[This production, performed as a "radio play" in Berwick Guildhall on 25 April 2015 at Discover Berwick’s First World War Story and is a shorter version of that presented by the Lowick Heritage Group in December 2014, with a cast of five: Richard Black, Sarah Burn, John Daniels, Rev Victor Dickinson, Amanda Worlock.]
Narrator
During
this performance you will hear from some of the local characters who chivvied,
reported and helped in both personal and official capacities and from a refugee
herself.
The German invasion of Belgium on 4th
August 1914 resulted in approximately 250,000 Belgian Refugees seeking refuge
in Britain.
With little time to prepare, central and
local government agencies worked alongside the voluntary War Refugees’
Committee and the several thousand local committees, to provide food, shelter,
clothing, employment, education and medical care.
Newspapers played a vital role in emphasizing
the fate of ‘poor little Belgium’; the needs of the brave Belgian refugees and
our duty to help. From August onwards, appeals
appeared on behalf of the Belgian Relief Fund, set up to help those still in
Belgium; and for hospitality in Britain, for those forced to leave their homes.
The thousands that came from Ostend and Flushing, through the ports
of Folkestone and Tilbury were received by the Government in London and provided
with accommodation until they could be allocated places in the country.
The Aliens Restriction Act, 1914, prohibited aliens from living in an area
running inland for a distance of 10 miles and upwards, for almost a continuous
chain on the east coast of England and Scotland, to prevent German spies from
impersonating Belgian refugees. Northumberland to comply, established ‘colonies’
in Allendale and Hexham and other nearby towns. Any aliens already living in a
restricted area could remain but had to register with the local Police. The Northumberland,
Newcastle and Tyneside Belgian Refugees’ Committee complained in December, that
they had many more offers of hospitality than refugees. They expected five
hundred to be in the county by the end of that month but could accommodate
more.
Berwick
and the surrounding villages were quick to offer assistance. In September, the Mayor
started a Borough Subscription List for the Relief Fund for the Belgian Nation;
while the Sheriff asked for offers of hospitality in Berwick-upon-Tweed and
its neighbourhood.
Mrs McCreath, of Ord Villa, collected a
large amount of clothing for the refugees, which she forwarded in two wooden
boxes, to London, for which she received grateful thanks.
The Berwick Journal dated 24th
September 1914, offered the following advice-
Where it is not possible to offer
hospitality to a mother and children, one lady might pay the rent for two or
three empty cottages in a Berwickshire village. Others could then provide furniture
or a regular supply of food, such as bread, milk, and eggs; while others again
could make or buy clothing for the refugees. With a little organisation a
scheme of this sort, might be started in every village in the county, and I am
quite sure many willing helpers would at once come forward. All that is needed
is one energetic lady in each village to get the scheme started.
Collections were taken at every
gathering, religious or social. The Berwick
Cycling Club held a Smoking Concert in September, to raise money for the
Belgian Relief Fund. It was attended by Mr Jacques Jobe, a mining student at
Liege University, who happened to be staying in Berwick with his uncle, Mr
Simmen, Confectioner Maker and Caterer. Mr Simmen from Switzerland and his wife
from Belgium had both become naturalised citizens in 1902. Mr Jobe, who played
the Belgian National Anthem at the concert, will feature later. Over £5 was
raised.
A correspondent writing for the Berwick Advertiser
9th October 1914 will take up the tale.
Correspondent
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen
Within
the past week, forty Belgian refugees have arrived at Haggerston Castle from
Beal Station. They have been quartered on the estate, at Lowick, and the farm
of South Berrington, occupied by Mr Middlemas. Among those on the estate is a
woman with a family of six children, three little girls and three little boys.
There is also a boy of fifteen from Malines working with the gardeners on the
estate. He seemed to be quite happy and pleased to be working with two
Englishmen. Asked why he had left Belgium he merely replied he had to fly
because the Germans were coming. The boy could speak French fluently, but the
majority of the refugees in the district mainly spoke Flemish. Mr Jobe paid a
visit to the estate and conversed to the best of his ability with the mother of
the six children. They are staying in a cottage and before the door, the
Belgian flag was flying. She said her husband was working at the Central
Station Antwerp. While Mr Jobe was cycling down the drive, his handkerchief,
which has the colours of the Belgian flag on it, was fluttering from his pocket,
and five little boys – belonging to another family – who were sitting on the
grass at the roadside stood up and raised their hats. Mr Jobe asked them where
they had come from but as they spoke Flemish he could not get a direct answer,
but they managed to explain that they had come from a house in the country,
probably a farm. At South Berrington there is one family consisting of a
husband and wife and two boys aged 15 and 17.
Mr Demant, a Technical Translator, brought them from Newcastle and
interpreted between them and the farmer. The husband and the two sons were
cabinetmakers. Mr Middlemas was in Belgium recently, but left when war was
declared.
Great excitement prevailed in the
village of Lowick last Thursday evening, when the Belgian family of refugees,
comprising husband and wife, husband’s mother, and five children arrived. Their
presence in this quiet little village has made the effects of this Great War clearer
than ever before. Deepest sympathy is extended to them in their sad plight,
because evidently they had to leave their home that would be very dear to them,
with just what they were wearing. They came from close to Antwerp, and if
anyone had an interview with them who could speak Flemish, they would probably
have a story of the great sufferings they endured before arriving at a haven of
safety.
It is to be hoped that their sojourn in
Lowick (be it long or short) will be happy and pleasant, because without a
doubt our safety in a great measure is due to the Belgians staying the initial
advance of the Germans at a great loss of life. They kept the door shut so to
speak until the Allies were better prepared. So let that sacrifice be repaid by
one and all of us giving what we can to help them in their time of need.
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