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The Independent Belgian Brigade (Dutch: 1e Infanteriebrigade ”Bevrijding”, lit. ' 1st Infantry Brigade "Liberation" ' ) was a Belgian and Luxembourgish military unit in the Free Belgian forces during World War II , commonly known as the Piron Brigade ( Brigade Piron ) after its commanding officer Jean-Baptiste Piron .
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 ]
Jean-Baptiste Piron (10 April 1896 – 4 September 1974) 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.
This list covers the regiments of the Belgian Army from 1939 to 1945, from mobilization to the ensuing Battle of Belgium and the Battle of France, along with Free Belgian regiments till 1945. This article is based on one source , [ 1 ] which covers up every detail on the 18 day campaign (1940) in the Belgian Perspective.
4th Infantry Brigade (Soest). [4] In 1966 the Belgian Army's active force was mechanised, and the force was reduced to two active-duty two-brigade divisions (in 1985, the 16th in Germany with the 4th Mechanised Brigade at Soest, and the 17th Armoured Brigade at Siegen, and the 1st in Belgium with the 1st Mechanised Brigade at Bourg Leopold and ...
1st Cavalry Division (Belgium) 1st Infantry Division (Belgium) 1st Light Regiment of the Gendarmerie (Belgium) 2nd Cavalry Division (Belgium) 2nd Light Regiment (Belgium) 4th Engineer Battalion (Belgium) 11th Engineer Battalion (Belgium) 14th Infantry Division (Belgium) 16th Infantry Division (Belgium) 349th Squadron (Belgium) 350th Squadron ...
In addition, the Belgian government had already begun a project of expanding the Piron Brigade into a new brigade of infantry, plus regiments of armour and artillery in a separate programme. [7] In all, 57 of the planned 77 fusilier battalions were created before the programme ended on VE Day. [5] They were numbered between 1–39 and 45–62.
The invasion of Belgium or Belgian campaign [2] (10–28 May 1940), often referred to within Belgium as the 18 Days' Campaign (French: Campagne des 18 jours; Dutch: Achttiendaagse Veldtocht), formed part of the larger Battle of France, an offensive campaign by Germany during the Second World War.