They came to Bromley, looking for Safety REPATRIATION OF BELGIAN REFUGEES During World War 1, it is estimated that Britain was home to almost 250,000 Belgian refugees, who had come to Britain seeking safety when the Germans invaded Belgium in 1914. Some were housed with British families across the country, while overs were sent to purpose-built villages where they had their own schools, shops, churches, hospitals and newspapers, as well as prisons and police force. These areas were considered Belgian territory and run by the Belgian government. They even used the Belgian…