1st Belgian Infantry Brigade
Encyclopedia
The Belgian 1st Infantry Brigade, also known as the "Brigade Piron", after its commander, Jean-Baptiste Piron
, was a Belgian and Luxembourg
er army unit which fought in World War II
. Within the British 6th Airborne Division
, it participated in the Battle of Normandy
and, later, the liberation of Belgium
and the Netherlands
.
on 25 May 1940, three days before the Belgian capitulation. Van Strydonk de Burkel became commander of the Belgian Forces of Great Britain in June 1940 and in the same month, a Belgian Minister (Jaspar) called upon all Belgians to come to Britain to continue fighting.
At the end of July 1940 there were 462 men in the Belgian Forces of Great Britain; the arrival of many Belgians allowed the creation of several military units. The troops were trained in Great Britain
and Canada
and in 1942, Major
Jean-Baptiste Piron arrived in Scotland where he quickly joined the Army Staff, with the responsibility of improving the training of Belgian troops. In an artillery competition, the Belgian battery came first. The Belgian Forces in Britain were officially made available to the Allies on 4 June 1942. By the end of the year the army had been restructured, including the creation of the 1st Belgian Brigade, under the command of Major Piron, with a mix of infantry, artillery and reconnaissance units. Troop training continued through 1943 and landing exercises were conducted in early 1944.
A Luxembourger unit was assigned to the "Brigade Piron" in March, forming an artillery troop
. Because the Belgians had arrived from around the world, thirty-three languages were spoken in the Brigade in 1944.
On 29 July 1944, the Belgian Brigade was ordered to be ready to move. Its first units arrived in Normandy on 30 July and the main body arrived at Arromanches and Courseulles on 8 August, before the end of the Battle of Normandy
. The Brigade operated under the command of the British 6th Airborne Division
(Major General Gale
), which itself was part of the 1st Canadian Army. The Belgians entered active service on 9 August.
The Belgian Brigade participated in Operation Paddle
from 17 August with British and Dutch (Prinses Irene Brigade) troops of the 6th Airborne Division. Merville-Franceville-Plage
was liberated in the evening, Varaville on 20 August. The Brigade's armoured vehicles were detached to assist British units. Dives-sur-Mer
and Cabourg
were taken on the morning of 21 August and Houlgate
in the afternoon. The Brigade took Villers-sur-Mer
and Deauville
on 22 August, and Trouville-sur-Mer
and Honfleur
at the mouth of the Seine on the 24th. The Belgian armoured vehicles were reunited with the rest of the Brigade on 26 August at Foulbec
, when the "Piron Brigade" came under command of the British 49th Infantry Division. On 29 August, the Brigade crossed the Seine to support the attack on Le Havre
on the following day. At the last moment, however, the Brigade was withdrawn from the front.
The efforts of the "Piron Brigade" on Normandy's Côte Fleurie
are commemorated by memorials, road names and war graves.
was transferred to the 2nd British Army and ordered to move as quickly as possible to the Belgian border. The British Army was already in Belgium and expected to enter Brussels on the following day and this transfer would allow the Belgian and Dutch Brigades to operate in their homelands. The Brigade arrived at the French/Belgian border on 3 September after an overnight journey and continued to Rongy in Brussels
the following day, just after the British.
During their advance through Belgium, the Belgian troops were sometimes mistaken for French Canadian
s, since local people did not expect that their liberators would be fellow Belgians. The Belgian Brigade liberated other Belgian towns and cities before reaching the Netherlands border on 22 September. Its campaign in the Netherlands lasted until 17 November, when it was relieved from the front and moved into reserve in Leuven
. The "Piron Brigade" returned to the Netherlands between 11 April 1945 and June 1945.
In the small Dutch border town of Thorn, a bridge has been named in honour of its liberation on 25 September 1944.
. In a reorganisation on 17 November 1945, the Brigade's artillery and armoured units were reorganised to form specialised regiments and the engineers joined a newly formed engineers battalion. The remaining infantry, reinforced by volunteers, became the First Brigade Liberation, based at Leopoldsburg
(Fr lang: Bourg-Leopold) barracks.
Jean-Baptiste Piron
Lieutenant General Jean-Baptiste Piron DSO was the commander of the 1st Belgian Infantry Brigade, also known as the Piron Brigade, which took part in the liberation of Western Europe during the Second World War.After joining the army in 1914, he served in the 2nd Line Regiment until being...
, was a Belgian and Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
er army unit which fought in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Within the British 6th Airborne Division
British 6th Airborne Division
The 6th Airborne Division was an airborne division in the British Army during the Second World War. It took part in Operation Tonga, the airborne landings on the left flank of the invasion beaches in the Normandy Landings. It played a small part in the Battle of the Bulge and was involved in...
, it participated in the Battle of Normandy
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
and, later, the liberation of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
Origins
The "Piron Brigade" originated in 1940, with hundreds of Belgian soldiers who had escaped to Britain, as had the Belgian Government. A new command of the Belgian Army, under the command of Lieutenant-General Victor van Strydonck de Burkel, was created in TenbyTenby
Tenby is a walled seaside town in Pembrokeshire, South West Wales, lying on Carmarthen Bay.Notable features of Tenby include of sandy beaches; the 13th century medieval town walls, including the Five Arches barbican gatehouse ; 15th century St...
on 25 May 1940, three days before the Belgian capitulation. Van Strydonk de Burkel became commander of the Belgian Forces of Great Britain in June 1940 and in the same month, a Belgian Minister (Jaspar) called upon all Belgians to come to Britain to continue fighting.
At the end of July 1940 there were 462 men in the Belgian Forces of Great Britain; the arrival of many Belgians allowed the creation of several military units. The troops were trained in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and in 1942, Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
Jean-Baptiste Piron arrived in Scotland where he quickly joined the Army Staff, with the responsibility of improving the training of Belgian troops. In an artillery competition, the Belgian battery came first. The Belgian Forces in Britain were officially made available to the Allies on 4 June 1942. By the end of the year the army had been restructured, including the creation of the 1st Belgian Brigade, under the command of Major Piron, with a mix of infantry, artillery and reconnaissance units. Troop training continued through 1943 and landing exercises were conducted in early 1944.
A Luxembourger unit was assigned to the "Brigade Piron" in March, forming an artillery troop
Troop
A troop is a military unit, originally a small force of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron and headed by the troop leader. In many armies a troop is the equivalent unit to the infantry section or platoon...
. Because the Belgians had arrived from around the world, thirty-three languages were spoken in the Brigade in 1944.
Normandy invasion
The D-day landings took place on 6 June 1944 without the Belgian Brigade, to the great disappointment of its 2,200 men, but the British preferred to reserve them for the liberation of Belgium. (This policy was applied to all of the smaller national military units, which were expected to form the core of their post-war armies and for whom it would have been difficult to find replacements for casualties.) Major Piron, however, lobbied the Belgian government in exile, which requested the British Government to send the Belgian troops to the front, to reverse the declining morale of those troops.On 29 July 1944, the Belgian Brigade was ordered to be ready to move. Its first units arrived in Normandy on 30 July and the main body arrived at Arromanches and Courseulles on 8 August, before the end of the Battle of Normandy
Battle of Normandy
The Invasion of Normandy was the invasion and establishment of Allied forces in Normandy, France, during Operation Overlord in World War II. It was the largest amphibious operation in history...
. The Brigade operated under the command of the British 6th Airborne Division
British 6th Airborne Division
The 6th Airborne Division was an airborne division in the British Army during the Second World War. It took part in Operation Tonga, the airborne landings on the left flank of the invasion beaches in the Normandy Landings. It played a small part in the Battle of the Bulge and was involved in...
(Major General Gale
Gale
A gale is a very strong wind. There are conflicting definitions of how strong a wind must be to be considered a gale. The U.S. government's National Weather Service defines a gale as 34–47 knots of sustained surface winds. Forecasters typically issue gale warnings when winds of this strength are...
), which itself was part of the 1st Canadian Army. The Belgians entered active service on 9 August.
The Belgian Brigade participated in Operation Paddle
Clearing the Channel Coast
Clearing the Channel Coast was the task assigned, in World War II, to the 1st Canadian Army in August 1944, following the Allied breakout from Normandy.The Canadian Army's line of advance took them from Normandy to the Scheldt...
from 17 August with British and Dutch (Prinses Irene Brigade) troops of the 6th Airborne Division. Merville-Franceville-Plage
Merville-Franceville-Plage
Merville-Franceville-Plage is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.-Geography:Merville-Franceville-Plage, more usually called Franceville, is situated on the Côte Fleurie, 6 km from Cabourg and from Caen...
was liberated in the evening, Varaville on 20 August. The Brigade's armoured vehicles were detached to assist British units. Dives-sur-Mer
Dives-sur-Mer
-Transport:Dives-sur-Mer is on the line from Deauville to Dives-sur-Mer. The station is open, train services operate year round at weekends as well as on week days during the summer season. Dives is also on line #20 of the Calvados bus company Bus Verts du Calvados....
and Cabourg
Cabourg
Cabourg is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region of France.Cabourg belongs to the Paris Basin. The commune is located next to the sea and the back country is a plain, favourable to the cereal culture...
were taken on the morning of 21 August and Houlgate
Houlgate
Houlgate is a small tourist resort in northwestern France along the English Channel with a beach and a casino. It is a commune in the Drochon Valley, in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region.-Pre-19th century:...
in the afternoon. The Brigade took Villers-sur-Mer
Villers-sur-Mer
-Places of interest:Villers-sur-Mer is known for the large topiary dinosaurs facing the sea from the garden of the office of tourism. In certain years, a baby dinosaur is added to the garden....
and Deauville
Deauville
Deauville is a commune in the Calvados département in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.With its racecourse, harbour, international film festival, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino and sumptuous hotels, Deauville is regarded as the "queen of the Norman beaches" and...
on 22 August, and Trouville-sur-Mer
Trouville-sur-Mer
Trouville-sur-Mer, commonly referred to as Trouville, is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.Trouville-sur-Mer borders Deauville...
and Honfleur
Honfleur
Honfleur is a commune in the Calvados department in northwestern France. It is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie...
at the mouth of the Seine on the 24th. The Belgian armoured vehicles were reunited with the rest of the Brigade on 26 August at Foulbec
Foulbec
Foulbec is a commune in the Eure department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.-Population:...
, when the "Piron Brigade" came under command of the British 49th Infantry Division. On 29 August, the Brigade crossed the Seine to support the attack on Le Havre
Operation Astonia
Operation Astonia was a World War II battle fought from 10 September 1944 to 12 September 1944.The Allied objective of the operation was the capture of the German-held Channel port of Le Havre,France,coveted by the Allies to improve their supply system.The Allies hoped to find the port intact and...
on the following day. At the last moment, however, the Brigade was withdrawn from the front.
The efforts of the "Piron Brigade" on Normandy's Côte Fleurie
Côte Fleurie
Côte Fleurie is part of the Lower Normandy coast on the English Channel in the North of the Pays d'Auge, it constitutes the Eastern coast of the department Calvados....
are commemorated by memorials, road names and war graves.
Belgium and the Netherlands
Instead, on 2 September, the Brigade as well as the Dutch Royal Netherlands Motorized Infantry BrigadeRoyal Netherlands Motorized Infantry Brigade
During the Second World War the Royal Netherlands Motorized Infantry Brigade was a military unit initially formed from approximately 1500 Dutch troops, including a small group guarding German POWs, who arrived in the United Kingdom in May 1940 following the collapse of the Netherlands...
was transferred to the 2nd British Army and ordered to move as quickly as possible to the Belgian border. The British Army was already in Belgium and expected to enter Brussels on the following day and this transfer would allow the Belgian and Dutch Brigades to operate in their homelands. The Brigade arrived at the French/Belgian border on 3 September after an overnight journey and continued to Rongy in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
the following day, just after the British.
During their advance through Belgium, the Belgian troops were sometimes mistaken for French Canadian
French Canadian
French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...
s, since local people did not expect that their liberators would be fellow Belgians. The Belgian Brigade liberated other Belgian towns and cities before reaching the Netherlands border on 22 September. Its campaign in the Netherlands lasted until 17 November, when it was relieved from the front and moved into reserve in Leuven
Leuven
Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
. The "Piron Brigade" returned to the Netherlands between 11 April 1945 and June 1945.
In the small Dutch border town of Thorn, a bridge has been named in honour of its liberation on 25 September 1944.
Occupation of Germany
The "Brigade Piron" occupied part of the British zone of occupation until 15 December 1945.Post-war
"Brigade Piron" was the core of the new Belgian ArmyBelgian Army
The Land Component is organised using the concept of capacities, whereby units are gathered together according to their function and material. Within this framework, there are five capacities: the command capacity, the combat capacity, the support capacity, the services capacity and the training...
. In a reorganisation on 17 November 1945, the Brigade's artillery and armoured units were reorganised to form specialised regiments and the engineers joined a newly formed engineers battalion. The remaining infantry, reinforced by volunteers, became the First Brigade Liberation, based at Leopoldsburg
Leopoldsburg
Leopoldsburg is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. On January 1, 2006 Leopoldsburg had a total population of 14,403. The total area is 22.49 km² which gives a population density of 640 inhabitants per km².-External links:*...
(Fr lang: Bourg-Leopold) barracks.
Order of battle
In August, 1944, the 1st Belgian Brigade consisted of:- Staff
- British Liaison
- 1st, 2nd and 3rd Motorised companies - each with rifle platoons reinforced by mortar, machine gun, anti-tank and anti-aircraft platoons.
- Armoured Car Squadron - 4 squadrons equipped with a mixture of Daimler armoured carDaimler Armoured CarThe Daimler Armoured Car was a British armoured car of the Second World War.-History:The Daimler Armoured Car was a parallel development to the Daimler Dingo "Scout car", a small armoured vehicle for scouting and liaison roles. It was another Birmingham Small Arms design...
s, Staghound armoured cars (some armed with anti-aircraft weapons) and Daimler "Dingo" scout carDaimler Dingo-external links :*** has a Daimler Dingo in its exposition.* wwiivehicles.com**...
s and a supply and recovery squadron - Artillery Battery - 12 25 pounderOrdnance QF 25 pounderThe Ordnance QF 25 pounder, or more simply, 25-pounder or 25-pdr, was introduced into service just before World War II, during which it served as the major British field gun/howitzer. It was considered by many to be the best field artillery piece of the war, combining high rates of fire with a...
field guns, organised into 3 troops, one of which was Luxembourgeois. - Engineers Company
- Transport
- Repair
- Medical Unit