Gone Away
At
the start of the First World War German armies invaded Belgium, causing a massive movement of refugees, about a quarter of
a million of them being given refuge in Britain. From November 1914 to 1918 up to 67 refugees, mostly the families of
postal workers, were given shelter in Valentines Mansion, Ilford. At first they were welcomed enthusiastically, and
for many people this was an opportunity to patriotically support a country which came to be known as 'plucky little Belgium',
even though some were aware of the institutionalised violence which had characterised the Belgian colonial exploitation of
the Congo.
Fundraising was carried out
diligently over 1914 and 1915; concerts, whist-drives, social evenings, collections and flag-days all brought in food, clothing
and money for the refugees. At one concert, in October 1914, in Stratford Town Hall, my grandfather, Fred Walker, under
his stage-name of Russell Stewart, sang four comic songs.
By late 1915 the funding had become institutionalised, and some were questioning the costs of fuel and support, and
whether the refugees were doing enough to support themselves. By 1916 discrepancies over Belgian and British conscription,
and the fear that Belgians were 'taking British jobs' were making people view the refugees less favourably, though by this
time too the British government was secretly recruiting Belgian industrial workers in Holland to come and train British munitions
workers. Thus in a sense Belgians were working to make the shells which were destroying their own land. While
using Belgian support the British government was careful to keep track of the Belgian refugees so that they could be repatriated
- 50,000 history cards are still kept at the National Archives, and have provided some of the names of the Valentines Belgians.
By late 1917 most of the Belgians at Valentines had moved
on, to find accommodation elsewhere, and the house was being turned into a maternity hospital. But following the German
offensive in early 1918 more hospital space was required for British soldiers and there were plans to turn Valentines Mansion
into a convalescent home. Views were expressed however, that this might be interpreted as 'throwing the Belgians out.'
In 1918 my grandfather was stationed in
a trench 100 metres from the Belgian border. His diary for Weds 9th Oct reads 'Gassed'; for Sun 13th Oct 'Began to see
a little'; for Mon 11th Nov 'Armistice signed with Germany'.
In 1920 the War Refugees Committee for Ilford petitioned the Council for permission to erect a brass plate in the Mansion
stating that Belgian refugees had been housed there.
The familiar stories of welcome, charity fatigue, generosity, bureaucratic control, and self-congratulation underlie
this largely forgotten story of refugee migration, in an area whose identity is formed of migrating people. In workshops
with clients of the Refugee and Migrant Forum for East London, local research enthusiasts, and staff and volunteers at Valentines
Mansion, we are working through the story from different angles, and producing artwork which uses such elements as First World
War postcards, soil from Belgian battlefields, fragments of wallpaper and rescued laths from the walls of Valentines Mansion,
Congolese postage stamps, a newspaper advertisement offering free haircuts to Belgian refugees (not Saturdays), songs from
the 1914 Stratford concert, and texts from Government memoranda.
A key work will be a video in which I sing the four songs my grandfather sang in the 1914 concert. The
songs are performed solo in a field near where he was wounded in 1918.
The exhibition will be on display at Valentines Mansion from 20th May 2010.
