They March under Leopold to the Battle

This article was published in The War Illustrated on 24 May 1940. With the rapid surrender of the Belgian army in May 1940, one can't help but wonder at the overly optimistic tone of the article. If the contents of the article were true, the German invasion of Belgium would have been rapidly repulsed. The Belgian Army surrendered on 28 May 1940.

The invasion of Belgium was only a few hours old when it was made clear that the Belgian Army which had taken to the field under King Leopold might be relied upon to live up to the great tradition of that captained by his heroic father, King Albert, from 1914 to 1918. Some details of the present Belgian Army are given below.

When the Kaiser's legions fell upon "gallant little Belgium" in the August of 1914, they were opposed by an army rich in bravery but poor in all those things without which modern battles cannot be won. The soldiers who defended the forts of Liege for eleven terrible days, who struggled back from Antwerp to join their king in the water soaked remnant of their country about Furnes, were all of them ragged, many or most of them without sufficient guns and ammunition.

Very different was the army which was so suddenly put to the test on May 10, 1940. Its fire power was beyond comparison with that of 1914 or even 1918; the troops were provided with modern armaments claimed to be the best in existence, weapons which are Belgian in construction and manufacture. Moreover, the working of the principle of universal service had been perfected, with the result that it was possible even before Belgium herself was involved in the conflict to call 650,000 men to the colours - out of a population, be it remembered of only 8,000,000.

According to the military law passed in 1937 the ranks of the Belgian army are filled by an annual contingent of conscripts, supplemented by voluntary enlistments. Volunteers enlist for periods of from three to five years; the period of service of the annual contingent of conscripts is 17 months for 60 per cent of the intake and 12 months for the remainder. The liability to military service extends over 25 years - 15 years in the regular army and reserve and 10 years in the territorial army.

For the purposes of military organisation Belgium is divided into four areas. No. I consists of West and East Flanders and Hainaut; No. II of Antwerp and Limburg; No. III of Liege, Namur and Luxembourg; and No. IV of Brabant. There are a Staff College, and a school for training regimental officers at Brussels and a Cadet School at Namur. Non-commissioned officers are trained at Bouillon and St. Trond for French and Flemish speaking soldiers respectively. Then there are, of course, schools for specialised training in the various branches of the military art.

How the Army is Organised

In 1939 the strength of the army in Belgium was 4,800 officers and 88,000 other ranks - made up of 55,000 conscripts and 33,000 long service soldiers - organised in three infantry and one mechanised cavalry army corps. The infantry make up seven divisions, consisting of 22 regiments; there are two divisions of mechanised cavalry comprising eight regiments, two of which are cyclist. As regards artillery, there were before the war 91 batteries of field artillery and 12 of heavy artillery. There is also a division of special frontier troops, and last December the formation was announced of a Marine Corps charged with the patrol and protection of the coast.

As mentioned above, shortly after the present war began Belgium mobilised 650,000 men, and it may be anticipated that she has put an even larger number into the field in the course of the present campaign.

By way of comparison the position in 1914 may be stated. Parliament, the year before, had authorised a scheme that would yeild eventually 340,000 men, but on the outbreak of war only 230,000 were available, of whom 60,000 were fortress troops. One cavalry and six other divisions composed the field army, for which no reserve drafts existed.

In time of peace the head of the Belgian army is the Minister of Defence - the present holder of this office is Lieut. Gen. Henri Denis - but in time of war the Army is commanded by the king in person King Leopold announced in a proclamation of September 4, 1939, however, that he had taken over the command of the army, even though at that time his country was not actually involved in hostilities. During the crisis of January, 1940, when not only was the Belgian army fully mobilised but the frontier districts particularly in the Eupen-Malmedy area, had been evacuated of their civilian population, he set up an army headquarters; and as soon as the German troops crossed the Belgian frontier in the early hours of May 10 he went to the front and assumed effective control of his country's defence forces. Under him as Cheif of Staff, is Major-Gen. Michiels, who succeeded Lieut.-Gen Van den Bergen on February 1 last.