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| Idyllic Folkestone |
Located on the coast of southeast England overlooking the English Channel, Folkestone is today a pleasant resort with a population of 50,000, or so. The town proper is strung out along 2 miles of Dover's cliffs. Below, accessible by a steep road is the town's harbor. In 1629, with its location on the narrowest part of the English Channel, the local inhabitants obtained a royal license to build a port. From the beginning of the railway age, Folkestone developed both as a passenger port across the English Channel—Boulogne, France, lies just 26 miles away—and as a high-class seaside resort. It has a long roster of celebrity visitors, including King Edward VII & Mrs. Keppel, and authors H.G. Wells, Charles Dickens, and Agatha Christie. Its port and location, though, would eventually guarantee that the town would play major role in the First World War, and its tourist trade put in abeyance.
During the summer of 1914, Folkestone would still have been bustling with holiday-makers promenading. Since the extension of the railway, and the building of the Foord Valley Viaduct, Folkestone had become a popular holiday resort for the Victorians and Edwardians. When war came, the general feeling in the country was that a war would be over by Christmas and life would not be excessively disrupted.
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| Commemorative Painting of the Arrival of First Belgian Refugees |
Folkestone, however, would learn sooner than most of the nation that this was not to be the case. The town’s first connection with what was happening on European soil was on 20 August 1914, when the first of thousands of refugees from recently invaded Belgian arrived in Britain via Folkestone. By 5 September it was estimated that as many as 18,000 refugees had arrived at Folkestone Harbour,
Folkestone eventually welcomed over 65,000 Belgian visitors, and residents willingly took mon of them in, keen to be doing something for the war effort. Around the town today can be seen evidence of the Belgian’s stay with streets and squares named after the new arrivals. Middelburg Square sits at the heart of the town centre; Ingles Road and the surname Inglebrecht all stem from Belgian origins. The government helped share the refugees over the south of England, reserving The Grand Hotel to house members of the Belgian Royal Family. After the war, many of these refugees returned home if they hadn’t married and settled in their host country.
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| WWI Troopship Departing Folkestone |
By the end of August 1914, Folkestone saw the first wounded soldiers returning from the Battle of Mons in Belgium. 70,000 British soldiers had faced a German army of over twice that size. There were heavy casualties. A report from the Folkestone Herald talked of the soldiers’ arrival causing great interest and excitement “The soldiers were conveyed in motor cars through the town to the camp, being enthusiastically greeted by the crowds in the streets. Most of the men appeared to be slightly wounded and were able to walk with assistance. They displayed great cheerfulness.”
These were the earliest of an estimated 10 million passengers who passed through Folkestone Harbour on route to or returning from Boulogne and the continent. Many were soldiers, but also nurses and other staff to support the war. Folkestone would gain fame as the primary "gateway to the trenches" for Britain during World War I. A great percentage of these numbers were British Tommies departing for the Western Front and returning for their brief leaves home from the battlefields and back again. The perilous trip—U-boats and mines were the principal dangers—took about 2 hours, one-way.
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| Leave Troops Assembling for Their Return to France |
Folkestone and its citizens were targeted by the enemy in both world wars. On 25 May 1917, German Gotha heavy bombers carried out a devastating daylight raid on the town.The A direct hit on Tontine Street—where civilians were queuing for holiday groceries—killed around 70 to 95 people and injured nearly 200, making it one of the deadliest single bombing events on the British home front during the war.
After the Armistice, King Albert 1 of Belgium sent a message to Folkestone
Folkestone had earned the admiration not only of the Belgians, but also of the whole world: yes, the whole civilised world knew how the town of Folkestone had received them with such cordiality which would never be forgotten.
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| Aerial View of the Folkestone Harbour Today |
In the Second World War— because occupied France was only about 22 miles away—the town experienced frequent long-range artillery shelling from enemy big guns, alongside high-explosive bomb drops and parachute mines that destroyed local shops, houses, and the town's gasworks. Later, the town was targeted by dozens of V-1 buzz bombs.
Sources: Folkestone History Group; Kentonline; Disused-stations.org; Folkstonehistory.org