Talbot House in Poperinge Belgium

Talbot House in Poperinge Belgium - own picture taken in 2017

At the beginning of World War I, Neville Talbot, a senior Church of England
chaplain in the British Army sought to recruit chaplains who would minister
the battalions on the front lines.

One of the recruits was Reverend Philip Byard Clayton (born in Australia),
who was assigned to the East Kent and the Bedfordshire regiments.

In 1915 Clayton was sent to France and then to the town of
Poperinge in Belgium.

Tubby Clayton

A few miles from Ieper (English name: Ypres) , there was a town called
Poperinge (or Pops as the soldiers called it). This was a busy transfer
place where troops on their way to and from the battlefields of Flanders
stayed.

Clayton, known as Tubby was instructed by Neville Talbot to set up some
kind of rest house for the troops.

On 11 December 1915, a house was opened for the soldiers. Later it was
named Talbot House in honor of Lieutenant Gilbert Talbot (Neville's
brother) who had been killed earlier in the war.

Talbot House soon became known as Toc H or by its initials TH. It
also was used under these codes in the radio signalers' phonetic alphabet.

In the attic of Talbot House a chapel was made.

Chapel in Talbot House, Poperinge Belgium, own picture taken in 2017

Nowadays, Talbot house is an amazing museum. It is also used as an Hotel.
See its official site, on this link.

Talbot House garden , Poperinge Belgium, own picture taken in 2017

Talbot House has an incredible history as it was a place of relaxation for the
soldiers, before they were sent to the battlefields of Flanders.

It's great that such places were preserved!