Throughout the latter part of 1914 the Teignmouth Post provided a series of snapshots that involved the war in general and Belgian refugees in particular.
- On the 2nd October 1914 a report said that a number of Belgian refugees are expected to arrive at Riversea, Kingswear by the 9th of October "hundreds of Belgian refugees have arrived in London who lost everything during the burning of Leuven.
- On Saturday 10th October the first of the Belgian refugees arrived in Dawlish. A mother and her 5 year old child are staying in the Barton's Red Cross Nursing home. The rest of the family are at the Exeter clearing house awaiting suitable accommodation in Dawlish. The family lost everything during the German bombardment of Malines.
- On the 16th of October "a party of nuns arrived at Teignmouth from Antwerp"
Shaldon received their first family on Wednesday 19th October. "Lady Lucas of Dunmore received them at Cleveland. The house was gaily decorated with the Belgian flags", reported in the Western Times of 23.10.1914.
On November 1st the Post reported that Teignmouth expected to receive 40 refugees. On Monday 2nd November a welcoming party at Teignmouth station met a Belgian refugee family it included Mr. S.A.Croydon who was the Chair of the local refugee committee, Mr.W.F.C. Jordans ecretary of the Committee, some of the ladies from Notre Dame school and a Mr. Linessenfrom Antwerp who was staying in Shaldon.Gustave von Castol, his wife and family of 10 whose ages range from 2 to 16 years were being accommodated at 8, Brimley Villas, this residence having placed at their disposal by Colonel Spratt-Bowring R.E. of Chislehurst and recently the home of the late Miss Lott.
The post of November 13th reported another family, that of a banker is expected this week and the house in Triangle Place will be devoted to his use.On November 20th "another party of Belgian refugees has arrived in the town today".
On the 23rd February 1915 "Nearly 300 refugees arrive at railway station. The first batch arrived by the 4.08 train on Tuesday afternoon when about 130 refugees stepped on to the platform with their few belongings. Some of the women were hatless, a shawl covering their head and shoulders and many of them carried babes. The parties had been arranged by the authorities prior to coming to Teignmouth, and in some cases included the grandparents. In each case the men wore a label suspended from the top button hole of his coat, giving his name, number and the house where his party was to be billeted. Assistance was provided amongst others by a Belgian refugee youth and is in work as "under boots" at the Royal Hotel, Teignmouth, girl guides under Miss Liptrott (Captain) acting as escorts. Nearly 100 were for Shaldon being conveyed in motor cars which were in readiness in station yard where a large crowd of the general public were there to see them off. The second batch of refugees arrived by the 5.17 train on Thursday evening (25th February), 55 of them with 20 going to Shaldon, on Friday a further 106 arrived". This well exceeded the estimated figure of 250. Local doctors offered to "attend them gratuitously". The Roman Catholic priest had offered the services of his assistant who was a Flemish priest to undertake weekly visiting and make weekly reports to the committee as to whether the refugees were satisfied with their conditions.
Early in April Mr. Hamilton-Young reported on behalf of the Committee appointed to deal with the boarding of the Belgians "that there are 324 refugees in Teignmouth and Shaldon at the present time and up to the present £594.5s. has passed through the hands of the Treasurer for billeting etc., There had been a medical examination, and not a single male Belgian in the neighbourhood was fit for active service…. The committee were in communication with the labour Exchange with regard to securing employment for some of the men in their own trades".
After the initial sympathy for the plight of Belgian refugees, expected to be a short term problem as "the war would be over by Christmas" and the increasing number of British troops being killed or severely injured, some anti-Belgian feeling began to creep in. Whilst there was no mention of any direct antagonism in the Teignmouth Post in other parts of the country questions were raised as to why Belgian men were not working or fighting. An example of this occurred in Brixham whereby fishing crews that had been severely depleted by men joining up were not allowed to take on Belgian refugees.
Strangely enough, it was a British military crisis at the French front that saved the day for the Belgian refugees. In May 1915, a substantial lack of explosives was reported to the Times. This eventually led to the downfall of the Asquith cabinet and the installation of a coalition government with Lloyd George as minister of Munitions. Able bodied Belgians now found employment in the war industry.
The Aliens Restrictions Act had come into force and notices appeared on a regular basis in the Teignmouth Post reminding Belgians and others of the need to register as well as the people with whom they were lodging.
On the 21st July "flags were displayed at several houses in Teignmouth it being the Belgian National Fete Day ( to celebrate the 85th anniversary of independence) in the evening a concert and variety entertainment were held in the Assembly rooms, the programme consisted entirely of Belgian artistes, including an excellent choir of refugees".
At the Brook Street Girls School sewing lessons for several weeks were devoted to remaking and refurbishing used clothing for the Belgian refugees.
In March 1915, 40 Belgian children along with a teacher arrived in Teignmouth and by the summer there were large numbers of Belgian children of school age that were not receiving a formal education. Mechanisms were put in place to enable them to continue with their education.
