byJohn Lanein the United States in October 1920[29]and in the United Kingdom byThe Bodley Head(John Lane's UK company) on 21 January 1921.[30]Styleswas Christie's first published novel, introducingHercule Poirot,Inspector (later, Chief Inspector)Japp,andArthur Hastings.[31]Poirot, a Belgian refugee of the Great War, is settling in England near the home of Emily Cavendish, who helped him to his new life. His friend Hastings arrives as a guest at her home. When the woman is killed, Poirot uses his detective skills to solve the mystery. This is also the setting ofCurtain,Poirot's last case.
- Keith Monin Stainton(1921–2001) was a BritishConservativepolitician andWorld War IIhero inFrance.Keith Stainton was born inKendal,Westmorland,the son of a Kendal butcher and a Belgian refugee his father had met during the First World War.
- Ruth Ellis(1926–1955) was the last woman to be executed in the United Kingdom, after being convicted of the murder of her lover (1955), David Blakely. She was hanged atHolloway Prison,London, byAlbert Pierrepoint.Ellis was born in the Welsh seaside town ofRhyl,the third of six children. During her childhood, her family moved toBasingstoke.Her mother, Elisaberta (Bertha) Cothals, was a Belgian refugee; her father, Arthur Hornby, was acellistfromManchesterwho spent much of his time playing on Atlantic cruise liners.
- The Duchess of Duke Streetis aBBC television dramaseries set inLondonbetween 1900 and 1925. It was created byJohn Hawkesworth,the former producer of the highly successfulITVperiod dramaUpstairs, Downstairs.It starredGemma Jonesas Louisa Leyton/Trotter, the eponymous "Duchess" who works her way up from servant to renowned cook to the proprietor of the upper-class Bentinck Hotel in Duke Street, St. James's, in London. The story is loosely based on the real-life career ofRosa Lewis(née Ovenden), the "DuchessofJermyn Street",who ran theCavendish HotelinLondon.The programme lasted for two series totalling 31 episodes, shown between 1976 and 1977. It was nominated for anEmmy Awardfor Outstanding Limited Series in 1980. The theme music was composed byAlexander Faris.[32]In the episode Your Country Needs You a Belgian refugee features. When Great Britain enters theFirst World War,Louisa is ultra-patriotic, until Charlie joins theColdstream Guards.The Major returns to active duty. In exchange for getting Starr reinstated in the Army (while a sergeant in theSudan Campaign,he caught his young wife with another soldier, and was imprisoned and dishonourably discharged for his subsequent actions), the Major gets Louisa to hire Gaspard, a Belgian refugee.
- The ABC Murders[33]was aBBC television dramabased on the book byAgatha Christieand first shown in December 2018. It starredJohn MalkovichasHercule Poirot.A plot line not present in the original book gave additional information about Poirot's experiences at the start of WW1, and the drama played on Poirot's status as a refugee in Britain.
References
[edit]- ^"Where Are the Flemings?".12 December 2016.
- ^"BBC - Legacies - Immigration and Emigration - Wales - South West Wales - the Flemish colonists in Wales - Article Page 1".
- ^Gerald of Wales, The Journey through Wales and the Description of Wales, trans. by Lewis Thorpe, (London, 1978), 141-142.
- ^"BBC - Legacies - Immigration and Emigration - Wales - South West Wales - the Flemish colonists in Wales - Article Page 2".
- ^Logainm.ie: Irish Placenames Database
- ^WhileDomhnach Seachnaillremains the common name among the natives, since the Placenames Order, 1975 the alternative recorded Irish name for the town,Dún Seachlainn,is designated as the official name. Both names are equally legitimate with Domhnach Seachnaill appearing in ecclesiastical records and Dún Seachlainn appearing in secular records.
- ^"Nomination Database - Literature".Nobelprize.org.Retrieved2014-03-08.
- ^"Gemeente Middelie, 1811-1970"[Municipality of Middelie, 1811-1970],WaterlandsArchief,no. 89, archived fromthe originalon 2012-03-13,
De eerste schouten/burgemeesters wonen nog in Edam, waar ook de secretarie gevestigd is. Burgemeester Berman is in 1890 de eerste die tussen zijn burgerzonen gaat wonen. De centrale secretarie verhuist met hem naar Kwadijk.
- ^"11 May 1940: Belgian Refugees Clog the Roads".World War II Today.Retrieved23 May2013.
- ^"On the Run: the Chaotic Days of May 1940".Project 1944. Archived fromthe originalon 6 June 2019.Retrieved23 May2013.
- ^Various authors (1941).Belgium: The Official Account of What Happened, 1939–40.London: Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. pp. 41–5.
- ^Keegan, John(1989).The Second World War.New York: Penguin Books. p. 96.ISBN978-0-14-303573-2.
- ^Mollo, Andrew(2001).The Armed Forces of World War II: Uniforms, Insignia & Organisation.Leicester: Silverdale Books. pp.48–50.ISBN978-1-85605-603-8.
- ^"Belgium, Army".ABC-CLIO.Retrieved17 January2013.
- ^Swanston, Alexander; Swanston, Malcolm; et al. (2007).The Historical Atlas of World War II.London: Cartographica. p. 61.ISBN978-1-84573-240-0.
- ^Shirer, William L.(1990).The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany(Rev. ed.). New York [u.a.]: Simon & Schuster. p. 729.ISBN978-0-671-72868-7.
- ^Conway, Martin; Gotovitch, José, eds. (2001).Europe in Exile: European Exile Communities in Britain 1940–45(1st ed.). New York: Berghahn. p. 61.ISBN978-1-57181-503-3.
- ^Conway, Martin; Gotovitch, José, eds. (2001).Europe in Exile: European Exile Communities in Britain 1940–45(1st ed.). New York: Berghahn. pp. 57–8.ISBN978-1-57181-503-3.
- ^Langworth, Richard M."Feeding the Crocodile: Was Leopold Guilty?".Churchill Centre. Archived fromthe originalon 21 May 2013.Retrieved17 January2013.
- ^Crang, Jeremy A., Addison, Paul (2011).Listening to Britain: Home Intelligence Reports on Britain's Finest Hour, May–September 1940.London: Vintage. pp. 71, 56.ISBN978-0-09-954874-4.
{{cite book}}
:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^Conway, Martin; Gotovitch, José, eds. (2001).Europe in Exile: European Exile Communities in Britain 1940–45(1st ed.). New York: Berghahn. p. 54.ISBN978-1-57181-503-3.
- ^Conway, Martin; Gotovitch, José, eds. (2001).Europe in Exile: European Exile Communities in Britain 1940–45(1st ed.). New York: Berghahn. pp. 55–6.ISBN978-1-57181-503-3.
- ^Conway, Martin; Gotovitch, José, eds. (2001).Europe in Exile: European Exile Communities in Britain 1940–45(1st ed.). New York: Berghahn. p. 60.ISBN978-1-57181-503-3.
- ^Burley Parish Magazine February 1898, (with thanks to Stephen Savage)
- ^The Key in the Lock - TWE Roche, 1969
- ^Atkin, Ronald (1990).Pillar of Fire: Dunkirk 1940.Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited. pp. 140–141.ISBN1-84158-078-3.
- ^Blobel, Günter (2013)."Christian de Duve (1917–2013)".Nature.498(7454): 300.Bibcode:2013Natur.498..300B.doi:10.1038/498300a.PMID23783621.
- ^Denise Gellene (6 May 2013)."Christian de Duve, 95, Dies; Nobel-Winning Biochemist".Retrieved18 November2013.
- ^"American Tribute to Agatha Christie: Twilight Years 1968-1976".May 2007.Retrieved7 March2014.
- ^Curran, John (2009).Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks.HarperCollins.p. 33.ISBN978-0-00-731056-2.
- ^Neither Hastings' first name nor rank are given in this novel
- ^"Alexander Faris".IMDb.Retrieved2014-03-08.
- ^"BBC One - the ABC Murders".
External links
[edit]- Online Centre for Research on Belgian Refugees
- first real work on the history of Belgian refugees, 1977 PhD by Peter Cahalan[permanent dead link]
- de Jastrzebski, T. T. S. (1916)."The Register of Belgian Refugees".Journal of the Royal Statistical Society.79(2).Royal Statistical Society:133–58.doi:10.2307/2340812.ISSN0952-8385.JSTOR2340812.