In both world wars Ilfracombe saw a huge number of fleeing refugees, and it was critical in providing a secure space to train new soldiers to better defend the borders of Britain – and even mainland Europe and the rest of the world.
Injured Belgian soldiers were present in Ilfracombe from early on in WWI – the North Devon Journal reported that 50 injured soldiers were sent for care and rehabilitation to Watermouth Castle, The Cliffs Hydro Hotel, Tyrrell Hospital and Westwell Hall in late 1914.
August and Lontine Deprez were living in Ilfracombe along Slade Road throughout the war with their three children. August was working as a general labourer, Lontine worked in the laundry and Maurice – their eldest son – worked as a horseman.
There was a significant Jewish presence in Ilfracombe during the second world war, especially in 1940 and 1941, when hundreds of refugees from Germany and Austria, as well as Czechoslovakia were billeted in and around Ilfracombe whilst they were trained for military conflict in the British army, as the North Devon Pioneer Corps.
In 2022, as tensions, dangers and conflict rose across nations such as Syria, Iran and Iraq, and individuals and families fled that conflict, approximately 145 migrants were dropped off “under the cover of darkness” at the Grand Dilkhusa Hotel in Ilfracombe.
Read their full stories.