Three-colour armband of Pierre Borré, a sign of being exempt from military service. Lots of munitions workers wear it, 1916. (FelixArchief, Antwerp).
Posters at Earl’s Court: ‘Belgians, your King and Country need you’. Volunteers can enlist into the Belgian army at the Bureau Militaire Belge. (Armand Varlez, Les Belges en Exil, 1917, p. 51)
The new recruits are leaving, while singing It’s a long way to Tipperary. (G.A. Powell, Four years in a refugee camp, London, 1919, p. 25)
Conscription
Belgian refugees are put in a precarious position, because of the growing number of British casualties. When the English Military Service Bill is introduced in January 1916, providing for the conscription of single men aged 18-40, and the Bill was extended to married men in May 1916, the English branded it as unfair. A similar Belgian bill was, therefore, amended along the lines of the British Bill.
Popular newspapers come up with the slogan ‘Fight or go’ in the spring of 1916. They do not explicitly name the Belgians, but the campaign is clearly targeted at them. It leads to small-scale disturbances in Fulham and Richmond, the London districts where many Belgians have settled. Windows of Belgian shops are smashed.
