A CENTURY ago a community of Belgians made a home for themselves in Llandrindod Wells. The First World War waged across Europe and by 1914 more than 250,000 sought refuge in Great Britain. Llandrindod Wells resident and quaker Charles Benyon organised the Belgian Relief Committee and by January 1915 the town was home to 20 refugees who were given Templefield House. The owner of the house, one Mrs Coleman, was the mother of soldier Louis Coleman, who died in Belgium three months later. Local people donated food to the Belgian Relief Fund while the refugees also earned their own keep by giving French lessons, making baskets and wood carvings.
THE train arriving at Glasgow Central on October 19, 1914, carried 900 Belgian refugees. They were part of the 250,000 refugees who came to Britain to escape a brutal German invasion. Glasgow eventually hosted 20,000 in total. Germany invaded Belgium in August 1914, with much violence. Many civilians were executed and survivors were forced to flee on foot. Thousands of families fled to France and Holland, eventually arriving at Folkstone and Dover, carrying only limited possessions. It was an unprecedented crisis and the Government decided to send groups to many different areas to relieve the pressure on London. Glasgow Corporation was chosen to organise the Scottish arm of assistance.