Figure 1.--Here we see Belgian refigee children safely in Britain. Most came as part of familes. We have no information on who these redugee children were and where they were being cared for. |
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A small number of Belgians, some 15,000, made it to safety in Britain by boarding ships of various kind in the ports before the Germans reached them. There wereonlybso manybofthese ports. It seems to have been mostly a range of small boats. Queen Willimena was rescued by the Rioyal Navy and a Belgian Government in exile was set up in London. Civilians were on their own and came in small numbers in a collection of small boats. They would spend the rest of yhe War in Britain. This was only a fraction of the Belgians refugeees taken in by Britain during World War I. The differnce of course is that in World War II, the Germans suceeded in over running Belgiun and France in the first year of the War (May-June 1940). In World War I, not all of Belgium was overun by the Germans. And large number if Belguans refugees succeed in finding safety in France--which held unlike the disaster in 1940. Sone of the refugees in World War I were transferred to Britain to ease the strain on France. They joined the Belgian refugees tht hhd gone directly to Britain by boat. All of this did not transpire in World War II because the Germans occupied Belgium and France. The Belguian refugees tht made it to France in 1940 had to return to German occuoied Belgium. Almost all of the Belgian refugees that made it to England came in the boats that made it to Britain durung the last two weekss of May, shortly followed by the British and Franch soldiers evacuated from Dunkirk. Almost all the Belgian refugee children came with thir families. We have no idea at this time how they were cared for in Britain. They may hace been put up in family units, but because many British children were evacuated from the citties, some of the Belgian children amy have also been evacuated. We have no information on them at this time.
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