Southampton played its part to help refugees during WWII

On board this ragged flotilla – a motley crew of commandeered fishing trawlers, sturdy work barges, even a humble harbour master’s launch and stoutly built tugs pressed into urgent, unexpected service – decks were crammed shoulder-to-shoulder. 

People of every age, their faces etched with a mixture of exhaustion, fear, and the dawning, tentative glimmer of hope, huddled together. 

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They were ordinary souls thrust into extraordinary peril, seeking sanctuary from the relentless, brutal advance of Hitler’s Third Reich, which was then swallowing nations whole.

For the people of Southampton, this long, solemn line of vessels inching towards the quaysides was a stark, tangible manifestation of the distant war suddenly arriving on their doorstep. 

It was the first of many such convoys they would observe in the harrowing weeks that followed. 

Desperate European refugees, primarily from Belgium, the Netherlands, and France, arrived wave upon wave. 

Many carried nothing more than the clothes on their backs, poignant symbols of shattered lives and abandoned homes, their only remaining possession the desperate hope for safety on British shores.

The sudden arrival of these displaced masses presented an urgent and unforeseen challenge for Southampton’s wartime organisations. 

Already stretched thin and operating under immense pressure, these bodies were deeply engaged in preparing for the grim potential aftermath of enemy bombing raids on their own town. 

Coded messages warning of imminent, large-scale casualties and homelessness had circulated among corporation chiefs just months before. 

Adding thousands of unexpected refugees, many in desperate need, piled a significant and serious burden onto the authorities' already heavy load.

Within a mere week of that first hesitant refugee footstep touching Southampton soil, the trickle had become a flood. 

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The sheer scale of Belgian, Dutch, and French men, women, and children pouring into the port was immense, testing the town's capacity to its limits. 

A formidable logistical and humanitarian operation swung into action. 

Every single individual arriving had to undergo a medical examination upon disembarking.

 Makeshift cubicles were hastily constructed within the cavernous customs sheds lining the dockside. 

Through these improvised facilities, each refugee patiently filed, a necessary, if perhaps bewildering, step before they could be officially registered and acknowledged.

The Daily Echo, captured the poignancy of the scene at the time: “The first vessel arrived shortly after 10am and it was not long before the first of the sad procession of homeless and broken-hearted people started to file down the gangway. All that remained of their scant belongings they brought with them, some in suitcases, others carried baskets.”

The report continued, detailing the immediate care provided: “After a medical they were then each handed a bag containing pies, biscuits, chocolate and a cake as well as being offered a cup of tea. They also drew an emergency ration of a tin of corned beef and a tin of condensed milk. Many of the men brought bicycles and practically nothing else and there were mothers who wheeled perambulators ashore.” 

The human cost was tragically visible: “The women generally displayed remarkable fortitude, but some, in deep mourning, wept pitifully. Some children, bereft of parents and homes, that were found sleeping in the streets had been taken on board one of the refugee ships where foster-mothers were found for them.”

Years later, when a comprehensive medical history of the Second World War was compiled in 1953, the crucial role played by Southampton in managing this sudden, overwhelming influx was meticulously documented. The account detailed the difficult conditions faced: “Some of the refugees were verminous and had to be bathed; some were suffering from infectious diseases; many were ill through worry.”

The sheer numbers arriving over that period were staggering. 

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The official history recorded: “Right up to the end of July the refugees came in their thousands and then later in a thinning stream. By the beginning of September that year 6,147 Belgians, Dutch and French refugees had landed. 

In the middle of these landings, there also came 2,424 refugees from the Channel Islands, all of whom arrived between June 20 and June 29.”

To cope, the town mobilised its resources. "Public assistance institutions, sports halls and other buildings in the town were used to give them shelter," the article noted, "until arrangements could be made for their permanent care." 

A specific plan was enacted for many of the British citizens fleeing the newly occupied Channel Islands: "Most of the Channel Islanders were sent to Barnsley or Wakefield.”

In the face of this crisis, the spirit of the Southampton community shone through. 

A dedicated 'Southampton Committee for Refugees' was swiftly established. 

This organisation would prove remarkably enduring, continuing its vital support work for nearly a decade before finally concluding its operations in May 1949, long after the war itself had ended. 

Local residents stepped forward with remarkable generosity, organising social events to lift spirits, offering free English lessons to bridge communication gaps, and diligently collecting pocket money, cigarettes, and essential food parcels to be distributed amongst those who had arrived with so little.