Silent film — Towards the end of World War I – in the summer 1918 , after the Allies defeated the Germans in the Second Battle of the Marne – large groups of Belgians and French refugees flee in front of the retreating enemy force to the neutral Netherlands.
The Dutch army and Red Cross prepared to receive a possible 100,000 evacuees in the border towns in the south of the Netherlands.
After wandering weeks in the north of France , and next crossing Belgium on foot, the first group of French refugees arrived at the Dutch border October 20, completely exhausted.
At the gate in the electric wire fence at the border to the Netherlands – the so-called ‘Death Wire’ (dutch : Dodendraad ) Dutch soldiers took them over from German escorts.
Some refugees had travelled by tram part of the route crossing Belgium to the belgian border town Molenbeersel.
At the dutch border the refugees were welcomed and ladies from relief committees provide the refugees with food and drinks on the road to Stramproy in the Netherlands.
Within days , thousands of French refugees arrive in the village of Stramproy and are transferred to the city of Weert .
On arrival in the city center of Weert the dutch army registered people and handed out soup and bread.
The weak, the sick, and maternity women were cared for by the Red Cross and taken to an aid post for further care.
The refugees were sheltered the night in buildings like convents and schools in Weert, before being housed elsewhere in the country the following days.
References
Source (video footage) : Belgische vluchtelingen 1e Wereldoorlog. Open Images | Beeld & Geluid (Sound &Vision).
Weert en het einde van W.O.-I. | Jan Henkens | Stichting Historisch Onderzoek Weert | URL http://www.showeert.nl
Noord-Franse vluchtelingen in Weert 1918 in Den Grooten Oorlog | Grevenbroekmuseum vzw | URL https://www.grevenbroekmuseum.be
Citation : French Refugees October 1918 in Holland | 20231031 | Settela•Com | ISSN 2949-9313 | TakeNode bf10307b-fc98-4d67-ad22-82ef8cb3fddd
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