Architectural monuments of Belgium, 1915 – ‘Opulence in the worst distress’

A LOST BUT RECONSTRUCTED HERITAGE… FROM THE LIBRARY OF SIR ROBERT STODART LORIMER (1864-1929), ARCHITECT

Decorative bandIn the book collections curated by the CRC is the work entitled La Belgique monumentale: 100 planches en phototypie by Karel Sluyterman (1863-1931), the Dutch architect, designer and illustrator, and Jules Jacques van Ysendyck (1836-1901) the Belgian architect and propagandist for the neo-Flemish Renaissance style.

Title-page, 'La Belgique monumentale', by Karel Sluyterman and Jules

Title-page, ‘La Belgique monumentale’, by the architects Karel Sluyterman and Jules Jacques van Ysendyck, published by Martinus Nijhoff, 1915.

The work published in 1915 in the neutral Netherlands by Martinus Nijhoff – a prestigious publishing house in The Hague (La Haye) – contains dozens of collotype prints (a salts based photographic process) showing gems of Belgian architecture.

Decorative bandA foreword to the collection of prints states that: ‘As Belgium suffers the devastating horrors of war, it seemed appropriate to circulate images of some Belgian monuments already irreparably damaged and destroyed, and those which are threatened with destruction’.

The 15th century Church of Notre Dame in Anvers (Antwerpen), Belgium... its tower and spire.

The 15th century Church of Notre Dame in Anvers (Antwerpen), Belgium… its tower and spire.

It goes on in very high-flown style: ‘In a very small space, Belgium offers an unparalleled accumulation of ancient cities and monuments, all standing witness to past greatness, offering the evidence of, and paying tribute to, the hard work always known in the country, and showing opulence in the worst distress’.

Old buildings in Tournai (Doornik), Belgium. 12th century Romanesque houses (Maisons Romanes).

Old buildings in Tournai (Doornik), Belgium. 12th century Romanesque houses (Maisons Romanes).

The plates listed include important buildings in the towns and cities of Aerschot (Aarschot), Anvers (Antwerpen), Courtrai (Kortrijk), Dinant, Dixmude (Diksmuide), Louvain (Leuven), Malines (Mechelen), Tournai (Doornik), and Ypres (Ieper).

15th century Town Hall, Louvain, Belgium.

15th century Town Hall, Louvain (Leuven), Belgium.

Some of these towns and cities escaped major damage but others suffered catastrophic destruction inflicted by massive bombardment by both sides in the Great War.

In 1914 the University in Louvain was destroyed. This was the 14th century University Library.

In 1914 the University in Louvain (Leuven) was destroyed. This was the 14th century University Library.

In Louvain, for example, on the 25 August 1914, the University Library was destroyed using petrol and incendiary devices. Some 230,000 volumes were lost in the destruction, including Gothic and Renaissance manuscripts, a collection of 750 medieval manuscripts, and more than 1,000 incunabula (books printed before 1501). The city lost one fifth of its buildings during the War.

In 1914 the University in Louvain was destroyed. This was the original Hall.

In 1914 the University in Louvain (Leuven) was destroyed. This was the original 14th century Hall.

In Ypres too, massive destruction was suffered, with the 13th century Cloth Hall – Lakenhalle – being reduced to rubble.

The Cloth Hall (Lakenhalle) in Ypres, Belgium, which during the course of the War was reduced to rubble. Reconstructed after the conflict, the original building was constructed between 1200 and 1304.

The Cloth Hall (Lakenhalle) in Ypres (Ieper), Belgium, which during the course of the War was reduced to rubble. Reconstructed after the conflict, the original building was constructed between 1200 and 1304.

A label on the inside of the front cover of the portfolio of prints reads: ‘From the library of the late Sir Robert Lorimer. Presented by his Family February 1934’.

Lorimer was a prolific Scottish architect and furniture designer noted for his sensitive restorations of historic houses and castles, for new work in Scots Baronial and Gothic Revival styles, and for promotion of the Arts and Crafts movement.

This new addition to the Cloth Hall, called Nieuwerck, dated from the 17th century. This too was reconstructed during the 1920s.

This new addition to the Cloth Hall, called Nieuwerck, dated from the 17th century. This too was reconstructed during the 1920s.

La Belgique monumentale: 100 planches en phototypie can be accessed by contacting the CRC and quoting shelfmark: RECA.FF.116.

Merchants Houses in Ypres, Belgium, originally dating from 16th-17th centuries.

Merchants Houses in Ypres (Ieper), Belgium, originally dating from 16th-17th centuries.

Dr. Graeme D. Eddie, Assistant Librarian Archives & Manuscripts, Centre for Research Collections

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Wartime service honours of Dr William Aldren Turner (1864-1945)… Devised a management strategy for shell shock… Honoured by Belgium and Britain

EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL STUDENT… SERVED WITH ROYAL ARMY MEDICAL  CORPS (RAMC)… BECAME ADVISOR ON ‘WAR NEUROSIS’ AND SHELL SHOCK TO THE BRITISH WAR OFFICE…

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William Aldren Turner was born in Edinburgh, 5 May 1864. He was the son of the Principal of Edinburgh University, Sir William Turner, and his wife Agnes. The younger Turner was educated at Fettes College, and then he studied at Edinburgh University as a medical student. He graduated as M.B., C.M., with first-class honours, in 1887, and then completed a term as house physician at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

Detail from the certificate presented to Turner by the Belgian Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Detail from the citation for the award of the King Albert Medal presented to Turner by the Belgian Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Quatercentenary Collection, Box 16)

He also studied as a postgraduate in Berlin and at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London. He was awarded his M.D. in 1892.

Detail from the citation awarding the King Albert Medal to Turner, 1921

Detail from the citation awarding the King Albert Medal to Turner, 1921 (Quatercentenary Collection, Box 16)

In 1892 Turner was appointed as an assistant to David Ferrier (1843-1928), and as a demonstrator and then lecturer in neuropathology, at King’s College, London. In 1896 be was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London), and in 1899 he was elected assistant physician to King’s College Hospital. Nine years later he became physician in charge of neurological cases and lecturer on neurology.

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For six years he was also on the staff of the National Hospital for the Paralysed and Epileptic. He published Epilepsy, a Study of the Idiopathic Disease (1907), and with Grainger Stewart, a Textbook of Nervous Diseases (1910). He married Helen Mary Mackenzie in 1909.

Citation - King Albert Medal

Citation – King Albert Medal (Quatercentenary Collection, Box 16)

As a Territorial officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC), Turner had been rushed to France in December 1914 as a temporary Lieutenant-Colonel (Special Duty) when it became clear that ‘nervous and mental shock’ casualties were multiplying. He was one of the few doctors at the National Hospital with first-hand experience of casualties in France.

Award to Turner from the British Red Cross and the Order of St. John

Award to Turner from the British Red Cross and the Order of St. John (Quatercentenary Collection, Box 16)

As a consultant both at King’s College Hospital and the National Hospital, he was responsible for devising a management strategy for shell shock and in January 1915 (through to 1919) he was appointed consultant neurologist to the War Office. He was created C.B. in 1917, the same year he was elevated to Colonel.

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Turner acted as neurologist to the War Office Medical Board from 1919 to 1943 – the principal advisor to the government in these matters – and from 1930 to 1943 as consultant adviser to the Ministry of Pensions.

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Part of the citation from the award of OBE, 1919 (Quatercentenary Collection, Box 16)

In 1921 he was awarded the King Albert Medal (Koning Albert Medaille / Médaille du Roi Albert) by Belgium. This was a medal established by Belgian royal decree on 7 April 1919 and it was awarded to both Belgians and foreigners who were exceptionally meritorious in promoting, organising or administering humanitarian and charitable work that assisted Belgians in need during the First World War.

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In recognition of valuable services rendered during the War, he was also presented with an award by the British Red Cross and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in England, and in 1919 he was given an OBE.

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Dr. William Aldren Turner had been one of the leading epileptologists of his time and he had an abiding interest in prognosis and treatment and the value of institutional care. He died on 29 July 1945.
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Dr. Graeme D. Eddie, Assistant Librarian Archives and Manuscripts, Centre for Research Collections
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Utilised in the construction of this blog post were: ‘Lives of the Fellows’, Munk’s Roll, Vol.IV., Royal College of Physicians; ‘Shell shock Revisited: An Examination of the Case Records of the National Hospital in London’, in Medical History 2014 Oct; 58(4): 519–545, by Stefanie Caroline Linden, and Edgar Jones; and, last but not least, collection items from the Quatercentenary Collection (Box 16), CRC.

Charles Sarolea and his relief effort for Belgium during the War

RELIEF FOR BELGIUM… OFFERS OF AID FROM ALL OVER SCOTLAND

Belgium's heroism

If we are to let our collections talk about the First World War, then surely the story of Charles Sarolea (1870-1953) and his efforts to aid the people of war-ruined Belgium has to be told. His wartime story emerges from the files, folders and boxes of the very large Sarolea Collection of writings and correspondence (Coll-15, Centre for Research Collections). Sarolea’s aid effort continued from the opening days of the assault on Belgium until the last months and days of the War.

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Wartime propaganda… National personification of Belgium… Mother Belgium or ‘Belgica’… ‘La Belgique’… ‘La Belge’… on a Scottish booklet published by the Belgian Relief Fund. From file entitled ‘Everyman Belgian Relief Fund 1914-1916′, in Sarolea Collection 76, Coll-15

Who was Charles Sarolea? Charles Sarolea was born on 25 October 1870 in Tongeren (Tongres) in the Belgian province of Limburg. He was educated at the Royal Atheneum in nearby Hasselt before going on to the University of Liege where he was awarded first class honours in Classics and Philosophy. In 1892 he was given a Belgian Government travelling scholarship, and between 1892 and 1894 he studied in Paris, Palermo and Naples. Still in his early 20s he became private secretary and literary adviser to Hubert Joseph Walthère Frère-Orban (1812-1896) who had been Prime Minister of Belgium (Liberal Party) between 1878 and 1884. This task brought Sarolea early initiation into wide circles of international affairs, both political and cultural. Indeed later, the Belgian Royal Family would be counted among his circle.

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In 1894, at the age of 24, Charles Sarolea became the first holder of the newly-founded Lectureship in French Language and Literature and Romance Philology at Edinburgh University, and in 1918 he would become the first Professor of French when that Chair was established at the University. He held a post and Chair at the University for some 37-years, 1894-1931. From 1901, Sarolea was also the Belgian Consul in Edinburgh.

Photograph in 'Dr. Charles Sarolea author, lecturer, cosmopolitan' in the file entitled 'Biographical and bibliographical material relating to C. Sarolea', in Sarolea Collection 222, Coll-15.

Photograph in Dr. Charles Sarolea author, lecturer, cosmopolitan in the file entitled ‘Biographical and bibliographical material relating to C. Sarolea’, in Sarolea Collection 223, Coll-15.

From 1891 until the outbreak of War in August 1914, Sarolea had written books on a wide range of international affairs and topics, including: Henrik Ibsen (1891); Essais de philosophie et de literature (1898); Les belges au Congo (1899); A Short History of the Anti-Congo Campaign (1905); The French Revolution and the Russian Revolution (1906); Newman’s Theology (1908); The Anglo-German Problem (1912); and, Count L.N. Tolstoy. His life and work (1912). From 1912 until 1917, he was also Editor of the Everyman magazine published by J. M. Dent – the magazine which features prominently in our story about Belgium.

'Everyman', edited by Charles Sarolea 1912-1917.

Everyman, edited by Charles Sarolea 1912-1917.

Many other resources elsewhere can tell the in-depth military and strategic story of Belgium’s stubborn resistance during the early days of the War, but a brief foray into the Belgian experience can do no harm here in a phrase or two. Basically… the Belgian army – around a tenth the size of the German army – managed to frustrate the infamous Schlieffen Plan to capture Paris, and held up the German offensive for nearly a month giving the French and British forces time to prepare for a counter-offensive on the Marne.

The Special Belgium issue of ‘Everyman’, November 1914, contained pictures of the war-spoiled country. From a file entitled ‘Everyman Belgian Relief Fund 1914-1916, in Sarolea Collection 77, Coll-15.

The Special Belgium issue of Everyman, November 1914, contained pictures of the war-spoiled country. From a file entitled ‘Everyman Belgian Relief Fund 1914-1916′, in Sarolea Collection 77, Coll-15.

The Special Belgium issue of ‘Everyman’, November 1914, contained pictures of the war-spoiled country. From a file entitled ‘Everyman Belgian Relief Fund 1914-1916, in Sarolea Collection 77, Coll-15.

The Special Belgium issue of Everyman, November 1914, contained pictures of the war-spoiled country. From a file entitled ‘Everyman Belgian Relief Fund 1914-1916′, in Sarolea Collection 77, Coll-15.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this opening phase of the War, many hundreds of civilian Belgians were killed, many thousands of homes were destroyed, and nearly 20% of the population escaped from the invading German army.

Destroyed house in Malines-Mechelen in the Province of Antwerp, Belgium. From an envelope of 'Miss Findlay's photographs', in the file entitled 'Everyman Belgian Relief Fund, 1914-1916', Sarolea Collection 76, Coll-15.

Destroyed house in Malines (Mechelen) in the Province of Antwerp, Belgium. From an envelope of ‘Miss Findlay’s photographs’, in the file entitled ‘Everyman Belgian Relief Fund, 1914-1916′, Sarolea Collection 76, Coll-15.

Goodwill towards Belgian refugees and those Belgians remaining in the country was shown right across the UK, not least in the form of the Belgium Relief Fund launched by The Times, the National Committee for Relief in Belgium, and the Belgian Orphan Fund.

Circular advertising the 'Everyman Belgian Relief and Reconstruction Fund'. From a file entitled 'Everyman Belgian Relief Fund 1914-1916, in Sarolea Collection 77, Coll-15.

Circular advertising the ‘Everyman Belgian Relief and Reconstruction Fund’. From a file entitled ‘Everyman Belgian Relief Fund 1914-1916′, in Sarolea Collection 77, Coll-15.

Also, from the very outset of War in August 1914, the Everyman magazine had established its own Belgian Relief and Reconstruction Fund and this was administered by the Charles Sarolea, the Belgian Consul, in Edinburgh, assisted by a Committee.

Collection envelopes issued by the National Committee for Relief in Belgium. The design showing a mother and child was by Louis Raemaekers. From a file entitled 'Belgian Consular Correspondence, 1915-1919', in Sarolea Collection 73, Coll-15.

Collection envelopes issued by the National Committee for Relief in Belgium. The design showing a mother and child was by Louis Raemaekers. From a file entitled ‘Belgian Consular Correspondence, 1915-1919’, in Sarolea Collection 73, Coll-15.

Goodwill was also registered across Scotland where a National Appeal for Belgium was opened, as this item from the Sarolea Collection shows (from file entitled ‘Everyman Belgian Relief Fund 1914-1916′, in Sarolea Collection 76, Coll-15). The pamphlet issued by the National Appeal provided a summary of the work undertaken in Scotland where the number of Belgian refugees registered in the country in December 1915 was 13,307.
Scotland's_National_Appeal1Scotland's_National_Appeal2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fact that the Editor of Everyman was of Belgian origin and that he was the Belgian Consul in the capital of Scotland enabled him to be in close touch with events as they unfolded in Belgium and with the conditions of the civilian population. On 13 October 1914, as the British and French troops tried to outflank the German army – and thus establish the general shape of the Front from the Channel coast to the border with Switzerland for the next four years – Sarolea was informed by the Consul General in London (Edouard Pollet) that the legitimate Belgian government had left Ostend in Belgium for the safety of Le Havre, France.

Letter from the Belgian Embassy in London to Sarolea at the Belgian Consulate in Edinburgh indicating the removal of the Belgian government to Le Havre, France. From a file entitled 'Belgian Consular Correspondence, 1915-1919', in Sarolea Collection 73, Coll-15.

Letter from the Belgian Embassy in London to Sarolea at the Belgian Consulate in Edinburgh indicating the removal of the Belgian government to Le Havre, France. From a file entitled ‘Belgian Consular Correspondence, 1915-1919’, in Sarolea Collection 73, Coll-15.

As for Belgian Relief… Sarolea and the Belgian Consulate in Edinburgh received money and requests for collecting boxes and other means of formalising the collection of funds. From all across Scotland, the Consulate also received offers of hospitality and requests for cooks, kitchen-maids, laundry-workers, nursery-maids, tutors, knitter-mechanics, sewing-maids, gardeners, grooms, house-maids and other domestic servants, and ploughmen and other agricultural workers – jobs for Belgian refugees.

Belgium-Scotland flash

A list of ‘Offers of Hospitality received at the Belgian Consulate, Edinburgh’ in the file entitled ‘Everyman Belgian Relief Fund 1914-1916′, in Sarolea Collection 76, notified the following generous offers…: From Eyemouth came the offer for a ‘Lad as boots in hotel, permanent’, with ‘Food, travelling clothes, all offered, and 2/6 a week and all tips, say 7/6 per week’ (2/6 was one-eighth of £1 in the old currency). From North Berwick came the offer of a post as ‘Domestic servant £18, with child £12’, and from Dunblane ‘two bed-rooms, each with double beds, for superior refugees, to live with family’, and the same household would also take ‘two Belgian servants to do work and receive wages’.

 

Offer of help received by Sarolea at the Belgian Consulate, Edinburgh. From a file entitled 'Everyman Belgian Relief Fund 1914-1916', in Sarolea Collection 76, Coll-15.

Offer of help received by Sarolea at the Belgian Consulate, Edinburgh. From a file entitled ‘Everyman Belgian Relief Fund 1914-1916′, in Sarolea Collection 76, Coll-15.

Offer of help received by Sarolea at the Belgian Consulate, Edinburgh. From a file entitled 'Everyman Belgian Relief Fund 1914-1916', in Sarolea Collection 76, Coll-15.

Offer of help received by Sarolea at the Belgian Consulate, Edinburgh. From a file entitled ‘Everyman Belgian Relief Fund 1914-1916′, in Sarolea Collection 76, Coll-15.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A household in Fife offered a placement for a ‘Mother and daughter (past school age) or two sisters as servants’, and the offer extended to ‘£24 for the two and help with their wardrobe’. From Peterhead came the offer to take ‘One little girl for an indefinite period’ and the girl could be taken ‘at once’. And, from the Kinnordy Estate, Kirriemuir came the offer of ‘Two houses’ for up to 44 ‘Cultivated and scientific people’ and this could include work.

Letter with contribution to the Fund from someone who 'deeply feels for brave little Belgium' and who had visited Dinant a few years earlier. Dinant had been severely damaged in the first months of the war. From a file entitled 'Everyman Belgian Relief Fund 1914-1916, in Sarolea Collection 77, Coll-15.

Letter with contribution to the Fund from someone who ‘deeply feels for brave little Belgium’ and who had visited Dinant a few years earlier. Dinant had been severely damaged in the first months of the war. From a file entitled ‘Everyman Belgian Relief Fund 1914-1916′, in Sarolea Collection 77, Coll-15.

Many letters from children were received with money raised in various ways – such as selling flowers from the garden or making pictures made from postage stamps – as these letters show here:

letter from a child in Balerno, 1914. In packet/envelope 'Letters from children for possible publication' in the file 'Everyman Belgian Relief Fund, 1914-1916'. Sarolea Collection 77, Coll-15.

Letter from children in Balerno, 1914. In packet/envelope ‘Letters from children for possible publication’ in the file ‘Everyman Belgian Relief Fund, 1914-1916′. Sarolea Collection 77, Coll-15.

Letter from a child in Balerno, 1914. In packet/envelope 'Letters from children for possible publication' in the file 'Everyman Belgian Relief Fund, 1914-1916'. Sarolea Collection 77, Coll-15.

Second page of the letter. In packet/envelope ‘Letters from children for possible publication’ in the file ‘Everyman Belgian Relief Fund, 1914-1916′. Sarolea Collection 77, Coll-15.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picture of 'La Belge' by a 14-year old girl from Edinburgh, and made from postage stamps, 1914. In the file 'Letters from children for possible publication' in the file 'Everyman Belgian Relief Fund, 1914-1916'. Sarolea Collection 77, Coll-15.

Picture of ‘La Belge’ by a 14-year old girl from Edinburgh, and made from postage stamps, 1914. In the file ‘Letters from children for possible publication’ in the file ‘Everyman Belgian Relief Fund, 1914-1916′. Sarolea Collection 77, Coll-15.

Soldiers too benefited from the charitable-giving fostered by the relief effort centred on the Belgian Consulate in Edinburgh. In 1917 an appeal was raised on behalf of Belgian soldiers ‘spending their hard-earned leave in the Edinburgh district’. In a letter from the ‘Edinburgh Consular Belgian Relief Fund’ to the Editor of the Scotsman in October 1917, it was pointed out that the pay of a Belgian soldier was only just over 2d per day (around 50p at today’s levels) and that a soldier could not afford maintenance expenses while in Edinburgh. The Fund made an appeal asking for help from ‘citizens of Edinburgh who would be willing to give those soldiers hospitality or to pay for their maintenance whilst on leave’. The Fund was sure that Edinburgh’s people would help ‘those brave Belgian lads’.

Draft letter to the 'Scotsman', 3 October 1917, requesting help from the people of Edinburgh for Belgian soldiers on leave in the city. From the file 'Edinburgh Consular Relief Fund 1916-1918. Correspondence', in the wider file 'Everyman & Edinburgh Consular Belgian Relief Funds. Correspondence & figures, 1914-1918'. Sarolea Collection 78, Coll-15.

Draft letter to the ‘Scotsman’, 3 October 1917, requesting help from the people of Edinburgh for Belgian soldiers on leave in the city. From the file ‘Edinburgh Consular Relief Fund 1916-1918. Correspondence’, in the wider file ‘Everyman & Edinburgh Consular Belgian Relief Funds. Correspondence & figures, 1914-1918′. Sarolea Collection 78, Coll-15.

In November 1914, Sarolea issued a Special Belgium number of the magazine, Everyman. Illustrated with Albert I, King of the Belgians, on the front cover, the issue was seen as a ‘means of making a wider appeal to the sympathy and generosity’ of readers. Sarolea claimed that from the start of the assault on Belgium in August 1914 until the Special Belgium issue, the magazine’s ‘efforts have resulted in the raising for the relief of Belgian distress and the reconstruction of Belgian prosperity the substantial sum of thirty-one thousand pounds (£31,000)’ – a colossal sum 100 years ago, the equivalent of £3-million today. Until the Everyman effort, no weekly magazine ‘has ever raised anything like so large a sum for the public cause’.

Front cover of 'Everyman', November 1914. From a file entitled 'Everyman Belgian Relief Fund 1914-1916, in Sarolea Collection 77, Coll-15.

Front cover of Everyman, November 1914. From a file entitled ‘Everyman Belgian Relief Fund 1914-1916, in Sarolea Collection 77, Coll-15.

The Special Belgium issue was filled with articles and photographs, with many of these describing and illustrating the destruction and suffering experienced by Belgians.

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Like many contemporary journals, the Everyman Special Belgium issue contained patriotic advertisements for household shopping – drinks and sweets.

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In addition to papers and correspondence specifically concerning the ‘Everyman Belgian Relief and Reconstruction Fund’ within the expansive Sarolea Collection, the files also contain ephemera produced by other charitable efforts. One piece is a copy of a drawing produced by Louis Raemaekers (1869-1956) the Dutch painter and editorial cartoonist for De Telegraaf, the Amsterdam daily newspaper. His drawing was used by the Belgian Orphan Fund which encouraged the contribution of sixpence to ‘Save that Child!’

Drawing by Louis Raemaekers and used by the Belgian Orphan Fund. From a file entitled 'Belgian Consular Correspondence, 1915-1919', in Sarolea Collection 73, Coll-15.

Drawing by Louis Raemaekers and used by the Belgian Orphan Fund. From a file entitled ‘Belgian Consular Correspondence, 1915-1919’, in Sarolea Collection 73, Coll-15.

Even in November 1914, those behind the Special Belgium issue of Everyman were looking ahead to the end of the War which many believed would be of short duration. A piece by the Belgian-British Reconstruction League talked of the ‘tremendous task’ ahead. ‘A whole country will have to be reclaimed from devastation. A whole people will have to be repatriated and resettled’. As the War ground on though, Sarolea travelled extensively during 1914 and 1916 – across France and to Switzerland and Italy – as his passport shows.

Passport issued in December 1914 to Charles Sarolea, naturalised British subject of Belgian origin, travelling to France... but not vaild for travel in Army zones. In the file entitled 'C.S. personal documents, Passport etc'. Sarolea Collection 222, Coll-15.

Passport issued in December 1914 to Charles Sarolea, naturalised British subject of Belgian origin, travelling to France… but not valid for travel in Army zones. In the file entitled ‘C.S. personal documents, Passport etc’. Sarolea Collection 222, Coll-15.

The ‘Everyman Belgian Relief and Reconstruction Fund’ was wound up towards the end of 1917, and real reconstruction across Belgium would be well underway by the early 1920s. By the end of the war, some 200,000 Belgians had sought refuge across the UK – 17,000 in the Glasgow area alone – and around £6-million to £7-million had been contributed to all of the Belgian charities (circa £400-million today), and these figures were used by Sarolea in his defensive ‘open letter’ to an English correspondent who had criticised the effort.

Sarolea defended charitable giving to Belgians in 'open letter' written in May 1917. From the file 'Belgian Consular Correspondence, 1915-1919'. Sarolea Collection 76, Coll-15.

Sarolea defended charitable giving to Belgians in this ‘open letter’ written in May 1917. From the file ‘Belgian Consular Correspondence, 1915-1919’. Sarolea Collection 73, Coll-15.

Immediately after the War, in March 1919, in Edinburgh, Charles Sarolea was presented with an illuminated scroll by grateful Belgians honouring his wartime work for aid to Belgium. Heading the signatures on the scroll was that of the Rev. O. M. Couttenier a Belgian priest in Edinburgh.

Scroll presented to Charles Sarolea by grateful Belgians. Sarolea Collection 222, Coll-15.

Scroll presented to Charles Sarolea by grateful Belgians. Sarolea Collection 222, Coll-15.

Professor Charles Sarolea resigned his Chair in 1931 but continued to reside in Edinburgh and remained as Belgian Consul in the city until his death in 1953. In 1954, his papers and correspondence were purchased for Edinburgh University Library.

Detail from the front cover of 'Everyman', November 1914. In a file entitled 'Everyman Belgian Relief Fund 1914-1916, in Sarolea Collection 77, Coll-15.

Detail from the front cover of Everyman, November 1914. In a file entitled ‘Everyman Belgian Relief Fund 1914-1916′, in Sarolea Collection 77, Coll-15.

Dr. Graeme D. Eddie, Assistant Librarian Archives & Manuscripts, Centre for Research Collections

Belgium-Scotland flash