26/04/2026
Belgians in Brixham WW11 Part 1
A lot of families came from Ostend. In Belgium they would go fishing for 4-6 weeks at a time. At the beginning of the war there was talk of the Germans invading Belgium which they did, Ostend was heavily bombed on 12 May 1940. Belgian boats could not return home.The flotilla headed initially for Dieppe but the speed of the German advancement meant they sailed directly for the South West coast of Britain with good weather on their side.They witnessed bombs dropping on Dunkirk pier and mines laid off Cap Grinez. Larger vessels were sent on to Swansea, Cardiff, Fleetwood and Newlyn. Initially 30 boats arrived in Brixham but were not permitted to dock and land their human cargoes until they had been formally proceeded through Dartmouth, in order for the Royal Navy and Immigration Officers to check their status and the presence of feared Fifth Columnists (secret sympathiser or spy). In Cardiff they were not allowed to go to sea but had to work unloading the British steam trawlers. In total 80 trawlers and their crews were to settle in Brixham during the war, they came from Ostend, Zeebrugge, Heyst and Nieuport.
It was obvious the Belgian’s were desperate to flee their Country, by the time they landed here their trawlers entered the harbour with topsides and sails scarred with bullet holes from enemy machine guns. The Belgians had had no food or water for nearly three days so apparently the Brixham Food Control Officer, local traders and the townspeople would not send them on to Dartmouth without food. Despite rationing, certain commodities must have been plentiful as bakeries were emptied, tins of condensed milk, fresh milk, biscuits, tinned meat, bananas and vast amounts of sugar and tea were taken out to the trawlers. A Brixhamite remembers that when one particular trawler landed, a midwife was called immediately with a baby being born soon after.
Some families came over on the mail boats to Southampton with no more than a blanket each, all their money and furniture had to be left behind, (many could not bring their money with them). One particular family were taken from Southampton to London where they were put in a Church for the night with a few other Belgians, they were then ‘sorted out’. One person’s parents went to live with an old widow in London, whilst her sisters were sent to stay with a couple from Yorkshire. Everyday they had to report to the Police Station and were restricted to a certain radius. Eventually, after six months, the Belgian Consul sent for the father of this family. As he was a blacksmith by trade he was sent to Brixham to repair the boats, there, his family rejoined him.
…”during the years of WW11 the local fishery was largely in the hands of refugee Belgians who poured into the town in their trawlers loaded to the gunwales with families, furniture, pets and even bicycles. 2,000 of them settled here for the duration, the majority being fishing families. A few remained here after the war and are now part of the Brixham population”
….the Local Government Board handled in all 119,000 Belgian refugees - AJP Taylor, ‘English History 1914-1945’ (1985p42)
During this time Brixham was a small population of, in 1939 8,314 which had increased to 9,896 in 1941. Refugees also arrived clandestinely via French trawlers in mid-channel. Accommodation was found all over Brixham in disused houses, holiday homes and empty fishermen’s cottages which were requisitioned for the refugees. Often there were two or three families living in one house sharing few rooms.
From previous research it became apparent that the Brixham people were generally very generous to the Belgians (which is admirable in its own right as the war was already making hardships in Brixham). It is recalled that the Brixhamites turned out any ‘spare furniture’ with most people giving even if only a tea cloth, a chair or a pan etc. Condensed milk was taken around the houses for the children. Apparently the Red Cross attempted to give out food parcels but the scheme was not very successful. It has been recalled that when food supplies were short, the locals would “kill the family rabbit” to feed their Belgian neighbours.
The Flemish speaking refugees settled well in their new home. Some knew enough English from before the war by having regular contact with British tourists and fishermen. Social interaction improved as the adults attended language classes and the children were absorbed into the local schools, supported by Devon Education Authority. They received two hours of lessons each day in Flemish from their Belgian teachers in Brixham. Some Belgian pupils
achieved Higher Certificates in Education awarded by the University of Cambridge. The Belgian Government officially thanked Brixham and its schools for the educational provision and for helping the young people keep “their faith in mankind despite the brutal forces which raged the world”
Fishermen received double food rations...after a while, many Belgian girls managed to get jobs in the shops, hairdressers, as cinema usherettes and in domestic occupations. Some joined the WVS and found work in clinics and social welfare. Brixham became so infiltrated that it also became known as ‘Little Ostend/Belgium’. It seems that the Belgian wives would get to the shops very early, prior to the locals!
The Belgian ladies are remembered as wearing fur coats and big gold earrings, apparently no one thought of having their ears pierced until the Belgians came over here…...the men were remembered as always being smartly dressed and wearing peculiar flat caps with a fluted type edge.
Men not employed in fishing volunteered for ARP training and ferried supplies to merchant ships. They set up their own social club in Burton Street (Burton House) which was fitted out as an Anglo/Belgian club in 1941. They had their own Belgian Pastor. They were appointed their own Belgian Liaison Officer for Brixham. A headmistress recalled at the end of the war one little boy who when asked where in Belgium he came from replied ‘Brixham’
The Belgians are remembered for drying fish on washing lines in their back garden, their ‘funny prams’ which were apparently low and ‘boxy’, and the fact that they drank coffee rather than tea! It is recorded that Yorkshire puddings and meat pies were cakes as far as the Belgians were concerned! Roast potatoes were also new to them, they were only used to potatoes being fried or boiled. They were initially confused when ‘everybody’ stood up for a certain song, not realising it was our National Anthem.
In 1941 a Belgian school for fishermen was created on Brixham Quay (opposite the old fish market, in later years it became the Lobster Pot restaurant, it is still there although renamed) The young ones went to a day school and skippers went to evening classes, in total around 126 students, some Brixhamites. This school became a model for other schools of fishing in Britain. The Belgian State School for Navigation, where 84 of the 364 students received Certificates of Competence indicates that standards were high, and a State Engineering Works with equipment from Ostend was also set up in Brixham by the Belgain Government in exile.
They kept their national traditions and social activities, the girls forming their own Girl Guide group here and many of the boys attended their own Fishing School.
……to be continued……
Hilary Emms
Family History Research
hilary16@live.co.uk
07870973655
