Figure 1.-- The American Red Cross caption to this photograph reads, "Refugee children from the North in the colony of the Comite Franco-American pour la Protection des Enfants de la Frontiere at Oulins. All of these children were gathered together by the Aide Civil Belge from the bombarded villages in Southern Belgium and sent to the Committee. In the above picture the children show a football which has just been presented to them by the chauffeurs in the garage where the Committee's automobile is kept." The chauffeur who brought the football stands just to the right of this very excited group.

Most of the children assisted by the Comite Franco-American pour la Protection des Enfants de la Frontiere. were French children, but there also were some Belgian children, who apparently kept apart. This is another small group of Belgian refugee children who had lost their parents and taken in by the Comite. Oulins is a small village in northern France, west of Paris and a safe distance south of the French front lines. We see Catholic nuns and priests playing an important role. Funding was initially provided by the Comite. Conditions were very basic as can be sen with how excited the children were whn they go a football. The building in the background looks like a warehouuse, but has a striking similarity to the village church, probablky the only building of any iportance in the village. We have no idea about the church history. The villagers did not have the resources to support a substantial group of children. This as first was provided at first by the Comite. Resources ere kinited, but at kleast they were safe with a roof over their heads and basic food and care. With refugees it is the children and elderly that are most at rusk. Eventually after America entered the war by American relief food and material through the American Red Cross.

Created: 5:04 AM 11/9/2022
Last updated: 5:05 AM 11/9/2022