The story of how one brave Belgian survived horrors of WW2 forced labour

A new e-book tells the harrowing story of what is, arguably, one of the lesser known stories of World War Two.

The publication will be presented to the public by the Brussels branch of the Royal British Legion in Ixelles on 13 March.

Survival, Memoir of a Forced Labourer in the Third Reich, by the late Belgian-British veteran George Beeston, tells the moving story of the cruel deportation of Belgians to Germany to serve as labourers.

Compulsory deportation of Belgian workers to Germany began in October 1942. At the beginning of the scheme, Belgian firms were obliged to select 10% of their workforce, but from 1943, workers were conscripted by age and class. Some 145,000 Belgians were conscripted and sent to Germany, principally for work in manual jobs in industry or agriculture for the German war effort.

Working conditions for forced workers in Germany were notoriously poor. They were paid little and worked long hours. For those located in German towns and cities, there was the additional danger from Allied aerial bombing campaigns.

The book’s author George Beeston was born in Australia in 1920, the son of a British father, Norman Willingham Beeston, and a Belgian mother, Marie Sophie Monsieur, from Overmere in East Flanders. His parents met towards the end of the First World War when Norman was serving with the British Army in Belgium.

The couple emigrated and were living in New South Wales, when Marie gave birth to George. They did not stay long, moving back to Belgium and settling in Charleroi, where Norman found a job as a steelworker. George was soon joined by two younger brothers, Joe and Newton, and the boys grew up multilingual, speaking English, French and Dutch. 

George was 19 when the German Army swept through Belgium in May 1940. Within days he was on his way to France, determined to fight for the Allies. But his hopes to make it across the Channel were dashed and he enlisted instead in the French Foreign Legion. Deserted by their officers, his unit was forced to surrender and George was fortunate to avoid being shot as a suspected partisan.

After a long forced march through eastern France, he was held in a POW camp and interrogated at length due to his Australian background. He escaped with false papers and made it back to Belgium in September 1940.

George’s father was sent to an internment camp in Silesia in March 1941, while he took on odd jobs to keep the family going. This included a spell in Abbeville in the region of the Somme with his brother Joe after they were tricked into signing a sham contract and had their identity cards confiscated.

After escaping home George thought he was finally safe, but in December 1942, he was sent to work as a forced labourer for Siemens in Nuremberg, leaving behind his mother, brothers and young fiancée Yvonne.

George suffered harsh treatment, witnessed horrific sights and was extremely lucky to survive. In the dangerous final weeks of the war, he twice went on the run. Liberated by the Americans, he acted as an interpreter during the round-up of German officers and SS.

He returned again to Belgium in June 1945. After the end of the war, George joined the British Army, serving for many years in the Royal Engineers.

He offered the manuscript of his book to the Brussels branch of the Royal British Legion (RBL) in January 2012, five months before he passed away on 4 June 2012, aged 92. 

Unfortunately, contact with his family was lost and the publication was shelved until Dennis Abbott, Chair of RBL Brussels, managed to track down George’s son John late last year. He gave the branch permission to release his father’s memoir in the form of a free e-book. 

Abbott, who is also a journalist and author, will lead a discussion at a launch event for the publication in Ixelles on 13 March. He will be joined  by Colin Puplett, former Chair of the Brussels RBL Welfare Committee.

“Publishing George’s extraordinary memoir of his wartime experiences has long been the wish of the Brussels branch of the RBL. It is an account like no other. That George survived his ordeal at the hands of the Nazis owed much to his never-say-die pluck and, on more than one occasion, miraculous luck. For the RBL, this publication is an honour and a duty,” commented Abbott.

Colin Puplett added: “On first reading his account I was convinced that such a record of courage, in the face of extreme deprivation and violence, should never be forgotten.”

Guests attending the talk are asked to assemble in the bar at the Fraternelle from 18.00 (drinks and sandwiches available) with the presentation of the book and Q&A starting at 18.458.

If you wish to attend, register at: peacemissions@hotmail.com

Presentation: Survival, Memoir of a Forced Labourer in the Third Reich
Fraternelle des Agents Parachutistes
Rue du Châtelain 46
Ixelles

Photos: main image Callum Abbott; George Beeston 1943, courtesy Beeston family; Siemens-Schuckertwerke Transformatorenwerk plant in August 1944 (Stadtarchiv Nürnberg, StadtAN A 64 Nr. 1025); George Beeston 1943, courtesy Beeston family