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Free Belgian forces

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Belgian soldiers on manoeuvers in Wales, July 1941
Belgian soldiers on manoeuvers in Wales, July 1941

The Free Belgian forces (French: Forces belges libres, Dutch: Vrije Belgische Strijdkrachten) were soldiers from Belgium and its colonies who fought as part of the Allied armies during World War II, after the official Belgian surrender to Nazi Germany. It is distinct from the Belgian Resistance which existed in German-occupied Belgium.

In 1940, Belgian pre-war émigrés and former soldiers who had escaped occupied Belgium were formed into units within the British military which later fought in the European and Mediterranean Theatres. These included an infantry formation, which later became the Brigade Piron, as well as Commando and paratroop units. Belgians also served in the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy, serving in Belgian-only units as well as in majority-British units. Significant numbers of soldiers from the Belgian Congo fought on the Allied side against the Italians in East Africa. After the liberation of Belgium in September 1944, the Free Belgian forces formed the foundations of the new Belgian army.

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Dutch language

Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after its close relatives German and English. Afrikaans is a separate but somewhat mutually intelligible daughter language spoken, to some degree, by at least 16 million people, mainly in South Africa and Namibia, evolving from the Cape Dutch dialects of Southern Africa. The dialects used in Belgium and in Suriname, meanwhile, are all guided by the Dutch Language Union.

Belgium

Belgium

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of 30,528 km2 (11,787 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.5 million, making it the 22nd most densely populated country in the world and the 6th most densely populated country in Europe, with a density of 376/km2 (970/sq mi). Belgium is part of an area known as the Low Countries, historically a somewhat larger region than the Benelux group of states, as it also included parts of northern France. The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven.

World War II

World War II

World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries, including all of the great powers, fought as part of two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. Many participants threw their economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind this total war, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and the delivery of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war.

Belgian Resistance

Belgian Resistance

The Belgian Resistance collectively refers to the resistance movements opposed to the German occupation of Belgium during World War II. Within Belgium, resistance was fragmented between many separate organizations, divided by region and political stances. The resistance included both men and women from both Walloon and Flemish parts of the country. Aside from sabotage of military infrastructure in the country and assassinations of collaborators, these groups also published large numbers of underground newspapers, gathered intelligence and maintained various escape networks that helped Allied airmen trapped behind enemy lines escape from German-occupied Europe.

German occupation of Belgium during World War II

German occupation of Belgium during World War II

The German occupation of Belgium during World War II began on 28 May 1940, when the Belgian army surrendered to German forces, and lasted until Belgium's liberation by the Western Allies between September 1944 and February 1945. It was the second time in less than thirty years that Germany had occupied Belgium.

European theatre of World War II

European theatre of World War II

The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II. It saw heavy fighting across Europe for almost six years, starting with Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and ending with the Western Allies conquering most of Western Europe, the Soviet Union conquering most of Eastern Europe and Germany's unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945 although fighting continued elsewhere in Europe until 25 May. On 5 June 1945, the Berlin Declaration proclaiming the unconditional surrender of Germany to the four victorious powers was signed. The Allied powers fought the Axis powers on two major fronts as well as in a strategic bombing offensive and in the adjoining Mediterranean and Middle East theatre.

Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II

Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II

The Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre was a major theatre of operations during the Second World War. The vast size of the Mediterranean and Middle East theatre saw interconnected naval, land, and air campaigns fought for control of the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Middle East and Southern Europe. The fighting in this theatre lasted from 10 June 1940, when Italy entered the war on the side of Germany, until 2 May 1945 when all Axis forces in Italy surrendered. However, fighting would continue in Greece – where British troops had been dispatched to aid the Greek government – during the early stages of the Greek Civil War.

Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's aerial warfare and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Following the Allied victory over the Central Powers in 1918, the RAF emerged as the largest air force in the world at the time. Since its formation, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history. In particular, it played a large part in the Second World War where it fought its most famous campaign, the Battle of Britain.

Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century; the oldest of the UK's armed services, it is consequently known as the Senior Service.

Belgian Congo

Belgian Congo

The Belgian Congo was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964.

Kingdom of Italy

Kingdom of Italy

The Kingdom of Italy was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and form the modern Italian Republic. The state resulted from a decades-long process, the Risorgimento, of consolidating the different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single state. That process was influenced by the Savoy-led Kingdom of Sardinia, which can be considered Italy's legal predecessor state.

Italian East Africa

Italian East Africa

Italian East Africa was an Italian colony in the Horn of Africa. It was formed in 1936 through the merger of Italian Somalia, Italian Eritrea, and the newly occupied Ethiopian Empire, conquered in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.

Background

Belgian involvement in World War II began when German forces invaded Belgium, which had been following a policy of neutrality, on 10 May 1940. After 18 days of fighting, Belgium surrendered on 28 May and was placed under German occupation. During the fighting, between 600,000[1] and 650,000[2] Belgian men (nearly 20% of the country's male population)[2] had served in the military. Most were made prisoners of war and detained in Germany, though some were released before the end of the war. Leopold III, king and commander in chief of the army, also surrendered to the Germans on 28 May along with his army and remained a prisoner for the rest of the war.[3] The Belgian government fled first to Bordeaux in France, and then to London in the United Kingdom where it formed an official government in exile in October 1940.[3]

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World War II

World War II

World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries, including all of the great powers, fought as part of two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. Many participants threw their economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind this total war, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and the delivery of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war.

Leopold III of Belgium

Leopold III of Belgium

Leopold III was King of the Belgians from 23 February 1934 until his abdication on 16 July 1951. At the outbreak of World War II, Leopold tried to maintain Belgian neutrality, but after the German invasion in May 1940, he surrendered his country, earning him much hostility, both at home and abroad.

Bordeaux

Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department. Its inhabitants are called "Bordelais" (masculine) or "Bordelaises" (feminine). The term "Bordelais" may also refer to the city and its surrounding region.

French Third Republic

French Third Republic

The French Third Republic was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France during World War II led to the formation of the Vichy government.

London

London

London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a 50-mile (80 km) estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as Londinium and retains its medieval boundaries. The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which since 1965 has largely comprised Greater London, which is governed by 33 local authorities and the Greater London Authority.

United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. The total area of the United Kingdom is 242,495 square kilometres (93,628 sq mi), with an estimated 2023 population of over 68 million people.

Belgian government in exile

Belgian government in exile

The Belgian Government in London, also known as the Pierlot IV Government, was the government in exile of Belgium between October 1940 and September 1944 during World War II. The government was tripartite, involving ministers from the Catholic, Liberal and Labour Parties. After the invasion of Belgium by Nazi Germany in May 1940, the Belgian government, under Prime Minister Hubert Pierlot, fled first to Bordeaux in France and then to London, where it established itself as the only legitimate representation of Belgium to the Allies.

Creation of the Free Belgian forces

In a broadcast on French Radio shortly after the Belgian surrender, the Prime Minister Hubert Pierlot called for the creation of an army-in-exile, originally intended to continue fighting alongside the French:

With the same youthful courage that responded to the government's call, reunited with the elements of the Belgian military in France and Great Britain, a new army will be levied and organized. It will go into the line alongside those of our allies ... all the forces we have will be put at the service of the cause which has become ours ... It is important to assure immediately and in a tangible way, the solidarity which continues to unite the powers which have given us their support ...

— Pierlot's speech on French Radio, 28 May 1940[4]

In Britain, the concept of foreign enlistment into the British army, or the creation of foreign armed forces on British soil, had been approved in the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939 and Allied Forces Act 1940. The first components of a Belgian military in Britain was created after the French surrender when the Camp Militaire Belge de Regroupement (CMBR; "Belgian Military Camp for Regrouping") was created in Tenby (Wales) in order to reform a military force from Belgian soldiers rescued from Dunkirk during Operation Dynamo, refugees, and expatriates living in the United Kingdom.[5] By July 1940, the camp numbered 462 Belgians, and nearly 700 by August[5] and 900 by November.[6] These soldiers were organized into the 1st Fusilier Battalion in August, and the government appointed Lieutenant-Generals Raoul Daufresne de la Chevalerie as commander, and Victor van Strydonck de Burkel as inspector-general of the new force.[7] In July 1940, a British Mass Observation report remarked that Belgian refugees in civilian employment in the United Kingdom were causing friction with British workers because they were considered to be pushing British workers out of jobs.[8] The same report noted the "possible need for a Belgian Legion".[9] In February 1941, a Belgian artillery battalion was formed.[10]

Belgian volunteers continued to join the Free Belgian forces throughout the war, most crossing through occupied and Vichy France, as well as Francoist Spain. Because the French refused to provide any form of visa to Belgians of military age, many of those arriving in England tended to be old and to have already had long military careers.[6] This created a problem for the Free Belgian forces, which was therefore generally "top heavy", with a greater ratio of (older) officers to other ranks.[6]

Despite the formation of all-Belgian ground units from late 1940, many Belgian volunteers – especially those in the Royal Air Force – served in majority British units, particularly in the early years after the formation of the Free Belgian forces.[11]

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Victor van Strydonck de Burkel

Victor van Strydonck de Burkel

Lieutenant-general BEM Victor Jean Clement, Baron van Strydonck de Burkel was a general of the Belgian Army and the primary architect of the formation of the Free Belgian Forces after Belgium's official surrender on May 28, 1940 in World War II.

Hubert Pierlot

Hubert Pierlot

Hubert Marie Eugène Pierlot was a Belgian politician and Prime Minister of Belgium, serving between 1939 and 1945. Pierlot, a lawyer and jurist, served in World War I before entering politics in the 1920s. A member of the Catholic Party, Pierlot became Prime Minister in 1939, shortly before Belgium entered World War II. In this capacity, he headed the Belgian government in exile, first from France and later Britain, while Belgium was under German occupation. During the German invasion of Belgium in May 1940, a violent disagreement broke out between Pierlot and King Leopold III over whether the King should follow the orders of his ministers and go into exile or surrender to the German Army. Pierlot considered Leopold's subsequent surrender a breach of the Constitution and encouraged the parliament to declare Leopold unfit to reign. The confrontation provoked a lasting animosity between Pierlot and other conservatives, who supported the King's position and considered the government's exile to be cowardly.

Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939

Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939

The Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939 was emergency legislation passed just prior to the outbreak of World War II by the Parliament of the United Kingdom to enable the British Government to take up emergency powers to prosecute the war effectively. It contained clauses giving the government wide powers to create Defence Regulations which regulated almost every aspect of everyday life in the country. Two offences under the regulations were punishable with death.

Allied Forces Act 1940

Allied Forces Act 1940

The Allied Forces Act 1940 was an act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed in late 1940, after the fall of France.

Tenby

Tenby

Tenby is both a walled seaside town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the western side of Carmarthen Bay, and a local government community.

Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in 2021 of 3,107,500 and has a total area of 20,779 km2 (8,023 sq mi). Wales has over 1,680 miles (2,700 km) of coastline and is largely mountainous with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon, its highest summit. The country lies within the north temperate zone and has a changeable, maritime climate. The capital and largest city is Cardiff.

Dunkirk

Dunkirk

Dunkirk is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France. It lies 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the Belgian border. It has the third-largest French harbour. The population of the commune in 2019 was 86,279.

Raoul Daufresne de la Chevalerie

Raoul Daufresne de la Chevalerie

Lieutenant-General Raoul Daufresne de la Chevalerie was a Belgian sportsman and commander of the Free Belgian forces during the Second World War. He was born in Bruges and died in Uccle.

Vichy France

Vichy France

Vichy France, officially the French State, was the French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its territory occupied under the harsh terms of the armistice with Nazi Germany, it adopted a policy of collaboration. The Occupation of France by Nazi Germany at first affected only the northern and western portions of the country, before the Germans occupied the remainder of Metropolitan France in November 1942. Though Paris was ostensibly its capital, the Vichy government established itself in the resort town of Vichy in the unoccupied "Free Zone", where it remained responsible for the civil administration of France as well as its colonies.

Francoist Spain

Francoist Spain

Francoist Spain, or the Francoist dictatorship, was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title Caudillo. After his death in 1975, Spain transitioned into a democracy. During this time period, Spain was officially known as the Spanish State.

Center of mass

Center of mass

In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space is the unique point at any given time where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. This is the point to which a force may be applied to cause a linear acceleration without an angular acceleration. Calculations in mechanics are often simplified when formulated with respect to the center of mass. It is a hypothetical point where the entire mass of an object may be assumed to be concentrated to visualise its motion. In other words, the center of mass is the particle equivalent of a given object for application of Newton's laws of motion.

Belgian Army in the United Kingdom

Brigade Piron

In 1940, the Belgian government-in-exile decided to raise a military unit from pre-war Belgian émigrés and soldiers rescued from Dunkirk.[12] The original forces were known as the 1st Fusilier Battalion.[note 1][7] A 2nd Fusilier Battalion was formed in Canada from Belgian émigrés in the Americas.[7]

A Staghound armoured car in the markings of the 1st Belgian Armoured Car Squadron of the Brigade Piron.
A Staghound armoured car in the markings of the 1st Belgian Armoured Car Squadron of the Brigade Piron.

In 1942, the various Belgian ground forces units in the United Kingdom were amalgamated into the 1st Belgian Infantry Brigade, more often known as the Brigade Piron after its commanding officer, Colonel Jean-Baptiste Piron. The unit not only included motorized infantry, armoured cars and artillery but also various logistics and medical support units.[12] In March 1944, an artillery battery of four 25-pounder guns operated by troops from Luxembourg was added to the brigade's artillery unit.[13] 80 Luxembourgers were serving with the Brigade Piron by August 1944 when the Brigade landed in Normandy.[13]

The brigade arrived in Normandy on 8 August 1944 and was involved in the fighting in Northern France alongside British and Canadian units.[14] The brigade was one of the first Allied units to enter Belgium, crossing the border on 3 September.[15] The following day, the brigade was the second Allied unit to enter Brussels (after the Welsh Guards). After the liberation of Belgium, the brigade was involved in fighting in the Netherlands until November 1944 when it returned to Belgium and reorganized, expanding on account of the new manpower. The reorganized brigade had three infantry battalions, an artillery regiment of six batteries, and an armored car regiment. Returning to combat in the Netherlands in April 1945, the brigade's units fought at Nijmegen and Walcheren.[16]

No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando

Belgian Commandos, wearing the distinctive green beret, fire a mortar during a training exercise, 1945.
Belgian Commandos, wearing the distinctive green beret, fire a mortar during a training exercise, 1945.

The British No. 10 Commando was made up of soldiers from across occupied Europe, organized by nationality in eight troops. No. 4 Troop, created in August 1942, was Belgian and was commanded by Captain Georges Danloy.[17] The original volunteers spent nearly a year in training, before leaving for Italy to fight alongside the British Eighth Army during the battles around Sangro river in the winter of 1943.[18]

In 1944, the troop was sent to Yugoslavia, where it raided numerous Dalmatian islands held by the Germans.[18] In the Autumn of 1944, the troop was part of Operation Infatuate to capture the island of Walcheren at the head of the Scheldt Estuary, alongside Free Norwegian, Free Dutch, Free French and British Commandos.[18] The unit later moved into Germany.[19]

5th Special Air Service

In 1942, 120 volunteers from the 2nd Fusilier Battalion were given parachute training and formed into a new unit, the Belgian Independent Parachute Company.[20] The new unit was commanded by Commander Jean Thise, later replaced by Captain Edouard Blondeel.

In February 1944, the company joined the élite British Special Air Service's SAS Brigade. It was renamed the 5th SAS Regiment in March 1945, even though it was only battalion-strength. The 5th SAS were deployed on numerous missions behind enemy lines. In July 1944, the small groups from 5th SAS were dropped by parachute into northern France to perform reconnaissance and sabotage missions and to link up with the French Resistance. Amongst their missions was to harass the German retreat from the Falaise Gap.[21]

In August 1944, it was the first Allied unit to enter Belgium[21] when it was deployed to the Ardennes and Limburg.[20] The small team, mounted in armed Jeeps, managed to kill more than 300 German soldiers and destroy over 100 vehicles during the mission.[21] Later, the unit fought in the Netherlands and also served as a reconnaissance unit in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge in the winter of 1944.[21] After the war it was sent to Germany to arrest leading Nazis,[20] and was responsible for arresting Karl Doenitz, Alfred Rosenberg and Joachim von Ribbentrop as well as numerous others.[22]

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T17E1 Staghound

T17E1 Staghound

The T17E1 Armoured Car was an American armored car design produced during the Second World War. It saw service with British and other Commonwealth forces during the war under the name Staghound, but was never used on the front line by US forces. A number of other countries used the Staghound after the war; some vehicles continued to serve until the 1980s.

Jean-Baptiste Piron

Jean-Baptiste Piron

Lieutenant General Jean-Baptiste Piron was a Belgian military officer, best known for his role in the Free Belgian forces during World War II as commander of the 1st Belgian Infantry Brigade, widely known as the "Piron Brigade", between 1942 and 1944.

Ordnance QF 25-pounder

Ordnance QF 25-pounder

The Ordnance QF 25-pounder, or more simply 25-pounder or 25-pdr, was the major British field gun and howitzer during the Second World War. Its calibre is 3.45-inch (87.6 mm). It was introduced into service just before the war started, combining both high-angle and direct-fire abilities, a relatively high rate of fire, and a reasonably lethal shell in a highly mobile piece. It remained the British Army's primary artillery field piece well into the 1960s, with smaller numbers serving in training units until the 1980s. Many Commonwealth of Nations countries used theirs in active or reserve service until about the 1970s and ammunition for the weapon is currently being produced by Pakistan Ordnance Factories. Initial production was slow, but by 1945, over 12,000 had been manufactured. The 25-pounder was probably the most outstanding field artillery piece used by British and Commonwealth forces in the Second World War, being durable, easy to operate and versatile.

Clearing the Channel Coast

Clearing the Channel Coast

Clearing the Channel Coast was a World War II task undertaken by the First Canadian Army in August 1944, following the Allied Operation Overlord and the victory, break-out and pursuit from Normandy.

Brussels

Brussels

Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country and is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region.

Nijmegen

Nijmegen

Nijmegen is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole; it is located on the Waal river close to the German border. Nijmegen is the oldest city in the Netherlands, the second to be recognized as such in Roman times, and in 2005 celebrated 2,000 years of existence.

Green beret

Green beret

The green beret was the official headdress of the British Commandos of the Second World War. It is still worn by members of the Royal Marines after passing the Commando Course, and personnel from other units of the Royal Navy, Army and RAF who serve within 3 Commando Brigade and who have passed the All Arms Commando Course.

No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando

No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando

No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando was a commando unit of the British Army during the Second World War, recruited largely from non-British personnel from German-occupied Europe. This unit was used to help co-ordinate attacks with other allied forces.

Italian campaign (World War II)

Italian campaign (World War II)

The Italian campaign of World War II, also called the Liberation of Italy following the German occupation in September 1943, consisted of Allied and Axis operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to 1945. The joint Allied Forces Headquarters (AFHQ) was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre and it planned and led the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, followed in September by the invasion of the Italian mainland and the campaign in Italy until the surrender of the German Armed Forces in Italy in May 1945.

Eighth Army (United Kingdom)

Eighth Army (United Kingdom)

The Eighth Army was a field army of the British Army during the Second World War. It was initially formed as the Western Army on 10 September 1941, in Egypt, before being renamed the Army of the Nile, and finally the Eighth Army on 26 September. It was created to better control the growing Allied forces based in Egypt and to direct their efforts to lift the siege of Tobruk via Operation Crusader.

List of islands in the Adriatic

List of islands in the Adriatic

There are more than 1200 islands in the Adriatic Sea, 69 of which are inhabited. A recent study by the Institute of Oceanography in Split (2000) shows that there are 1246 islands: 79 large islands, 525 islets, and 642 ridges and rocks. The Italian Scuola di Geografia of Genoa states that the number is greater if one includes the small islands in the Italian lagoons of Venice and Grado, and the so-called "islands of the Po delta".

Operation Infatuate

Operation Infatuate

Operation Infatuate was the code name given to an Anglo-Canadian operation in November 1944 during the Second World War to open the port of Antwerp to shipping and relieve logistical constraints. The operation was part of the wider Battle of the Scheldt and involved two assault landings from the sea by the 4th Special Service Brigade and the 52nd (Lowland) Division. At the same time the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division would force a crossing of the Walcheren Causeway.

Belgians in the Royal Air Force

Belgian pilots and Spitfires of No. 350 Squadron at RAF Kenley, 1942
Belgian pilots and Spitfires of No. 350 Squadron at RAF Kenley, 1942

During the 18 Days' Campaign, the Belgian air force had lost practically all its equipment and 28 pilots had been killed.[23] After the French surrender, many Belgian pilots escaped to England.[23] 15 Belgian pilots served in fighter squadrons of the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Battle of Britain in June 1940 while a further 14 others served in auxiliary roles, such as navigators or gunners.[23] All served in predominantly British squadrons rather than national units.[23] By 1943, there were more Belgian pilots in the Royal Air Force than there had been in the Belgian air force in 1940.[6]

In November 1941, the all-Belgian 350 Squadron, was created.[24] The regimental standard of the 2nd Régiment d'Aéronautique was smuggled out of occupied Belgium and presented to the unit.[25] The incident was depicted in the 1943 British film The Flemish Farm. A year later, a second all-Belgian squadron, 349 Squadron, was created.[24] Both units were equipped with Spitfires.[25] By June 1943, some 400 Belgian pilots were serving with the RAF.[26] The Belgian section of the RAF achieved its 100th "kill" in January 1944.[25] Both squadrons served in the European theatre and were involved in the Normandy Landings.[25]

In 1943, a Belgian pilot from 609 Squadron, Jean de Selys Longchamps, strafed the Gestapo headquarters in Brussels, after flying through the streets at low-altitude.[27] Operation Carthage an air raid on the Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark in March 1945, was led by a Belgian, Wing-Commander Michel Donnet,[28] who had escaped from occupied Belgium in a home-made aircraft.[29]

During the course of the war, 1,900 Belgians served in the RAF, Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and the South African Air Force (SAAF).[25] 225 were killed in action.[25]

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350th Squadron (Belgium)

350th Squadron (Belgium)

The 350th Squadron is a fighter squadron in the Air Component of the Belgian Armed Forces. It was originally formed in 1941 as No. 350 (Belgian) Smaldeel of the Royal Air Force during World War II. The unit was transferred to the Belgian Air Force, together with 349th Squadron, in 1946. Based at Florennes air base, the unit is now part of the 2nd Tactical Wing and operates F-16 Fighting Falcons.

RAF Kenley

RAF Kenley

The former Royal Air Force Station Kenley, more commonly known as RAF Kenley was an airfield station of the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War and the RAF in the Second World War. It played a significant role during the Battle of Britain as one of the three RAF stations specifically tasked with the defence of London. It is located near Kenley on the edge of Greater London. The site remains in use with the Ministry of Defence, as Kenley Airfield.

Non-British personnel in the RAF during the Battle of Britain

Non-British personnel in the RAF during the Battle of Britain

The Royal Air Force (RAF) and Fleet Air Arm had included personnel from outside the United Kingdom from before the beginning of the Second World War, and many served in the Battle of Britain in summer 1940. Many of these volunteers were British subjects—thus, citizens—coming from territories that made up part of the British Empire. Additionally, a significant part was made up of refugees and exiles from German-occupied Europe and American emigrants.

Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's aerial warfare and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Following the Allied victory over the Central Powers in 1918, the RAF emerged as the largest air force in the world at the time. Since its formation, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history. In particular, it played a large part in the Second World War where it fought its most famous campaign, the Battle of Britain.

Battle of Britain

Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain, was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe. It was the first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces. The British officially recognise the battle's duration as being from 10 July until 31 October 1940, which overlaps the period of large-scale night attacks known as the Blitz, that lasted from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941. German historians do not follow this subdivision and regard the battle as a single campaign lasting from July 1940 to May 1941, including the Blitz.

349th Squadron (Belgium)

349th Squadron (Belgium)

349th Squadron is a fighter squadron in the Air Component of the Belgian Armed Forces. The squadron traces its origins to No. 349 (Belgian) Squadron of the Royal Air Force, founded in 1942 as part of the Free Belgian forces during World War II. It was transferred to the re-established Belgian Air Force in 1946, together with 350th Squadron. Considered an "honorary" squadron, it retained its original name and numbering and has been flying under the Belgian flag ever since. Today it is part of the 10th Tactical Wing, operating the F-16 Fighting Falcon from Kleine Brogel airbase.

No. 609 Squadron RAF

No. 609 Squadron RAF

No. 609 Squadron of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, originally formed as a bomber squadron and in the Second World War active as fighter squadron, nowadays provides personnel to augment and support the operations of the Royal Air Force. The squadron is no longer a flying squadron, but instead has the role of Force Protection. It is currently based at RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire.

Jean de Selys Longchamps

Jean de Selys Longchamps

Baron Jean Michel P.M.G. de Selys Longchamps DFC was a Belgian aristocrat and RAF fighter pilot during World War II. He is chiefly known for his single-handed attack on the Gestapo headquarters in Brussels in German-occupied Belgium.

Operation Carthage

Operation Carthage

Operation Carthage was an Allied air raid against German-occupied Copenhagen on 21 March 1945 during World War II. It was carried out by the Royal Air Force (RAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF). The target of the raid was the Shellhus, a building in Copenhagen's city centre used by the Gestapo as their regional headquarters and which contained storage facilities for classified information along with housing interrogation chambers for captured members of the Danish resistance movement.

Michel Donnet

Michel Donnet

Michel G. L. "Mike" Donnet, was a Belgian pilot who served in the Belgian Army and British Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. He shot down four enemy aircraft confirmed, and achieved the RAF rank of wing commander. After the war, he returned to the Belgian Air Force, and held several important commands before retiring in 1975.

Royal Canadian Air Force

Royal Canadian Air Force

The Royal Canadian Air Force is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2020, the Royal Canadian Air Force consists of 12,074 Regular Force and 1,969 Primary Reserve personnel, supported by 1,518 civilians, and operates 258 manned aircraft and nine unmanned aerial vehicles. Lieutenant-General Eric Kenny is the current commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force and chief of the Air Force Staff.

South African Air Force

South African Air Force

The South African Air Force (SAAF) is the air warfare branch of South African National Defence Force, with its headquarters in Pretoria. The South African Air Force was established on 1 February 1920. The Air Force saw service in World War II and the Korean War. From 1966, the SAAF was involved in providing infantry support in the low-intensity Border War in Angola, South-West Africa and Rhodesia. As the war progressed, the intensity of air operations increased, until in the late 1980s when the SAAF were compelled to fly fighter missions against Angolan aircraft in order to maintain tactical air superiority. On conclusion of the Border War in 1990, aircraft numbers were severely reduced due to economic pressures as well as the cessation of hostilities with neighbouring states.

Royal Navy Section Belge

Belgian sailors training at Skegness in England, 1945
Belgian sailors training at Skegness in England, 1945

On the initiative of Lieutenant Victor Billet, a Belgian sailor, the Royal Navy Section Belge (RNSB)[note 2] was created in October 1940.[30][31] By 1941, the RNSB numbered 350 men with several hundred more Belgians serving on other British naval and merchant ships.[32] Unlike the neighbouring Netherlands, which had possessed a sizeable navy, the Belgian Corps de Marine had had only few ships before the war. With the surrender in May 1940, many vessels, including A4 which had evacuated Belgian gold to Britain during the campaign, travelled to neutral Spain and interned themselves rather than return to occupied Belgium. Consequently, most of the volunteers of the RNSB had been civilian fishermen or members of the Merchant Navy rather than career soldiers.[33]

Around 1,400 men of the Belgian fishing fleet had left for Britain after the Belgian surrender. Three Belgian trawlers even took part in the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Forces from Dunkirk, rescuing 4,300 British soldiers between them.[34] Their ships and crews were put at the disposal of the Royal Navy, for coastal patrols and launching barrage balloons.[34] From October 1940, many joined the RNSB.[34]

The unit was placed under command of Lieutenant-Commander Georges Timmermans.[35] Victor Billet himself was posted MIA during the Dieppe Raid in 1942.[31] The RNSB operated two small corvettes, HMS Godetia and Buttercup, within the Royal Navy from 1942.[32] Both corvettes served as convoy escorts during the Battle of the Atlantic, the Caribbean and also as part of the escorting fleet during D-Day.[32][36]

The RNSB also operated the 118th Minesweeper Flotilla, composed of MMS-class minesweepers, from Harwich from 1943.[32][36] The 118th served in the English Channel and North Sea clearing paths through German minefields.[32] In November 1944, the flotilla was involved in clearing the Scheldt Estuary to the Belgian port of Antwerp to enable it to be used by the Allies.[32]

After liberation, the Belgian government decided to increase the size of the RNSB to 1,200 men which would later form the backbone of the fledgling Belgian Navy.[37]

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Belgian Navy

Belgian Navy

The Belgian Navy, officially the Belgian Naval Component of the Belgian Armed Forces, is the naval service of Belgium.

Belgian ship A4

Belgian ship A4

Patrol vessel A4 was a small Mersey class operated by Belgium during the Second World War. Originally built for the British Royal Navy, as HMS John Ebbs, the ship is notable for its role in evacuating Belgian gold reserves to England during the Battle of Belgium in May 1940. The success of the operation not only allowed the Belgian government in exile to fund its operations but deprived the German occupiers of an important asset to support their war effort. After the Belgian surrender, the vessel and its crew interned themselves in neutral Spain. Both crew and vessel were released in 1946 and A4 was scrapped soon afterwards.

British Expeditionary Force (World War II)

British Expeditionary Force (World War II)

The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was the name of the contingent of the British Army sent to France in 1939 after Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany on 3 September, beginning the Second World War. The BEF existed from 2 September 1939 when the BEF GHQ was formed until 31 May 1940, when GHQ closed down and its troops reverted to the command of Home Forces. During the 1930s, the British government had planned to deter war by abolishing the Ten Year Rule and rearming from the very low level of readiness of the early 1930s. The bulk of the extra money went to the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force but plans were made to re-equip a small number of Army and Territorial Army divisions for service overseas.

Barrage balloon

Barrage balloon

A barrage balloon is a large uncrewed tethered balloon used to defend ground targets against aircraft attack, by raising aloft steel cables which pose to hostile aircraft a severe risk of collision, making the attacker's approach difficult and hazardous. Early barrage balloons were often spherical. The kite balloon, having a shape and cable bridling which stabilises the balloon and reduces drag, could be operated at higher wind speeds than could a spherical balloon. Some examples carried small explosive charges that would be pulled up against the aircraft to ensure its destruction. Barrage balloons are not practical against high-altitude aircraft. The long cable required for a high-altitude balloon would be too heavy.

Dieppe Raid

Dieppe Raid

Operation Jubilee or the Dieppe Raid was an Allied amphibious attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe in northern France, during the Second World War. Over 6,050 infantry, predominantly Canadian, supported by a regiment of tanks, were put ashore from a naval force operating under protection of Royal Air Force (RAF) fighters.

Flower-class corvette

Flower-class corvette

The Flower-class corvette was a British class of 294 corvettes used during World War II by the Allied navies particularly as anti-submarine convoy escorts in the Battle of the Atlantic. Royal Navy ships of this class were named after flowers.

HMS Godetia (K226)

HMS Godetia (K226)

HMS Godetia was the second Flower-class corvette with that name built for the Royal Navy. She served during the Second World War as part of the Section Belge of the Royal Navy (RNSB). With the liberation of Belgium in late 1944, the vessel was returned to the United Kingdom. In common with other Flower-class corvettes, the ship was named after an eponymous flower.

HMS Buttercup (K193)

HMS Buttercup (K193)

HMS Buttercup was a Flower-class corvette built for the Royal Navy. She served during the Second World War first as part of the Royal Navy Section Belge (RNSB), and then later as part of the Royal Norwegian Navy. Between 1946 and 1957 she served as HNoMS Nordyn. The Norwegian government then sold her and she became the whaler Thoris until she was broken up in 1969.

Battle of the Atlantic

Battle of the Atlantic

The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allied naval blockade of Germany, announced the day after the declaration of war, and Germany's subsequent counter-blockade. The campaign peaked from mid-1940 through to the end of 1943.

Harwich

Harwich

Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on-Sea to the south. It is the northernmost coastal town in Essex.

English Channel

English Channel

The English Channel, also known as simply the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busiest shipping area in the world.

Antwerp

Antwerp

Antwerp is the largest city in Belgium by area at 204.51 km2 (78.96 sq mi) and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 530,504, it is the most populous municipality in Belgium, and with a metropolitan population of around 1,200,000 people, it is the second-largest metropolitan region in Belgium, second only to Brussels.

Force Publique

Force Publique dispatch rider after the Siege of Saïo, 1942
Force Publique dispatch rider after the Siege of Saïo, 1942

The Force Publique (or "Public Force") was a combined police and military force of the Belgian Congo. It had a peacetime strength of 18,000, making it one of the largest standing colonial armies in Africa at the time.[38] During World War II, it was reinforced, numbering 40,000,[39] and constituted the bulk of the Free Belgian forces.[38] Like other colonial armies of the time, the Force Publique was racially segregated;[40] it was commanded by 280 white officers and NCOs but other ranks were exclusively native Congolese.[41] The Force Publique had never been allowed the more modern equipment given to the Belgian army before the war, and consequently had to use outdated equipment and weapons, like the Stokes mortar and the Saint Chamond 70 mm howitzer.[42]

In June 1940, three battalions of the Force Publique were sent to Abyssinia alongside British forces to fight the Italians in the East African Campaign.[43] In May 1941, the Force Publique, under Major-General Auguste-Éduard Gilliaert and Lt.-Col. Leopold Dronkers Martens, successfully cut off the retreat of Italian army of General Pietro Gazzera at the Siege of Saïo in the Ethiopian Highlands, later accepting Gazzera's surrender with 7,000 of his soldiers.[44] Over the course of the campaign in Abyssinia, the Force Publique received the surrender of nine Italian generals, 370 ranking officers and 15,000 Italian colonial troops before the end of 1941.[45] Some 500 Congolese soldiers and 4 Belgian officers were killed during the campaign.[38]

Force Publique setting up mortars in Italian East Africa, c. 1941.
Force Publique setting up mortars in Italian East Africa, c. 1941.

After the Allied victory in Abyssinia, the Force Publique was redesignated the 1st Belgian Colonial Motorised Brigade and served as a garrison in Egypt and in British Palestine between 1943 and 1944.[20] 13,000 Congolese soldiers also served in Nigeria as a garrison force.[38]

Despite its military success during the conflict, the Force Publique was vulnerable to internal agitation. In 1944, a Force Publique garrison in the town of Luluabourg mutinied against their white officers.[46]

A medical unit from the Congo, the 10th (Belgian Congo) Casualty Clearing Station, was created in 1943 and served alongside British forces in the Far East during the Burma campaign.[47] The unit included 350 African and 20 European personnel and continued to serve with the British until 1945.[48]

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Force Publique

Force Publique

The Force Publique was a gendarmerie and military force in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1885, through the period of Belgian colonial rule. The FP was retitled as the Congolese National Army or ANC in July 1960 after independence.

Belgian Congo in World War II

Belgian Congo in World War II

The involvement of the Belgian Congo in World War II began with the German invasion of Belgium in May 1940. Despite Belgium's surrender, the Congo remained in the conflict on the Allied side, administered by the Belgian government in exile.

Belgian Congo

Belgian Congo

The Belgian Congo was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964.

Battalion

Battalion

A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies. In some countries, battalions are exclusively infantry, while in others battalions are unit-level organizations.

Italian East Africa

Italian East Africa

Italian East Africa was an Italian colony in the Horn of Africa. It was formed in 1936 through the merger of Italian Somalia, Italian Eritrea, and the newly occupied Ethiopian Empire, conquered in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.

Kingdom of Italy

Kingdom of Italy

The Kingdom of Italy was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and form the modern Italian Republic. The state resulted from a decades-long process, the Risorgimento, of consolidating the different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single state. That process was influenced by the Savoy-led Kingdom of Sardinia, which can be considered Italy's legal predecessor state.

East African campaign (World War II)

East African campaign (World War II)

The East African campaign was fought in East Africa during the Second World War by Allies of World War II, mainly from the British Empire, against Italy and its colony of Italian East Africa, between June 1940 and November 1941. The British Middle East Command with troops from the United Kingdom, South Africa, British India, Uganda Protectorate, Kenya, Somaliland, West Africa, Northern and Southern Rhodesia, Sudan and Nyasaland participated in the campaign. These were joined by the Allied Force Publique of Belgian Congo, Imperial Ethiopian Arbegnoch and a small unit of Free French.

Ethiopian Highlands

Ethiopian Highlands

The Ethiopian Highlands is a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia in Northeast Africa. It forms the largest continuous area of its elevation in the continent, with little of its surface falling below 1,500 m (4,900 ft), while the summits reach heights of up to 4,550 m (14,930 ft). It is sometimes called the Roof of Africa due to its height and large area. Most of the Ethiopian Highlands are part of central and northern Ethiopia, and its northernmost portion reaches into Eritrea.

Mortar (weapon)

Mortar (weapon)

A mortar is usually a simple, lightweight, man-portable, muzzle-loaded weapon, consisting of a smooth-bore metal tube fixed to a base plate with a lightweight bipod mount and a sight. They launch explosive shells in high-arcing ballistic trajectories. Mortars are typically used as indirect fire weapons for close fire support with a variety of ammunition.

Kingdom of Egypt

Kingdom of Egypt

The Kingdom of Egypt was the legal form of the Egyptian state during the latter period of the Muhammad Ali dynasty's reign, from the United Kingdom's recognition of Egyptian independence in 1922 until the abolition of the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan in 1953 following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. Until the Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936, the Kingdom was only nominally independent, as the United Kingdom retained control of foreign relations, communications, the military, and Sudan. Officially, Sudan was governed as a condominium of the two states, however, in reality, true power in Sudan lay with the United Kingdom. Between 1936 and 1952, the United Kingdom continued to maintain its military presence, and its political advisers, at a reduced level.

Mandatory Palestine

Mandatory Palestine

Mandatory Palestine was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 in the region of Palestine under the terms of the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine.

Kananga

Kananga

Kananga, formerly known as Luluabourg or Luluaburg, is the capital city of the Kasai-Central Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and was the capital of the former Kasaï-Occidental Province. It is the fourth most populous urban area in the country, with an estimated population of 1,524,000 in 2021.

Special Operations Executive

Numerous Belgians served as secret agents for the Allies within "T Section" of the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Agents were parachuted into occupied Belgium to liaise with the resistance from October 1940.[49] Many were civilians from professional backgrounds rather than soldiers.[49] It was exceptionally risky and of around 300 agents parachuted into Belgium, 75% were captured by the German Gestapo. Those captured were liable for torture or execution and 150 agents were killed.[49]

Uniforms and equipment

A British "Tommy Helmet", with an added Belgian flag, in the collection of the Nationaal Bevrijdingsmuseum in the Netherlands
A British "Tommy Helmet", with an added Belgian flag, in the collection of the Nationaal Bevrijdingsmuseum in the Netherlands

Unlike the Free French, whose army retained their national rank structure and much of its own equipment and uniforms, the Free Belgians were fully organized and equipped along British lines.[50] Belgian troops adopted the British rank structure along with British Battle Dress uniforms and helmets.[50] They were distinguished from other units by a rampant lion cap badge and a curved cloth badge inscribed "BELGIUM" worn on one shoulder, and a Belgian tricolor badge on the other.[50]

The Belgian army had traditionally used French-style uniforms, along with the characteristic Adrian helmet, meaning that from the First World War both armies had a very similar appearance.[51] After the war, influenced by the Free Belgians and by British military advisors, the Belgian military instead adopted British-style uniforms and British-produced equipment.[51]

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Brodie helmet

Brodie helmet

The Brodie helmet is a steel combat helmet designed and patented in London in 1915 by Latvian inventor John Leopold Brodie. A modified form of it became the Helmet, Steel, Mark I in Britain and the M1917 Helmet in the US. Colloquially, it was called the shrapnel helmet, battle bowler, Tommy helmet, tin hat, and in the United States the doughboy helmet. It was also known as the dishpan hat, tin pan hat, washbasin and Kelly helmet. The German Army called it the Salatschüssel. The term Brodie is often misused. It is correctly applied only to the original 1915 Brodie's Steel Helmet, War Office Pattern.

Flag of Belgium

Flag of Belgium

The national flag of Belgium is a tricolour consisting of three equal vertical bands displaying the national colours of Belgium: black, yellow, and red. The colours were taken from the coat of arms of the Duchy of Brabant, and the vertical design may be based on the flag of France. When flown, the black band is nearest the pole. It has the unusual proportions of 13∶15.

Cap badge

Cap badge

A cap badge, also known as head badge or hat badge, is a badge worn on uniform headgear and distinguishes the wearer's nationality and/or organisation. The wearing of cap badges is a convention commonly found among military and police forces, as well as uniformed civilian groups such as the Boy Scouts, civil defence organisations, ambulance services, customs services, fire services etc.

Adrian helmet

Adrian helmet

The Adrian helmet was an influential design of combat helmet originally produced for the French Army during World War I. Its original version, the M15, was the first standard helmet of the French Army and was designed when millions of French troops were engaged in trench warfare, and head wounds from the falling shrapnel generated by indirect fire became a frequent cause of battlefield casualties. Introduced in 1915, it was the first modern steel helmet and it served as the basic helmet of many armies well into the 1930s. Initially issued to infantry soldiers, in modified form they were also issued to cavalry and tank crews. A subsequent version, the M26, was used during World War II.

Legacy

The Free Belgian forces formed the core of the post-war Belgian army. The Brigade Piron, expanded and renamed "Liberation" Regiment, formed the core of the Belgian army of occupation in Germany.[52][53] The Free Belgian special forces formed the basis for the creation of the 1st Commando Regiment,[54] and the 1st Parachute Regiment which even kept the "Who Dares Wins" motto of the SAS.[55]

The history of the Free Belgian forces continues to be celebrated within Belgium. The Belgian Marine Component, for example, still operates a ship named Godetia.[56] There are numerous memorials to the participation of the Free Belgians forces in the liberation across the country and in areas liberated by the Free Belgians.[57] The participation of soldiers from the Belgian Congo was, however, largely forgotten following Congolese independence in 1960 and decades of subsequent war,[58] though in recent years the profile of the veterans has been raised by exhibitions creating greater public awareness.[58][59]

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Bataljon Bevrijding – 5 Linie

Bataljon Bevrijding – 5 Linie

The Bataljon Bevrijding – 5 Linie is an infantry battalion in the Land Component of the Belgian Armed Forces. The regiment is a part of the Motorized Brigade and is Dutch-speaking.

Belgian Forces in Germany

Belgian Forces in Germany

The Belgian Forces in Germany was the name of Belgium's army of occupation in West Germany after World War II. Lasting between 1946 and 2002, the army corps-strength FBA-BSD formed part of the NATO force guarding Western Europe against Warsaw Pact during the Cold War. At its height, 40,000 soldiers were serving with the unit with several thousand civilians also living in the Belgian zone around Cologne.

Allied-occupied Germany

Allied-occupied Germany

The entirety of Germany was militarily occupied by the Allies from the Berlin Declaration on 5 June 1945 to the establishment of West Germany on 23 May 1949. After Nazi Germany (1933–1945) of the German Reich (1871–1945) surrendered to the Allies and collapsed on 8 May 1945, the four countries representing the Allies asserted joint authority and sovereignty with the Allied Control Council (ACC) at the 1945 Berlin Declaration. At first, defining Allied-occupied Germany as all territories (1922–1938) of the former German Reich before the Nazi annexing of Austria and later at the 1945 Potsdam Conference of the Allies themselves, the Potsdam Agreement on 1 August decided the new eastern German border by giving Poland and the Soviet Union all regions of Germany east of the Oder–Neisse line and divided the remaining "Germany as a whole" into the four occupation zones for administrative purposes under the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union. Although the three of Allies agreed about the occupation, division, and border of Germany in the 1943 Tehran Conference in Iran before, the four occupied zones located in Germany were only agreed by the three Allies at the February 1945 Yalta Conference.

2nd Commando Battalion (Belgium)

2nd Commando Battalion (Belgium)

The 2nd Commando Battalion is a military formation of the Belgian Armed Forces and part of the 'Special Operations Regiment'. Its regimental traditions, including the name "Commando" and the green beret, were adopted from the Belgian soldiers who served in No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando during the Second World War.

Who Dares Wins

Who Dares Wins

Who Dares Wins is a motto made popular in the English-speaking world by the British Special Air Service.

Source: "Free Belgian forces", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2022, November 15th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Belgian_forces.

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See also
Notes
  1. ^ The two Fusilier Battalions formed in Britain and Canada between 1940–41 should not be confused with the 57 later Fusilier Battalions formed in Belgium after the liberation from October 1944.
  2. ^ The French name Section Belge (and the accompanying acronym RNSB) was adopted in order to avoid any confusion with the Royal Navy Patrol Service (RNPS).
References
  1. ^ Bailly, Michel (2 February 1990). "Forces et faiblesses de l'armée belge en 1940 à la veille de la guerre". Le Soir. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  2. ^ a b Various authors (1941). Belgium: The Official Account of What Happened, 1939–40. London: Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. p. 99.
  3. ^ a b Yapou, Elizer (1998). "4: Belgium: Disintegration and Resurrection". Governments in Exile, 1939–1945. Jerusalem.
  4. ^ Gerard, Emmanuel; Van Nieuwenhuyse, Karel (eds.) (2010). Scripta Politica: Politieke Geschiedenis van België in Documenten, 1918–2008 (2nd ed.). Leuven: Acco. pp. 164–5. ISBN 978-90-334-8039-3. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ a b Conway, Martin; Gotovitch, José (2001). Europe in exile: European exile communities in Britain, 1940–1945. Berghahn Books. pp. 81–5. ISBN 1-57181-503-1.
  6. ^ a b c d Wullus-Rudiger, J.A. (1945). La Belgique et la Crise Européene, 1914-1945. Vol. II: 1940-1945. Éd. Berger-Levrault. pp. 47–8. OCLC 004156520.
  7. ^ a b c Thomas, Nigel (1991). Foreign Volunteers of the Allied Forces, 1939–45. London: Osprey. pp. 15–6. ISBN 978-1-85532-136-6.
  8. ^ Crang, Jeremy A., Addison, Paul (2011). Listening to Britain: Home Intelligence Reports on Britain's Finest Hour, May–September 1940. London: Vintage. p. 285. ISBN 978-0-09-954874-4.
  9. ^ Crang, Jeremy A., Addison, Paul (2011). Listening to Britain: Home Intelligence Reports on Britain's Finest Hour, May–September 1940. London: Vintage. p. 315. ISBN 978-0-09-954874-4.
  10. ^ Various (1988). Geschiedenis van het Belgisch Leger. Vol. II: van 1920 tot heden. Centrum voor historische dokumentatie van de Krijgsmacht. p. 153.
  11. ^ Conway, Martin; Gotovitch, José (2001). Europe in Exile: European Exile communities in Britain 1940–45 (1st ed.). New York: Berghahn. p. 96. ISBN 1-57181-503-1.
  12. ^ a b Baete, Hubert, ed. (1994). Belgian Forces in United Kingdom. Ostend: Defence. p. 24.
  13. ^ a b "Les luxembourgeois de la Brigade Piron". Armee.lu. Archived from the original on 29 June 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  14. ^ Conway, Martin; Gotovitch, José (2001). Europe in exile: European exile communities in Britain, 1940–1945. Berghahn Books. p. 94. ISBN 1-57181-503-1.
  15. ^ Baete, Hubert, ed. (1994). Belgian Forces in United Kingdom. Ostend: Defence. p. 29.
  16. ^ Baete, Hubert, ed. (1994). Belgian Forces in United Kingdom. Ostend: Defence. pp. 31–7.
  17. ^ "Historique – Centre d'Entraînement de Commandos". Belgian Land Component. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
  18. ^ a b c Baete, Hubert, ed. (1994). Belgian Forces in United Kingdom. Ostend: Defence. p. 87.
  19. ^ Various (1988). Geschiedenis van het Belgisch Leger. Vol. II: van 1920 tot heden. Centrum voor historische dokumentatie van de Krijgsmacht. p. 167.
  20. ^ a b c d Thomas, Nigel (1991). Foreign Volunteers of the Allied Forces, 1939–45. London: Osprey. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-85532-136-6.
  21. ^ a b c d Baete, Hubert, ed. (1994). Belgian Forces in United Kingdom. Ostend: Defence. pp. 147–51.
  22. ^ Baete, Hubert, ed. (1994). Belgian Forces in United Kingdom. Ostend: Defence. p. 157.
  23. ^ a b c d Baete, Hubert, ed. (1994). Belgian Forces in United Kingdom. Ostend: Defence. pp. 165–7.
  24. ^ a b Thomas, Nigel (1991). Foreign Volunteers of the Allied Forces, 1939–45. London: Osprey. pp. 16–7. ISBN 978-1-85532-136-6.
  25. ^ a b c d e f Baete, Hubert, ed. (1994). Belgian Forces in United Kingdom. Ostend: Defence. pp. 165–169.
  26. ^ Ready, J. Lee (1985). Forgotten Allies: the Military Contribution of the Colonies, Exiled Governments, and Lesser Powers to the Allied Victory in World War II. Vol. I. Jefferson: Mcfarland. p. 254. ISBN 0-7864-7168-9.
  27. ^ "Baron Jean de Selys Longchamps". Inventaire du patrimoine architectural. Irismonument.be. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  28. ^ Ready, J. Lee (1985). Forgotten Allies: the Military Contribution of the Colonies, Exiled Governments, and Lesser Powers to the Allied Victory in World War II. Vol. I. Jefferson: Mcfarland. p. 405. ISBN 0-7864-7168-9.
  29. ^ Donnet, Mike (1991). Flight to Freedom (2nd Eng. ed.). Canterbury: Wingham Press. ISBN 1-873454-07-4.
  30. ^ Various (1988). Geschiedenis van het Belgisch Leger. Vol. II: van 1920 tot heden. Centrum voor historische dokumentatie van de Krijgsmacht. pp. 178–9.
  31. ^ a b "Victor Billet (1902–1942)". Les Amis de la section Marine. Marine section of KLM-MRA. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
  32. ^ a b c d e f Conway, Martin; Gotovitch, José (2001). Europe in exile: European exile communities in Britain, 1940–1945. Berghahn Books. pp. 86–7. ISBN 1-57181-503-1.
  33. ^ Baete, Hubert, ed. (1994). Belgian Forces in United Kingdom. Ostend: Defence. p. 190.
  34. ^ a b c "Royal Navy Section Belge". Les Amis de la section Marine. Marine section of KLM-MRA. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  35. ^ "Commodore Timmermans, DSC (1899–1969)". Les Amis de la section Marine. Marine section of KLM-MRA. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
  36. ^ a b Various (1988). Geschiedenis van het Belgisch Leger. Vol. II: van 1920 tot heden. Centrum voor historische dokumentatie van de Krijgsmacht. p. 180.
  37. ^ Baete, Hubert, ed. (1994). Belgian Forces in United Kingdom. Ostend: Defence. p. 199.
  38. ^ a b c d Killingray, David (2010). Fighting for Britain: African soldiers in the Second World War. Woodbridge, Suffolk: James Currey. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-84701-015-5.
  39. ^ Dowling, Timothy C., ed. (2005). Personal Perspectives: World War II. Vol. 2. Oxford: ABC-CLIO. p. 149. ISBN 1-85109-575-6.
  40. ^ Willame, Jean-Claude (1972). Patrimonialism and Political Change in the Congo. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford U.P. p. 62. ISBN 0-8047-0793-6.
  41. ^ Buzin, Jean. "The "Belgian Congo Air Force." The Air Force that Never Was ..." (PDF). Société Royale des Pionniers et Anciens de l'Aviation Belge.
  42. ^ Bellis, Malcolm A. (1999). Commonwealth Divisions: 1939–1945 (1st ed.). Crewe: Selbstverl. p. 45. ISBN 0-9529693-0-0.
  43. ^ "The Belgian Campaign in Ethiopia". New York Post and the Chicago Daily News. October 1941. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  44. ^ Ready, J. Lee (1985). Forgotten Allies: the Military Contribution of the Colonies, Exiled Governments, and Lesser Powers to the Allied Victory in World War II. Vol. I. Jefferson: Mcfarland. p. 45. ISBN 0-7864-7168-9.
  45. ^ Weller, George (1941). The Belgian Campaign in Ethiopia: A Trek of 2,500 Miles through Jungle Swamps and Desert Wastes. New York: Belgian Information Centre. p. 3.
  46. ^ Mwamba Mputu, Baudouin (2011). "IV: Mutinerie de Luluabourg de 1944". Le Congo-Kasaï (1865–1950): De l'exploration allemande à la consécration de Luluabourg. Paris: L'Harmattan.
  47. ^ "Epilogue Oriental". VOX. 16 June 2006. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  48. ^ "Burma: The 10th Belgian Congo Casualty Clearing Station, 1945". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  49. ^ a b c Baete, Hubert, ed. (1994). Belgian Forces in United Kingdom. Ostend: Defence. pp. 207–9.
  50. ^ a b c Thomas, Nigel (1991). Foreign Volunteers of the Allied Forces, 1939–45. London: Osprey. pp. 41–2. ISBN 978-1-85532-136-6.
  51. ^ a b Mollo, Andrew (2001). The Armed Forces of World War II: Uniforms, Insignia & Organisation. Leicester: Silverdale Books. p. 49. ISBN 1-85605-603-1.
  52. ^ "Quartier général de la Brigade Medium – Historique". Belgian Land Component. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  53. ^ Conway, Martin; Gotovitch, José (2001). Europe in exile: European exile communities in Britain, 1940–1945. Berghahn Books. p. 104. ISBN 1-57181-503-1.
  54. ^ "2 Bataillon de Commandos – Historique". Belgian Land Component. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  55. ^ "Le 1er Bataillon de Parachutistes en opérations". Belgian Land Component. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  56. ^ "A960 Godetia – Généralités". Belgian Naval Component. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  57. ^ "La Brigade Piron – Monuments, musées". Brigade-piron.be. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
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Further reading
Overview
  • (in French and Dutch) Baete, Hubert; Tabary, Robert, eds. (1994). Belgian Forces in United Kingdom. Ostend: Defence. OCLC 221827734.
  • Decat, Frank (2007). De Belgen in Engeland 40/45: de Belgische strijdkrachten in Groot-Brittannië tijdens WOII (in Dutch). Tielt: Lannoo. ISBN 978-90-209-6981-8.
  • Donnet, Mike (2007). Les Aviateurs Belges dans la Royal Air Force. Brussels: Éd. Racine. ISBN 9782873864729.
  • Thomas, Nigel (1991). Foreign Volunteers of the Allied Forces, 1939–45. London: Osprey. ISBN 1-85532-136-X.
  • De Vos, Luc (2001). "The Reconstruction of Belgian Military Forces in Britain, 1940-1945". In Conway, Martin; Gotovitch, José (eds.). Europe in exile : European exile communities in Britain 1940-45 (1st ed.). New York: Berghahn. pp. 81–99. ISBN 1-57181-503-1.
  • Ready, J. Lee (1985). Forgotten Allies: the Military Contribution of the Colonies, Exiled Governments, and Lesser Powers to the Allied Victory in World War II. Vol. I. Jefferson: Mcfarland. ISBN 0-7864-7168-9.
Primary sources

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