Belgian Matters

Corn Exchange and Plume of Feathers, Lake Street, 

Leighton Buzzard c.1905 [Z1306/72/9/6]

Saturday 22nd July 1916: Belgian refugee Lambert Giebels, who was sentenced to three months imprisonment for theft in May, has appeared in court at Bletchley charged with assaulting a police inspector. After completing his gaol sentence Giebels was taken to a detention camp in London to await deportation, but on Thursday morning he escaped, despite being “scantily clad”. Giebels returned to his cottage at 7 Plantation Road, Leighton Buzzard, but the Leighton police had been informed of his escape and were on his trail. Yesterday afternoon a special constable spotted him walking towards Bletchley with his wife and baby. The constable fetched Inspector Callaway, who told the court that he found the prisoner and his wife in a field. He accused the man of being Giebels and took a pair of handcuffs from his pocket, but when he saw them the prisoner said he would go quietly; however Giebel’s wife got between them, allowing her husband to run away. The Inspector chased him and after a violent struggle the escapee was arrested and taken to Bletchley Police Station. While he was being searched he took a piece of paper out of his pocket, tore it in half and tried to eat it, but Inspector Callaway seized him by the throat and hooked the paper out of his mouth with a finger, getting badly bitten in the process. Giebels was remanded in custody, shortly before two Belgian military police from London arrived in search of him.

Despite this incident, which is most unusual, the people of Leighton and Linslade have great sympathy for the suffering Belgians. The girls of Linslade Council School recently held an open day in support of Belgian Day, which collects money to help Belgian children who are still in their own country. The girls brought cakes, fruit and vegetables for sale, raising nearly £2. They gave a performance of drill, songs and recitations, and two little Belgians sang the French and Flemish national anthems. Altogether the day raised a total of over £4. Two days later the children of the Infants’ School also held an open day for the same cause, which raised a further £1.11s. The Leighton Buzzard Observer has also published an appeal (in French) by Charles Piron, a Belgian refugee staying at the Plume of Feathers Hotel in Lake Street, Leighton Buzzard. On behalf of his son, a prisoner of war, he has asked for help in sending food parcels to Belgian prisoners of war who are unable to receive them from home.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 18th and 25th July 1916

Belgian Refugee Appears in Court

High Street, Leighton Buzzard, 1913 [X291/376] 

Tuesday 2nd May 1916: A Belgian refugee has appeared at Leighton Buzzard Police Court charged with using threatening language towards Eliza Baines, of 50 Baker Street, Leighton Buzzard. Miss Baines said that on 8th April she was in the High Street, and hearing voices behind her she turned and saw Lambert Giebels, who said he would kill her. She went to the police sergeant and reported the incident. She had known Giebels since last spring when he lodged in the same house. She had no quarrel with him, but last September “he wanted me to go with him instead of his wife, and I did not want to”. She had not seen him since, but was afraid he would do her injury as he had previously threatened her.

Giebels, speaking in broken English, spoke of a “photo-man” and said Miss Baines was trying to take away his “sharacter”. Miss Baines said that he had sent the “photo-man” upstairs to her when she was dressing to try to make her jealous. A woman shouted repeatedly from the court room that she was the girl’s mother and could tell them “something about the photo-man”. Witness Eva Faulkner, appearing very nervous, said she was with Miss Baines in the High Street and heard Giebels say something she could not understand. He had looked angry, but she could not tell the court any more. The magistrates dismissed the case.

Giebels was then tried on a second charge of stealing tools, a window frame, a roll of zinc, corrugated iron roofing, timber and other items from his employer, Harry George Brown of Leighton Buzzard, between January and April that year. He claimed that he had brought some of the tools with him from Belgium, and had bought various materials which he had used to build a fowl run in his garden. Giebels admitted in court “I did not steal all that is there. I took some of the tools, but not to keep them. I took them to make a box with, as I have to go away to France tomorrow. The piece of zinc I bought for 9d., and the wood is mine; I bought that, too. The iron sheets I found in my house. I took the window frame away, thinking it was an old one and no good.” He pleaded not guilty to a further charge of stealing a plane and a square from Mark Holland, a wheelwright, saying they were his own and had been brought from Belgium. He added that he had received his papers to join the Belgian Army. The magistrates sentenced Giebels to three months imprisonment with hard labour. He smiled and muttered, “Better prison than trenches”.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 9th May 1916

Waterproofs for Belgian Soldiers

Albert, King of the Belgians, Belgian Soldiers Fund Official Souvenir, 1915-6

[X758/1/10/69]

Sunday 19th March 1916: Monsieur Charles Piron, a Belgian refugee who has been living in Leighton Buzzard since June, made an appeal in the Leighton Buzzard Observer last week for a friend badly in need of a waterproof. Monsieur Joseph Pennartz had written to him saying: 

"I am in the muddiest hole you could dream of - mud up to the knees, and now snow. Is there possibly some 'fairy godmother' in your district who would be kind enough to send me a waterproof? It is very necessary; we are exposed to all weathers. Please try to find me this 'rara avis'. I am of middle height. I don't ask for anything luxurious, but khaki coloured if possible."

The day his appeal appeared, M. Pennartz was delighted to receive both a splendid waterproof, and a motor cyclist's rubber waterproof and overalls. He was able to send the second gift to another Belgian soldier, Michel Counet d'Aywaille. This young man, still only 19 years old, ran away from his home in February 1915 with eight others, intent on joining the army. As they crossed the Dutch frontier the group was fired on by a German patrol and four of them were killed.  After reaching Holland, the survivors travelled on to England where they joined the Belgian army. 

M. Pennartz was a wealthy tobacco merchant before the war, but is now penniless and serving in the Belgian army as a volunteer. M. Piron has a son in Germany as a prisoner of war and was himself lucky not to be executed. The day after he escaped to Holland seven of his friends were shot as spies. A musician, he has delighted local audiences with his playing since arriving in Leighton Buzzard. In a letter of thanks he writes:

"I cannot let pass this opportunity to acknowledge publicly in my name and those of my compatriots, our gratitude to you personally and to the generous givers. We Belgians, particularly those from Wallonie, knew nothing of, or rather did not understand Great Britain. Since the early days of my stay in England I have had reason to appreciate at its true worth the generosity of the British people, and especially of British ladies, - a generosity which is characterised by the sincerity, the discretion, and the great delicacy with which it is dispensed."

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 14th and 21st March 1916

Luton Mayor Intervenes to Help Belgian Family

John Henry Staddon, former Mayor of Luton [Z49/261]

Saturday 12th February 1916: The Mayor of Luton himself has been involved in an errand of mercy for a distressed Belgian refugee family. He appeared at a meeting of the Luton Education Committee to explain the circumstances which had caused one of the children to come to the notice of the School Attendance Sub-Committee. The mother of the family had been ill for some weeks and the child, an eleven year old girl, had been looking after both her mother and four other little children. The father was working at Messrs. Balmforth’s until about 9.30 p.m., and when he returned home each night he cooked the next day’s food for his wife and children while the eleven year old did the housework. The mother had now been admitted to the Infirmary and the Mayor had made arrangements for a nurse to look after the children until something could be done for them.

The Committee agreed that no action would be taken and the matter would be postponed. No pressure had yet been exercised in the case, although a letter had been sent to the father calling attention to the girl’s absence from school. The Mayor pointed out that the official notice had “frightened the life out of them”. Alderman Arnold pointed out that it could be assumed that the father was earning a fair amount and despite the labour shortage it should have been possible to get someone else to look after the children so the girl could go to school. The Mayor said that one lady in the neighbourhood was so distressed by the situation that she had said she would go and live in the house and take care of the children herself if necessary.

Source: Luton News, 10th February 1916

A Terrible Journey from Serbia to England

Serbian Army during retreat to Albania, October 1915 [Wikimedia]

Saturday 29th January 1916: Miss Edith Dickinson, of Heath Road, Leighton Buzzard has returned from Serbia where she was attached as a chauffeur orderly to a hospital organised by a Mrs Stobart. With her sister, Miss Hilda May Dickinson, she had been engaged in Red Cross work in Belgium during the German invasion. After her Serbian experiences she described what she went through in Belgium as a “mere detail”. The fall of Belgrade [1] was followed by several days of terrible hardships during which their hospital was inundated with maimed and wounded Serbians. Soldiers and civilians had fought side by side in the streets of the capital, with the nature of the wounds showing that there had been much hand-to-hand fighting.

When the retreat began the wounded in the hospital were left in the charge of Serbian doctors and Austrian orderlies. She was among a party of around fifty British doctors, nurses and orderlies which left as an air raid by German planes was taking place. They caught a train for Salonika, but found that the rails had been torn up by the Bulgarians and were forced to abandon the train and proceed by motor car. After some time they had to leave the car and continue on foot. Waggons drawn by oxen containing stores also had to be abandoned leaving the party only with the clothes they wore and what they were able to carry. At first the leaders of the party planned to travel over the Albanian mountains to the Adriatic Sea but this proved impossible due to the hostility of the Albanians to the Serbians. Their final route was an uneven, muddy track, along which they joined many thousands of refugees and the remains of the Serbian army. They passed numerous dead horses and cattle which had collapsed and been abandoned by refugees earlier in the retreat. The sight of dead bodies of human beings, half covered by snow, was all too frequent.

The journey over the mountains lasted for ten days, while blizzards and rain storms beat down on the party. At night tents were pitched into the snow and the exhausted refugees flung themselves down to sleep. The track was too dangerous to travel by night, in places being little more than a narrow ledge on the mountain side. On more than one occasion vehicles went over the edge, throwing out those inside and either killing or injuring them. One of the nurses, a Scottish lady, was killed in this way. They had only a very limited food supply, with rations doled out in ever smaller quantities. The Bulgarian and Austrian prisoners accompanying the party were fed as far as possible but many died of starvation. The hospital party was better off than most of the refugees; although they had only black bread and maize bread, they fortunately had some hospital stores, including Bovril and condensed milk. High in the mountains the cold was intense, and broken bridges meant they often had to wade through streams. Their clothes froze as stiff as boards on the wearers. The track was often knee deep in mud and slush in places, and hard and slippery with frost in others. Some of the nurses were wearing light summer dresses and had shoes totally unfit for the journey. Miss Dickinson was fortunate in that she had breeches and top boots.

Once the party reached the Adriatic side of the mountains it became warmer and their sufferings were less. They sailed across the lake of Scutari and after a further two days walk they reached San Giovanni di Medua from where they crossed to Brindisi in a small Italian boat. At San Giovanni they were told the Austrian army was on the move and that unless they took this ship they might not be able to get away; in the light of this they decided to risk the journey, although 300 people were packed onto a small vessel in heavy seas. When they reached Brindisi they were a sorry spectacle and had difficulty convincing the authorities to allow them to land. Miss Dickinson says “we looked simply wretched. Most of us were ragged, muddy and dirty, not having been in a bath for weeks. On top of this we were distressingly thin, and our feet were showing through our boots”. From Brindisi the party were able to take the train first to Paris and then to Le Havre and England.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 25th January 1916

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[1] Belgrade fell to Austria-Hungary on 9th October 1915

More Casualties for Henlow

Henlow War Memorial, 1930s [Z1130/58/10]

Thursday 16th September 1915: Since our update in March another six Henlow men have lost their lives, making a total of ten over this past year of war:

• Private Edward Vine RNVR, age 34, died at the Dardenelles fighting with the Deal Division of the Royal Marine Light Infanty. His death was reported here in July. He leaves a widow, Ethel Dorothy Vine, of Merton, London.
• Private Wilfred Field of the 1st Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment was killed in action with the 1st Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment on 6th April 1915.
• Private Wilfred Vine, age 19, was killed serving with the Bedfords on 20th April 1915. He was the son of Mrs W Vine of Henlow.
• Lance-Corporal Horace John Taylor, age 18, was killed on 3rd May 1915 while serving with the 1st Battalion of the Hertfordshire Regiment. A native of Henlow, his parents Edward and Mary Ellen Taylor now live at Letchworth.
• Private John Turner appears on the Henlow War Memorial, but nothing more is known of his war service or where he died.
• Private Jesse Wilfred Vine RNVR of the Chatham Division of the R.N. Division Royal Marine Light Infantry, age 26, died in Turkey on the 13th July 1915. He was the son of Ellen Vine of “Thenioux”, Arlesey Road, Henlow, and the late Frank Vine. He leaves a widow, Valentine Vine of Thenioux, Cher, France.

The two Belgian refugees who have been dependant on the parish have now found work at the munitions factory at Letchworth. As they are now in a position to provide for their own families subscriptions for their support are no longer being collected. Any balance left in the fund will be given to help the Belgians begin new lives when they are able to return home.

An appeal has been made through the parish magazine for people to exercise thrift, as by spending less they will help to keep prices down. Also by saving they will be able to lend to the Country and support the war effort. War Stock Certificates and Vouchers can be bought at the local Post Office. The Certificates are available in £5 units, and the Vouchers are five shillings.

Source: Henlow Parish Magazine, September 1915 [X381/3]

A Belgian Surgeon Visits Luton

Joseph Clottens

Friday 13th August 1915: One of the Belgian refugees in Luton, Monsieur Clottens,  has received a visit from his brother Joseph Clottens who is on leave from his work as assistant surgeon for the Belgian Red Cross at Calais. At the beginning of the war Joseph Clottens attended wounded soldiers at Antwerp. He was taken prisoner and interned by the Germans with other doctors and with officers from Britain, France and Russia. The barracks at Heidelburg were far too small for the numbers sent there and seven men had to share each small cell; the food was atrocious in both quantity and quality. M. Clottens was released in an exchange of prisoners and returned to his work as a surgeon. He has expressed himself delighted with the reception he has received in Luton where his brother now works at Kent’s.

Source: Luton Times 13 August 1915

From Maulden to Maastricht

Maastricht [Wikimedia]

Sunday 13th June 1915:  We heard in January that Monsieur Joseph Schwartz, a Belgian refugee who had been the guest at Maulden of the Great Barford subscribers to the Great Barford and Maulden Refugees’ Fund, had returned to Belgium to search for his wife and and seven children. The following letter has been received by Mr. W. P. Gordon, J.P.:

“To Mr. and Mrs. Gordon. You will please pardon me for not writing sooner, but since I left Maulden I have been overburdened with grief, for I have not yet recovered my wife and children, and this is a great unhappiness for me. I thank you for the great kindness you have shown me so many times, and I wish you every happiness, and also all those who were so kind to me in Bedfordshire. Kindly give my regards to M. and Mdm. Van Huffell, and Mdm. Rombaux.[1]  Again accept my most sincere thanks and good wishes. Joseph Schwartz, refugee, Maastricht.”

M. Van Huffell has also had a letter from his brother who was fighting with the Belgian Army and is now in hospital near Calais suffering from gas poisoning.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard, 11th June 1915

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[1] The other refugees who had been accommodated at Maulden.

Two Toddington Men Wounded

Interior of Toddington Wesleyan Church, 1915 [Z1130/126]

Thursday 10th June 1915:  News has reached the village of Toddington that two of its men have been wounded. Private T. Garner of the 2nd Bedfords sent a card to his brother on 19th May to say he had been admitted to hospital after receiving shrapnel wounds to the head, chest, and a finger. He was taken from to the General Hospital at Sheffield and sent from there to the Red Cross Hospital at Chesterfield. He is progressing well and hopes soon to be fit enough to visit his friends and relatives at Toddington. The second man, Charles Pearson Hobbs, emigrated to Canada several years ago with his younger brother and the two men had been doing well farming. On the outbreak of the war Charles volunteered to serve in the Canadian Forces. After training in England his company was sent to the Front six weeks ago and took part in the Battle of La Bassée. Two weeks ago the company was sent to the reserve trenches. After heavy fighting, in which the Germans were driven back two miles, a German shell exploded killing four of Hobbs’ comrades and wounding a number of others, including Hobbs himself. He was taken to the Leicester Base Hospital in England while still unconscious. He has since recovered consciousness but with a temporary loss of speech. Hopes are high that he will recover.

Meanwhile in the village a collection has been made at the Wesleyan Church for soldiers serving at the Front. Gifts of chocolate, cocoa, scissors, writing paper, safety pins, cigarettes, biscuits, and other useful items were collected during a break in the service. Over 70 parcels were collected at the morning service, and an even greater number in the evening. Another unusual religious event for Toddington was a Roman Catholic funeral held last Saturday afternoon for Mrs Johanna Carolina Merinus, the wife of a Belgian refugee who has been financially supported by the Wesleyan Church. Mr. Merinus and his wife had escaped from Antwerp and arrived at Toddington last December. Mrs Merinus contracted double pneumonia in February and although for a time her life was despaired of she recovered her health, only to die in childbirth last Wednesday. Her baby son survived his mother and the whole parish is united in sympathy for his father at this tragic time

Source: Luton News 4th June and 11th June 1915 

News from the Villages

Clapham Road Infants School class celebrates Empire Day, 1906 [Z912/21(18)]

Monday 7th June 1915: News from theVillages

Barton-le-Clay

A tea was given last month for the Belgian refugees of the district. About fifty, with friends, attended. As it was a fine day there were various pastimes in the gardens and the afternoon ended with a concert by the brass band. A vote of thanks was given by Mr. C. Marien, who gave a graphic description of their flight from Antwerp and the trials they had undergone on their way to England. He hoped that when the Germans have been evicted the band would come to Antwerp and take part in the celebrations. As the village correspondent says “how extraordinary it seems to write the above. If anyone had predicted a year ago that we should have been entertaining Belgian refugees at Barton, it would have seemed incredible”.

Clophill

The Cricket Club has decided to not play regular fixtures this season due to the war, though it is hoped that some scratch games may be arranged with so many soldiers around. Bert Royston, who has often helped the village team, went to the Front with the Canadian Scottish and has been taken prisoner.

Flitton and Greenfield

As the school was closed for Whitsuntide on Empire Day, May 24th, the children celebrated it early on Friday 21st. Prizes were given out by the Vicar, there were songs and flag-waving and a speech given by Miss Leach. Each child brought in one penny in order to send tobacco, chocolate and other comforts to our soldiers and sailors who are “fighting the greatest fight for honour and freedom the world has ever known.”.

Gravenhurst

The children of Gravenhurst also celebrated Empire Day on 21st May, when they saluted the flag, sang the National Anthem, and marched into the schoolroom singing patriotic songs. They were then given a half-day holiday.

Silsoe

Eggs are still being collected weekly for the wounded soldiers at Wrest Hospital and delivered to the hospital every Thursday by the Misses Jones. The eggs are much appreciated but they are currently being provided by only a small number of people and an appeal has been made for more parishioners to donate. The authorities at Wrest say they can make good use of as many eggs as the village can send them. Every little helps, even one egg a week!

Westoning

Forty three men who are either from this parish or closely connected with it have now joined the armed forces. Sergeant G. Gazely has been at the Front since the  beginning of the war and has now been wounded for a second time. 

Source: Monthly Magazine for the parishes of Barton-le-Cley, Clophill, Flitton and Greenfield, Gravenhurst, Silsoe, Westoning, June 1915 [P21/30/17]

Biggleswade Does Its Bit

Royal Engineers Signals Section leave Biggleswade, 1915 [Z1306/16/36/5]

Thursday 29th April 1915: News has reached us of the contribution being made to the war effort in Biggleswade. Men from the town continue to join the Forces and the Roll of Honour for the town now includes a total of 338 men. Those who have joined the Forces this month include:

• John Day, son of Mr. John Day of the Olney Arms (an old Militiaman) has joined the 3rd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment.
• John Green, formerly licensee of the Shoulder of Mutton has joined the Army Service Corps as a driver.
• G. Cooper, A. Munns and A. Kefford have all enlisted with the Northern Signal Company of the Royal Engineers and have gone to Leeds for preliminary training. The Northern Signal Company were billeted in the town and left on Saturday 10th April, sent on their way by the cheers of 3,000 people and the music of the Town Silver Band.
• Mr A. Cartwright of 12, Sun Place, joined the 5th (Reserve) Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment and has gone to Newmarket.
• Cyril Burton, the second son of Mr. Charles Herbert Burton, Honorary Secretary of the Unionist Club and the Unionist Association, has joined the Royal Navy as Boy, 2nd Class. He is the third Biggleswade lad to join the Navy since the beginning of the war, following Stanley Chivers (whose father and brother have also enlisted to serve their Country) and Fred Wells.

Inevitably there have been casualties from the town. Nineteen year old Private Alfred Lovett of the Bedfordshire Regiment is home on sick leave. He has been at the Front with the 2nd Battalion since the beginning of October and has been wounded three times, once in each arm and once in the shoulder. At Neuve Chapelle he was shot through the forearm with shrapnel and was sent to Manchester Hospital for treatment. Corporal Henry Gray of the 1st Battalion has written home to his brother, Mr. William Gray of Cromwell House, telling him he was wounded in the thigh by a shell splinter at Hill 60 and is now in hospital at Oxford. Private Charles Day and Private Sam Bilcock, also of the 1st Bedfords, are both prisoners of war in Germany and have written home asking their parents to send them some bread, butter and cake. Two of Private Day’s brothers are serving at the Front, and a third brother died while on army service in India. In happier news Private Albert Millard of Luton and Miss Lottie Brown of Sun Street were married at Biggleswade Parish Church on Saturday. The bride’s father, Mr. Tom Brown, is an old Militiaman and her brother Charles helped the 2nd Bedfords to repel the Prussian Guard at Ypres in October and has been wounded twice. The bride wore a fawn tweed costume, and a white straw hat trimmed with white silk and orange blossom.

The stay of the Royal Engineers in the town has been commemorated by the gift of a solid silver communion chalice and paten to the Parish Church. It is of Tudor Gothic design, inlaid with moonstones, and is inscribed: “Presented to the Parish Church, Biggleswade, by the officers and men of the Northen Signal Service Training Centre, Royal Engineers. Easter, 1915”. The town’s Belgian guests are also grateful for the support of the Biggleswade people. Monsieur Henri Bals has expressed his thanks on behalf of his family. Three of the children are attending the Council School, where they appear to have settled in happily.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard April 16th and April 30th 1915

Henlow and the War

Henlow War Memorial, 1930s [Z1130/58/10]

Sunday 14th March 1915: The parish of Henlow has already lost four men in the service of their country:

• Private Edwin John Bywaters, age 21, son of Harry and Emma Bywaters of High Street, Henlow, killed on 23rd August 1914 serving with the 1st Bedfords (our war correspondent posted an obituary for Private Bywaters at the time) [1] 
• Leading Stoker William Thomas Page, age 33, who died when the HMS Aboukir was sunk by a German submarine on 22nd September 1914
• Private William Flack Brandram of the 17th Lancers (Duke of Cambridge’s Own), who was killed at Ypres on 30th October 1914
• Private Archer Sidney Fisher, aged 21, who was also killed at Ypres on 16th November 1914 serving with the 1st Battalion of the Rifle Brigade. His parents Clarence Sidney and Rosa Fisher now live at Hurstpierpoint in Sussex.

A further sixty-one Henlow men are currently serving in the armed forces.

There are now three families of Belgians resident in the village. The most recent arrivals are Monsieur and Madame Lanwers and their little boy Henri. M. Lanwers fought at Antwerp, was wounded and has now been discharged from Service as disabled. Monsieur Desir­è de Grande has left Henlow to join relatives at Leicester, having received the good news that his wife is alive and living with her parents in a village on the Yser.

Source: Henlow Parish Magazine [X381/3]

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[1] Harry and Emma Bywaters lost two more sons, Ernest and Horace, later in the war. 

News from the Villages

Greenfield School Boy Scout Troop c.1910

Sunday 7th March 1915: Barton-le-Clay

Mr Pike, who has been acting as interpreter for the Belgian refugees who  now been installed in the Mill House at Barton. He describes them as “unassuming simple folk, they appear to take their tribulation very light-heartedly, in spite of the heavy blow which has fallen upon them”. They were driven out of Antwerp on 9th October by a German incendiary bombardment which forced them to run for their lives. They spent two months in Holland before reaching England on 8th January. Those who contribute to their upkeep are in a small way paying back the debt owed by this country to the Belgians people. As one returned wounded soldier said to this parents: “you wouldn’t be comfortably sitting by your fireside hadn’t it been for the Belgians; had it not been for their brave stand there is little doubt the Germans would have been here, for no country was in any way prepared for such an unexpected onslaught. A little time was gained for preparation which saved the situation. You can’t do too much for these poor people who really fought and suffered for you”.

Gravenhurst

The rector has called on his parishioners to ask themselves the following question: “Am I, by my Christian life and conduct, helping to bring down God’s help to end the war, or by my un-Christian life, and taking part in National degeneration helping to prolong the war?”

Clophill

The ordinary church congregation has diminished disappointingly since the soldiers arrived in the village. There has been much illness, and it is admitted that the extra work makes it hard for some people to get to Church, but it is feared that there must be a considerable amount of slackness and things ought not to be as bad as they are.

Westoning

A second successful concert has been held in the new school on behalf of the Belgian Refugee Fund. After expenses a total of £3 18s 6d was raised. One of the village Boy Scouts, Ernest Randolph Elliott Burton died last month at the age of fourteen after a short illness. The Scouts, together with some from Flitwick and Harlington, attended his funeral. The coffin was covered with the Union Jack and the boy’s haversack and hat were placed on top. Ernest was a good lad, at home, at church and at school, and did his duty regularly and well as a Scout. He will be badly missed.

Silsoe

Mr H. Spensley came to the village on February 20th to distribute war badges to those Boy Scouts who have done good work in National Service – in the case of the Silsoe Scouts this work has been guarding the railway tunnel, assisting the police and working at the Military Hospital. The Badges were awarded to Harry Bunker, Leslie Mann, Joe White, Walter White, Robert White, Charles Gray, and Albert Mann.

Source: Monthly Magazine for the parishes of Barton-le-Cley, Clophill, Flitton and Greenfield, Gravenhurst, Silsoe, Westoning, February 1915 [P21/30/17]

Belgian Refugees at Luton

Ostend Railway Station [Wikimedia]

Monday 1st March 1915: The Mayor of Luton’s Belgian Refugee Committee continues to do good work both on its own account and in supervising schemes run by various religious organisations in aid of refugee families. A number of houses have recently been furnished for the wives and children of some Belgians who have managed to find work locally. Currently nearly 120 refugees, from around 48 families, are being housed and maintained in Luton. The cost per head is estimated to be seven shillings per week (less for larger families). One family has become self-supporting, with the father and other family members all in good employment. A diamond cutter has been found work at the Chocolate Works, and a nurse living at 75 Ashburnham Road is nursing another refugee who is suffering from pneumonia.

In news of individual refugees, Monsieur Wets, formerly the stationmaster of Ostend, has just left Dallow Road where he was staying with his wife and child. The bombardment of Ostend had left him deaf. Another Belgian in Luton tells us that his cousin was blown in two by a bomb as he was running away. More happily one of the Belgian ladies has had a happy reunion with her soldier son. He had no idea where she was, and a postcard written by him from a hospital in Scotland had followed her all over Belgium before finally reaching Luton. The son was eventually traced to a London nursing home where his mother was able to visit him.

The Committee deplores the tendency of some places of worship to send contributions to the central fund in London, thereby limiting the amount of work that can be carried out locally.

Source: Luton News, 4th March 1915

Belgian Refugees at Potton

Image: Souvenir postcard of Potton, 1909 [Z1306/91/1/1]

Saturday 6th February 1914: Five more Belgian refugees from Antwerp are now living at Potton where they are lodging with Mrs George Boness of West End Lane. They are Madame Van Wetter-Robie, her sister Mademoiselle Robie, and her three children, Francis aged 16, Clementine aged 15 and Marie aged 13. Monsieur Van Wetter is an engineer on a the Belgian cargo steamer Teresia. When the war broke out his ship was at Alexandria. His family fled to Holland when the Germans entered Antwerp. The front of their house was demolished by shell-fire and they lost everything except what they were able to carry with them. Arthur Uytterelst, aged 17½ and one of the first batch of refugees to arrive in the village, has been accepted by the Belgian Army.

Source: Potton Parish Magazine, February 1915 [P64/30/4]

Maulden’s Belgian Refugees

Maulden Schools, 1916 [Z1306/77/17]

Monday 25th January 1915: Five Belgian refugees are living in a comfortable cottage in Maulden which has been lent and furnished with good antique furniture by Mr W. P. Gordon. They are being maintained by the people of Great Barford and Maulden, and by gifts given by other friends. The two boys have settled happily at Maulden School and are fast learning English.

Monsieur Charles Van Huffel, his wife and two boys, aged 10 and 7, come from Ghent and their friend Madame Rombaux from Bruges. Monsieur Van Huffel is the general agent at Bruges for all the French newspapers. He was in the city with his wife and Monsieur and Madame Rombaux, when they heard that the Germans were approaching Ghent. They decided to walk the 27 miles there, collect the boys and bring them to Bruges, but on the journey the Germans arrived at Bruges making it impossible for the men to rejoin their wives. They left Bruges on a crowded train for Ostend, from where they travelled first to Dunkirk, then to Calais, and from there to the refugee centre at Earls Court.

After staying at Earls Court for 17 days the men went to Dulwich and Monsieur Van Huffel managed to obtain the passports needed to return to Ghent via Holland to search for his family and Madame Rombaux. He discovered the two women had gone to Bruges where they were bravely trying to carry on his business as newsagent. On the day he found them there three young priests were shot for looking at an enemy aeroplane through binoculars, and a young man for being on the streets after curfew. They went back to Ghent on foot, collected the children from friends who were caring from them and left for England where they found Monsieur Rombaux, a soldier, had left for Belgium to attempt to rejoin the Army. After ten days at Dulwich Baths the refugees left for their new home in Maulden, which they greatly appreciate.

A sixth refugee, Monsieur Joseph Schwartz, also came to Maulden but has gone in search of his family as he has not been able to get any news of them. Monsieur Schwarz had a general stores, coal and flour business in the village of Tintigny, where he lived with his wife, their seven children, including twins just eight months old, his own parents and his wife’s parents. He belonged to the Reserve Artillery and was called up on 1st August. A few days later his home, along with almost the entire village, was burnt by the Germans. He was wounded at Aerschot and treated in an Antwerp hospital for a week before he was forced to leave when the Germans entered the city. Friends managed to get him to England three days before the Germans entered Ostend and he was treated at a Military Hospital in Folkestone. After time in Sussex, Dulwich and Maulden Monsieur Schwarz left last week to try to find his family, having been unable to get information from any of the Consuls in Holland, France, Belgium or England.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 29th January 1915

Sandy Selects Its Refugees

Belgian Refugee Family at Sandy [Z50/142/706]

Saturday 16th January 1915:  Three Sandy men have returned from London with twenty five Belgian refugees and Mr F. W. Western has described their day. The three went first to Aldwych where they were given papers authorising them to choose their refugees at Earls Court. There they found the Great Exhibition venue transformed. Over 2,000 Belgians waited in the great Central Hall, a “seething mass of gallant but unhappy mankind”. The nearby crèche contained hundreds of little beds and wicker cradles. Sandy had made four houses available and the aim was to select nineteen individuals to fill them. Six children attracted their interest but they turned out to be part of a family of ten which would not be separated – a mother with eight children, one married and with a small child of her own. After some debate as to whether they could be accommodated they agreed to accept the entire family who were sent to be labelled for their journey to Sandy.

A crowd of refugees then encircled the visitors from Sandy. A swollen-eyed mother with two sweet little girls was recommended to them as the wife of a Belgian soldier. He was now recovering in hospital at Market Drayton from wounds received at Liege and would be able to return to his family once his wife found a home. They agreed to take her and to wire for her husband, a decision she greeted with tears of joy. The woman and children were quickly ready and labelled, for they had only the clothes they stood up in.

Next the Sandy men witnessed a commotion which proved to be a group of 200 young Belgians marching off to join the army. They were told that this happens on a daily basis, as young men arrive at Earls Court, register themselves and immediately sign up at the adjacent Recruiting Bureau. Any “Bedfordshire growlers” who refuse to give money to help the Belgians, complaining that they are sponging on English generosity when they should be fighting should be ashamed!

It took a longer to select a third family, but the men finally settled on a telegraphist from Brussels with an “Unfit for Army” certificate who speaks Flemish, French and a little English, his wife, mother-in-law and three little children. The family are destitute and their home destroyed. After a peek at the babies and seeing many others they would have liked to help they chose for their final family a man with his wife, a son and teenage daughters. The man is unfit for military service as he has lost the use of one eye and had worked for a merchant in Brussels for nineteen years.[1]

Although the deputation returned with six more refugees than they had been instructed to bring they are confident in the generosity of the people of  Sandy. Mr Western describes the way their day ended:

“There were no prouder men in the great City of London that night, than my colleagues and myself. If our neighbours could have seen us, Mr Young with two little girls, one at each hand, our friend ‘Mac’ with another pair of fair-haired toddlers, and I with two more, chattering away and wondering at the sights of wonderful London. At King’s Cross we all had a meal, and it was good to see those happy children feed. A kindly inspector reserved three compartments for us, and in due time we arrived at Sandy; but it was raining hard. This, however, did not prevent a crowd coming to welcome their ‘guests’. Wires had been despatched, and we can’t keep such secrets in Sandy. Motors soon carried the newcomers to their homes, where steaming soups, wholesome food, and home comforts had been prepared by sympathetic ladies. And oh, the gratitude of those poor folk – only those who witnessed the scene can understand how grateful they were.”

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 22nd January 1915

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[1] This would appear to be the family shown in the illustration above. 

News from the Villages

Strawplaiting at Barton-le-Clay, 1917 [Z1306/7/13/1]

Sunday 3rd January 1915

Barton-le-Clay

The roll of honour of men from the village who have joined the Forces has increased by ten, making a total of about 50. These include five of the bell ringers. Five Bartonians have already returned wounded, but all are making satisfactory progress on the whole. At the Ringers and Church Officials' Christmas Supper Private Bradshaw gave a graphic description of the Battle of Mons, during which he had lain wounded for five hours under the dead horse he had been driving in the artillery service. Mrs Sturgess has received a letter from her son in the 1st Bedfords who has been promoted to Lance-Corporal.[1] He says “We haven’t much to grumble at, for we have plenty to eat and plenty of warm clothing, but what we don’t like is the wet weather; it makes everybody so miserable, but we grin and bear it … We stayed for a day or two in a Church where there was a nice organ. Someone started playing a few old hymns, and you ought to have heard us sing. It made us think more of home than ever … You ought to see us now, we look like a lot of bears, as we have had some fur coats given us.”

A house and furniture have been arranged and weekly subscriptions promised sufficient to maintain eight Belgian refugees, so it is disappointing that none have arrived. The matter is being kept in hand for a time in case any wish to avail themselves of the village’s hospitality later on.

Gravenhurst

Percy Parrish has written on behalf of himself and his brother Cyril to their parents: “We have joined the army … You must not worry for you know it was our duty to go. We are not going to have a German to rule over us”. The Rector urges every unmarried man of military age and strength to join the army, and every non-combatant unfit for the front to join in prayer, to contribute by self-denial, and to do some work for those suffering from the war.

Flitton and Greenfield

The series of lantern views and war slides concluded in December and a grand total of £3 14s 4d was sent to Lady Eleonora French requesting that it be spent on warm clothing for men at the front, but not on socks. She has suggested that vests and pants are most needed right now. Efforts are being made to establish a Boy Scout Troop and eleven lads are already in training. Funds are being raised to purchase uniforms and other equipment.

Silsoe

The children in the Junior Classes in the Mixed School have contributed 5s 5d and the Infants 1s 3d to the fund for the maintenance of a Belgian family in the village. Nothing more has been heard about their arrival, but the village is ready to give them a cordial welcome.

Westoning

A total of £7 12s 2d has been handed over to the Belgian Distress Fund following the concert held in the New Schools.

Clophill

There is great excitement in the village at the news that over 200 soldiers are to be billeted at Clophill. The Parish Room is to be turned into a Recreation Room with a refreshment stall. Only men in uniform will be allowed but members of all branches of the Services will be welcomed. It is hoped that the visitors will be made most comfortable, but also that there will be no “unseemly foolishness or rowdyism”.

A branch of the newly formed League of Honour for Women and Girls is also to be started in the village. The League aims at uniting all women and girls over 14 in Prayer, Purity and Temperance during the war, offering them the highest scope for true patriotism.

Source: Monthly Magazine for the parishes of Barton-le-Cley, Clophill, Flitton and Greenfield, Gravenhurst, Silsoe, Westoning, January 1915 [P21/30/17]

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[1] Leonard Sturgess of Barton joined the Bedfordshire Regiment in 1903 aged 19 and was transferred to the Reserve in 1905. He rejoined the Regiment at the beginning of the War and was discharged in January 1916 at the termination of his first period of engagement. He served in France between 30th August 1914 and 28th January 1915. His pension record describes him as “a cheerful and industrious worker”.