In 1915, the British supply of ammunition was quickly running out. If the situation remained like this, they would not be able to keep up the War effort: the shell scandal was a fact. There were simply not enough factories and labourers to satisfy the immense demand for firepower. At the same time however, about 1.5 million Belgians were on the run. Some 250.000 of them found shelter in Great-Britain, where they were most welcome to help solve the shortage in labourers. 

In the Northern-English town of Birtley, a new munitions factory was built. The camp where the Belgian labourers lived was called Elisabethville. Here, Belgian refugees and their families would make bombs from 1916 until 1919.

About the author

Dirk Musschoot is a Belgian journalist. He wrote some 20 books for children. They were translated in French, German, Italian and Danish. More recently, his historical work proves that he can truly translate complicated stories to a broad audience like no other. Based on his travel experience, he also wrote several tourist guidebooks.

The book presentation took place on Thursday 4 February 2016 at Talbot House at Poperinge. You can visit the exhition from 07/02/2016 untill 31/08/2016.


































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