History

Little Paris, Poperinge during the First World War

At the beginning of the First World War, the Belgian army leadership was already aware that Germany would violate Belgian neutrality. The German plan was to make a sickle move through Belgium and the Netherlands and attack France from the rear. To stop the Germans, the Fort Belt around Liège was reinforced and Antwerp was designated as a supply post. However, both Liège and Antwerp were quickly overpowered by the German artillery. At the height of the Yser and in its extension, the Belgian and French armies set up a defensive position. In a last attempt to halt the German army, King Albert ordered the floodgates to be opened, flooding the Yser plain. The age-old tactic turned out to work and the Germans made no more progress. They therefore soon started a new offensive near Ypres. There, however, the British army and its allies held out. The front became stuck. What was supposed to be a “Blitzkrieg” became in reality a “Sitzkrieg”. Both sides dug in and trench warfare was a fact.

For the British and their allies near Ypres, Poperinge was the closest "safe" town. This made the city the nerve center for military operations. Soldiers, supplies, workers, information,... Everything heading towards the Ypres Salient passed through this city. For the soldiers, Poperinge was a place where they came when they were on leave. Although they usually slept in tent camps just outside the city (for example in Krombeke, Proven and Reningelst), their nightlife took place on the streets of Poperinge. Poperinge, which then had about 10,000 inhabitants, quickly received a quarter of a million English-speaking soldiers. Naturally, "Pop" changed its appearance considerably. The soldiers sometimes called it a "little Paris", given the abundance of (improvised or otherwise) cafés, brothels, cinemas, concert halls, clubs and other places of entertainment. It is within that context that we must situate Talbot House.

The history of the House

Talbot House itself was built in the mid-18th century by the notable Lebbe hop merchant family. In 1911, brewer Maurice Coevoet bought the House. After a bomb attack in 1915, which caused no injuries but did cause some damage to the House, he decided to flee with his family to safer places. The House was rented to the 6th Division of the British Army for 150 francs per month. Chaplain Philip "Tubby" Clayton opened a soldiers' club there with the aim of offering an alternative to the often rather dubious nightlife in the rest of the city. Initially the club was called "Church House", but at the suggestion of Colonel Reginald May, and despite the protests of Chief Army Chaplain Neville Talbot, the House was named "Talbot House". This name commemorates Gilbert Talbot, Neville's younger brother, who was killed in action on July 30, 1915.

Gilbert became the symbol of the sacrifice of a "golden generation" of young men. Tubby was put in charge of the clubhouse and created a very homely atmosphere where the strict ranking of the British army did not apply. On the door of his office, the Chaplains Room, there is still a sign that reads: "All rank abandon ye who enter here."

That sentence became, as it were, one of the pillars of the House. Whoever entered, entered as a person, not as a soldier or officer. Orders were also forbidden in Talbot House. Tubby insisted that the House should be a place where soldiers could forget about the war for a while. The sign next to the door that reads "To pessimists, way out!" speaks volumes in that regard. The House is full of such signs, which in many cases eliminate the need to give orders. They are short jokes that subtly make something clear. Running a soldiers' house without discipline may seem impossible, but Tubby has succeeded in this way.