Force Publique
Encyclopedia
The Force Publique French for "Public Force", was both a gendarmerie
and a military force in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo
from 1885, (when the territory was known as the Congo Free State
), through the period of direct Belgian colonial rule (1908 to 1960). Immediately following independence, the FP was retitled as the Congo National Army (ANC)..
's Carabiniers) was sent to the Congo with orders to establish the force. A few months later, on August 17th, he was promoted to "Commandant of the Force Publique". A number of other Belgian officers and non-commissioned officers were also dispatched to the territory as the nucleus of the officer corps. The officers of the Force Publique were entirely whites. They comprised a mixture of Belgian regular soldiers and mercenaries from other countries who were drawn by the prospect of wealth or simply attracted to the adventure of service in Africa.
s. Many were recruited or conscripted from warrior tribes in the Upper Congo. Others were drawn from Zanzibar
and West Africa. The role required of the Force Publique was that of both defending Free State
territory and of internal pacification. Under Leopold however a major purpose of the force was to enforce the rubber
quotas, and other forms of forced labor. Armed with modern weapons and the chicotte — a bull whip made of hippopotamus
hide — soldiers of the FP often took and mistreated hostages (sometimes women, who were held captive in order to force their husbands to meet rubber quotas). Reports from foreign missionaries and consular officials detail a number of instances where Congolese men and women were flogged
or rape
d by soldiers of the Force Publique, permitted to run amok by their officers and NCOs. They also burned recalcitrant villages, and there is photographic evidence that the FP soldiers took human hands as trophies, on the orders of Leopold to show that bullets had not been wasted. During the Free State period, the Force Publique suffered from institutional problems. During the early years of the force, mutinies of black soldiers occurred several times. By the early 1890s, much of the eastern portion of the Free State was under the control of Arab ivory and slave traders (though the Government was able to re-establish control over the east by the mid-1890s). Organizational problems were also quite prevalent during the Free State era. With many Force Publique detachments being stationed in remote areas of the territory, some officers took to using soldiers under their control to further private economic agendas rather than focusing on military concerns.
The Force Publique fought in the 1892–1894 war in the Eastern Congo
against Tippu Tip
.
Following the takeover of the Free State by the Belgian Government in 1908, the Force Publique was organised into 21 separate companies (originally numbered but were later known only by their names), along with an artillery and an engineers unit containing over 12,100 men. The companies were as follows: Aruwimi, Bangala, Bas-Congo
, Cateracts, Équateur
, Ituri
, Kasai
, Kwango, Lac Léopold II
, Lualaba
, Lulongo, Makrakas, Makua-Bomokandi, Ponthiérville, Rubi, Ruzizi
-Kivu
, Stanley Falls, Stanley Pool, Ubangi,and Uele-Bili.
There were also six recruit training camps containing over 2,400 men. These companies eventually grew to over 600 men each but their constituent units known as detachments were so widely scattered that the force had no real military value. It was intended that each administrative company form a Compagnie Marche of 150 men. Each Marche or field company was intended to have four Belgian officers and NCOs plus between 100 and 150 askaris (African soldiers). In principle companies comprised two or three 50-man platoons. There were supposed to be enough companies to form three Marche battalions. There were eight Congolese NCOs as part of this establishment.
Belgian officers and NCOs replaced nearly all the multi-national Europeans who had been employed under the Free State. The 2,875 men of the Troupes de Katanga
constituted a semi-autonomous force of six companies: four de marche and two other infantry, plus a cyclist company and a battalion headquarters. In addition there was the Compagnie d'Artillerie et de Génie (Artillery and Engineers Company) manning Fort Boma at the mouth of the Congo River
in Boma. Fort Boma contained eight 160mm guns manned by 200 men, who saw little or no service during the war.
In 1914, the Force Publique, inclusive of the Katanga companies, totalled about 17,000 askaris with 178 white officers and 235 white NCOs. The majority served in small static garrisons called poste with a primarily police role. With the outbreak of World War I, the Katangese units were organized in battalions (Ie, IIe, and IIIme) for military service in Northern Rhodesia
and the eastern frontier districts of the Congo. The FP was able to assemble another battalion from smaller units; originally called the IIIe but changed to the 11e to avoid confusion with the Katanga IIIme battalion.
Much had been done to remedy the worst excesses of the Free State period and the Force Publique had become a more typical colonial army — well disciplined but with an inevitably repressive role. Most askaris were armed with single shot 11 mm Albini
Rifles. They continued to wear the blue uniform (with red trim around the neck and down the front opening), red fez
and sash of the Free State period until replaced by khaki during 1915–17. Initial enlistment was for a period of seven years.
Other weapons included the Maxim
machine-guns and Nordenfelt 4.7 cm and Krupp
7.5 cm cannons.
(1914–18) an expanded Force Publique served against German colonial forces in the Camerouns, Rwanda
, Burundi
and German East Africa
. They generally performed well, winning the respect of their British and Portuguese allies, as well as that of their German opponents. From 1916 on the FP grew to reach a strength of three mobile Groupes (brigades), Kivu, Ruzizi, and Tanganyika, comprising a total of 15 battalions, from the static garrison and police force of 1914. However, it did take until late 1915 for the Force Publique to do this.
Charles Tombeur
(1867–1947) was the general who commanded the Force Publique during the First World War. In 1916 he was made Military Governor of the Belgian Occupied East African Territories.
(1939 to 1945), the Force Publique provided detachments
to fight the German
and Italian
forces during the East Africa Campaign
and in the Middle East
. Belgium
surrendered to Germany
on 28 May 1940. With Belgium occupied, the contribution to the Allied cause by the Free Belgian Forces
from the Belgian Congo
was primarily an economic one. However the Force Publique grew to 40,000 in the course of the War, formed into three brigades, a river force and support units.
At the end of 1940 the XIth Battalion of the Force Publique was placed at the disposal of the British forces in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
. The 3rd Brigade of the Force Publique, together with the XIth battalion, took part in the campaign in Abyssinia, gaining a victory over the Italian forces there on the 3rd of July, 1941. Nine Italian generals and 150,000 soldiers surrendered to the Belgian colonial troops. The Force Publique lost 500 men during the East Africa Campaign.
The Force Publique then helped to establish an overland route from Lagos through Fort Lamy and the Sudan to Cairo. Between 1942 and 1943 an expeditionary force of 13,000 was sent to Nigeria. Nine thousand of these troops served in Egypt and Palestine. They returned to the Belgian Congo at the end of 1944 without having seen active service.
The Force Publique also sent the 10th Belgian Congo Casualty Clearing Station to the battle zone. Between 1940 and 1945 some 350 Congolese and twenty Belgians, under the command of Medical Colonel Thomas, worked together with the British medical services in Abyssinia, Somalia, Madagascar and Burma. They especially proved their value serving with the Indian XXXIII Corps
on the Upper Chindwin
, where they were attached to the 11th (East Africa) Division
. During the confusion inherent in jungle fighting, the Belgian medical unit found itself on one occasion in advance of the front line troops. This incident was later used by British officers to motivate the fighting troops to greater efforts ("even a hospital can do better").
in Leopoldville. The first machine purchased for the force was a de Havilland DH.85 Leopard Moth
that entered service on 9 October 1940.
For the remainder of the period of Belgium rule the Force Publique continued its joint military and police role, split into territorial units, charged with maintaining public order, and mobile units (between the wars known as unites campees) charged with territorial defence. There was a mutiny by the XIV battalion at Luluabourg in 1944.
In 1945 the FP mobile units consisted of six battalions of infantry (the V battalion at Stanleyville
, the VI battalion at Watsa
, the VIII battalion at Luluabourg, the XI battalion at Rumangabo
, the XII battalion at Elisabethville, and the XIII battalion at Leopoldville
), three reconnaissance units, military police units, a brigade under training at Camp Hardy, still under construction at Thysville, four coastal defence guns, and a small aviation element including two De Havilland DH.104 Doves.
Between 1945 and 1960 Belgium continued to organise the Force Publique as an entity cut off from the people that it policed, with recruits serving in tribally mixed units and no more than a quarter of each company coming from the province in which they served. Tightly disciplined and drilled the Force Publique impressed visitors to the Congo with its smart appearance but a culture of separateness, encouraged by its Belgian officers, led to brutal and unrestrained behaviour when the external restraints of colonial administration were lifted in 1960. The infamous chicote was only abolished in 1955. The Belgian Government made no effort to train Congolese commissioned officers until the very end of the Colonial period and there were only about 20 African officer cadets at military schools in Belgium on the eve of Independence. A separate Gendarmerie
was organised in 1959 drawn from the Territorial Service Troops of the FP. By July 1959 a total of 40 companies and 28 platoons of gendarmerie were either formed or in training.
In 1960, the Force Publique comprised three groupements (Groups) each of which covered two provinces. The 1st groupement had its headquarters at Elisabethville in Katanga
. The 2nd groupement covered Léopoldville and Equateur
. The 3rd groupement, commanded by a colonel whose headquarters was at Stanleyville
, grouped F.P. units in Kivu
and Orientale Province(PO). It comprised three infantry battalions (each of approximately 800 men), seemingly including 6 Battalion at Watsa
,(under Lieutenant Colonel Merckx in 1960) two battalions of Gendarmerie
(each of approximately 860 men), a reconnaissance squadron (jeeps, trucks and armoured M8 Greyhound
vehicles - approximately 300 men), a transport company, a military police company (approximately 100 men), a heavy mortar platoon, a combat engineer company and a training centre at Lokandu.
The last three commanders of the Force Publique were:
mutinied against its white officers (who had remained in complete command) and attacked numerous European and Congolese targets.The immediate incident sparking the mutiny was reported to have been a tactless speech made by the Belgian general commanding the FP to African soldiers in a mess hall at the main base outside Leopoldville, in which he stated that Independence would not bring any change in their status or role. Lieutenant General Ēmile Janssens intention may only have been to stress the need for continued discipline and obedience to orders but the impact on the soldiers, unsettled by the demands of maintaining order during Independence celebrations and fearful that they would be excluded from the benefits of the new freedom, was disastrous. The outbreak caused fear amongst the approximately 100,000 Belgian and other civilians and officials still resident in the Congo and ruined the credibility of the new government as it proved unable to control its own armed forces. For example, the white community in Luluabourg
was besieged in improvised fortifications for three days until rescued by a Belgian Army
paratroop drop.
Soon afterwards, the FP was renamed as the Congolese National Army (Armee Nationale Congolaise (ANC)), and its leadership was Africanised. This violence immediately led to a military intervention into Congo by Belgium in an ostensible effort to secure the safety of its citizens (the earlier Luluabourg intervention had been against orders). The re-entry of these forces was a clear violation of the national sovereignty of the new nation, as it had not requested Belgian assistance (see Congo Crisis
). The chain of events this started eventually resulted in Joseph Mobutu (Mobutu Sésé Seko
), a former Sergeant-Major in the FP who had been promoted to Chief of staff
of the ANC by Prime Minister
Patrice Lumumba
, gaining power and establishing his dictatorial kleptocracy
. His regime was to remain in power until May 1997.
At independence on 30 June 1960, Avimil was placed under the control of the new government of the Republic of the Congo
, and continued its missions until 20 July 1960. On this date the chief of Belgian forces in the Congo ordered the assembly of non-Congolese personnel and operational aircraft ('des appareils en état de vol') at the Belgian base at Kamina
. On 23 August they were transferred to Elizabethville, and on 26 August officially turned over to the sessionist State of Katanga
.
, Guillaume Vankerckhoven, Mathieu Pelzer, Kandolo
, Yamba-Yamba, Lindsay Burke, Camille Coquilhat, Edmond Van der Meersch, Paul Ermens, Joseph Mobutu
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
and a military force in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
from 1885, (when the territory was known as the Congo Free State
Congo Free State
The Congo Free State was a large area in Central Africa which was privately controlled by Leopold II, King of the Belgians. Its origins lay in Leopold's attracting scientific, and humanitarian backing for a non-governmental organization, the Association internationale africaine...
), through the period of direct Belgian colonial rule (1908 to 1960). Immediately following independence, the FP was retitled as the Congo National Army (ANC)..
Establishment
The FP was initially conceived in 1885 when King Leopold II of the Belgians, who held the Congo Free State as his private property, ordered his Secretary of the Interior to create military and police forces for the State. Soon afterwards, in early 1886, Captain Léon Roger (of the 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...
's Carabiniers) was sent to the Congo with orders to establish the force. A few months later, on August 17th, he was promoted to "Commandant of the Force Publique". A number of other Belgian officers and non-commissioned officers were also dispatched to the territory as the nucleus of the officer corps. The officers of the Force Publique were entirely whites. They comprised a mixture of Belgian regular soldiers and mercenaries from other countries who were drawn by the prospect of wealth or simply attracted to the adventure of service in Africa.
Under the Congo Free State
Serving under these European officers was an ethnically-mixed African soldiery, who eventually became comparable to British or Imperial German AskariAskari
Askari is an Arabic, Bosnian, Urdu, Turkish, Somali, Persian, Amharic and Swahili word meaning "soldier" . It was normally used to describe local troops in East Africa, Northeast Africa, and Central Africa serving in the armies of European colonial powers...
s. Many were recruited or conscripted from warrior tribes in the Upper Congo. Others were drawn from Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
and West Africa. The role required of the Force Publique was that of both defending Free State
Free State
The Free State is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bloemfontein, which is also South Africa's judicial capital. Its historical origins lie in the Orange Free State Boer republic and later Orange Free State Province. The current borders of the province date from 1994 when the Bantustans...
territory and of internal pacification. Under Leopold however a major purpose of the force was to enforce the rubber
Rubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
quotas, and other forms of forced labor. Armed with modern weapons and the chicotte — a bull whip made of hippopotamus
Hippopotamus
The hippopotamus , or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest...
hide — soldiers of the FP often took and mistreated hostages (sometimes women, who were held captive in order to force their husbands to meet rubber quotas). Reports from foreign missionaries and consular officials detail a number of instances where Congolese men and women were flogged
Flagellation
Flagellation or flogging is the act of methodically beating or whipping the human body. Specialised implements for it include rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails and the sjambok...
or rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
d by soldiers of the Force Publique, permitted to run amok by their officers and NCOs. They also burned recalcitrant villages, and there is photographic evidence that the FP soldiers took human hands as trophies, on the orders of Leopold to show that bullets had not been wasted. During the Free State period, the Force Publique suffered from institutional problems. During the early years of the force, mutinies of black soldiers occurred several times. By the early 1890s, much of the eastern portion of the Free State was under the control of Arab ivory and slave traders (though the Government was able to re-establish control over the east by the mid-1890s). Organizational problems were also quite prevalent during the Free State era. With many Force Publique detachments being stationed in remote areas of the territory, some officers took to using soldiers under their control to further private economic agendas rather than focusing on military concerns.
The Force Publique fought in the 1892–1894 war in the Eastern Congo
1892–1894 war in the Eastern Congo
The 1892–1894 war in the Eastern Congo took place in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo between the forces of Belgium's Congo Free State and various Zanzibari Arab traders led by Sefu, the son of Tippu Tip. It was a proxy war, with most of the fighting being done by native Congolese,...
against Tippu Tip
Tippu Tip
Tippu Tip or Tib , real name Hamad bin Muḥammad bin Jumah bin Rajab bin Muḥammad bin Sa‘īd al-Murghabī, , was a Swahili-Zanzibari trader. He was famously known as Tippu Tib after an eye disease which made him blind...
.
Organisation and role
Bas-Congo
Bas-Congo is one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the only province with a coastline and it borders Bandundu province to the east and Kinshasa to the northeast...
, Cateracts, Équateur
Équateur
Équateur is one of the ten provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is in the north of the country, and bordered the Republic of the Congo to the west, the Central African Republic to the north, to the east the Orientale province, and to the south the Kasai-Oriental, Kasai-Occidental, and...
, Ituri
Ituri Interim Administration
The Ituri Interim Administration is an interim body that administers the Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was established in 2003 by the Ituri Pacification Commission and supported by the UN mission in the DRC.-History:...
, Kasai
Kasai region
The Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is divided administratively into Kasai-Occidental and Kasai-Oriental. It shares its name with the Kasai River....
, Kwango, Lac Léopold II
Lake Mai-Ndombe
Lake Mai-Ndombe is a large freshwater lake in Bandundu Province in western Democratic Republic of Congo, at . It drains to the south through the Fimi River into the Kwah and Congo Rivers. Known until 1972 as Lake Leopold ; Mai-Ndombe means “black water” in Lingala...
, Lualaba
Lualaba District
Lualaba District is a district located in the Katanga Province, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo....
, Lulongo, Makrakas, Makua-Bomokandi, Ponthiérville, Rubi, Ruzizi
Ruzizi River
The Ruzizi , is a river which flows from Lake Kivu to Lake Tanganyika in Central Africa, descending rapidly from about 1,500 metres above sea level to about 770 metres above sea level over its length...
-Kivu
Lake Kivu
Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes. It lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and is in the Albertine Rift, a part of the Great Rift Valley. Lake Kivu empties into the Ruzizi River, which flows southwards into Lake Tanganyika...
, Stanley Falls, Stanley Pool, Ubangi,and Uele-Bili.
There were also six recruit training camps containing over 2,400 men. These companies eventually grew to over 600 men each but their constituent units known as detachments were so widely scattered that the force had no real military value. It was intended that each administrative company form a Compagnie Marche of 150 men. Each Marche or field company was intended to have four Belgian officers and NCOs plus between 100 and 150 askaris (African soldiers). In principle companies comprised two or three 50-man platoons. There were supposed to be enough companies to form three Marche battalions. There were eight Congolese NCOs as part of this establishment.
Belgian officers and NCOs replaced nearly all the multi-national Europeans who had been employed under the Free State. The 2,875 men of the Troupes de Katanga
Katanga Province
Katanga Province is one of the provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Between 1971 and 1997, its official name was Shaba Province. Under the new constitution, the province was to be replaced by four smaller provinces by February 2009; this did not actually take place.Katanga's regional...
constituted a semi-autonomous force of six companies: four de marche and two other infantry, plus a cyclist company and a battalion headquarters. In addition there was the Compagnie d'Artillerie et de Génie (Artillery and Engineers Company) manning Fort Boma at the mouth of the Congo River
Congo River
The Congo River is a river in Africa, and is the deepest river in the world, with measured depths in excess of . It is the second largest river in the world by volume of water discharged, though it has only one-fifth the volume of the world's largest river, the Amazon...
in Boma. Fort Boma contained eight 160mm guns manned by 200 men, who saw little or no service during the war.
In 1914, the Force Publique, inclusive of the Katanga companies, totalled about 17,000 askaris with 178 white officers and 235 white NCOs. The majority served in small static garrisons called poste with a primarily police role. With the outbreak of World War I, the Katangese units were organized in battalions (Ie, IIe, and IIIme) for military service in Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia was a territory in south central Africa, formed in 1911. It became independent in 1964 as Zambia.It was initially administered under charter by the British South Africa Company and formed by it in 1911 by amalgamating North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia...
and the eastern frontier districts of the Congo. The FP was able to assemble another battalion from smaller units; originally called the IIIe but changed to the 11e to avoid confusion with the Katanga IIIme battalion.
Much had been done to remedy the worst excesses of the Free State period and the Force Publique had become a more typical colonial army — well disciplined but with an inevitably repressive role. Most askaris were armed with single shot 11 mm Albini
Albini rifle
The Albini rifle was a single-shot 11mm rifle adopted by Belgium in 1867. The action on the Albini rifle was designed by an Italian officer Augusto Albini and was perfected by an English gunsmith, Francis Braendlin...
Rifles. They continued to wear the blue uniform (with red trim around the neck and down the front opening), red fez
Fez (clothing)
The fez , or tarboosh is a felt hat either in the shape of a red truncated cone or in the shape of a short cylinder made of kilim fabric. Both usually have tassels...
and sash of the Free State period until replaced by khaki during 1915–17. Initial enlistment was for a period of seven years.
Other weapons included the Maxim
Maxim gun
The Maxim gun was the first self-powered machine gun, invented by the American-born British inventor Sir Hiram Maxim in 1884. It has been called "the weapon most associated with [British] imperial conquest".-Functionality:...
machine-guns and Nordenfelt 4.7 cm and Krupp
Krupp
The Krupp family , a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th...
7.5 cm cannons.
World War I
During World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
(1914–18) an expanded Force Publique served against German colonial forces in the Camerouns, Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
, Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...
and German East Africa
German East Africa
German East Africa was a German colony in East Africa, which included what are now :Burundi, :Rwanda and Tanganyika . Its area was , nearly three times the size of Germany today....
. They generally performed well, winning the respect of their British and Portuguese allies, as well as that of their German opponents. From 1916 on the FP grew to reach a strength of three mobile Groupes (brigades), Kivu, Ruzizi, and Tanganyika, comprising a total of 15 battalions, from the static garrison and police force of 1914. However, it did take until late 1915 for the Force Publique to do this.
Charles Tombeur
Charles Tombeur
Charles Tombeur was a Belgian general who commanded the Force Publique in the Belgian Congo during the First World War. He captured Tabora after some heavy fighting....
(1867–1947) was the general who commanded the Force Publique during the First World War. In 1916 he was made Military Governor of the Belgian Occupied East African Territories.
World War II
During World War IIWorld 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...
(1939 to 1945), the Force Publique provided detachments
Belgian Army order of battle (1914)
This is the Belgian Army order of battle on the outbreak of war in August 1914.A major reorganisation of the Army had been authorised by the government in 1912, providing for a total army of 350,000 men - 150,000 in the field forces, 130,000 in fortress garrisons and 70,000 reserves and auxiliaries...
to fight the German
German Army
The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...
and Italian
Italian Army
The Italian Army is the ground defence force of the Italian Armed Forces. It is all-volunteer force of active-duty personnel, numbering 108,355 in 2010. Its best-known combat vehicles are the Dardo infantry fighting vehicle, the Centauro tank destroyer and the Ariete tank, and among its aircraft...
forces during the East Africa Campaign
East African Campaign (World War II)
The East African Campaign was a series of battles fought in East Africa during World War II by the British Empire, the British Commonwealth of Nations and several allies against the forces of Italy from June 1940 to November 1941....
and in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. 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...
surrendered to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
on 28 May 1940. With Belgium occupied, the contribution to the Allied cause by the Free Belgian Forces
Free Belgian Forces
The Free Belgian Forces were members of the Belgian armed forces in World War II who continued fighting against the Axis after the surrender of Belgium and its subsequent occupation by the Germans...
from the Belgian Congo
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...
was primarily an economic one. However the Force Publique grew to 40,000 in the course of the War, formed into three brigades, a river force and support units.
At the end of 1940 the XIth Battalion of the Force Publique was placed at the disposal of the British forces in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan referred to the manner by which Sudan was administered between 1899 and 1956, when it was a condominium of Egypt and the United Kingdom.-Union with Egypt:...
. The 3rd Brigade of the Force Publique, together with the XIth battalion, took part in the campaign in Abyssinia, gaining a victory over the Italian forces there on the 3rd of July, 1941. Nine Italian generals and 150,000 soldiers surrendered to the Belgian colonial troops. The Force Publique lost 500 men during the East Africa Campaign.
The Force Publique then helped to establish an overland route from Lagos through Fort Lamy and the Sudan to Cairo. Between 1942 and 1943 an expeditionary force of 13,000 was sent to Nigeria. Nine thousand of these troops served in Egypt and Palestine. They returned to the Belgian Congo at the end of 1944 without having seen active service.
The Force Publique also sent the 10th Belgian Congo Casualty Clearing Station to the battle zone. Between 1940 and 1945 some 350 Congolese and twenty Belgians, under the command of Medical Colonel Thomas, worked together with the British medical services in Abyssinia, Somalia, Madagascar and Burma. They especially proved their value serving with the Indian XXXIII Corps
XXXIII Corps (British India)
The British Indian XXXIII Corps was a formation of the British Indian Army during World War II. It was disbanded and the headquarters was recreated as an Army headquarters in 1945.-Formation:...
on the Upper Chindwin
Chindwin River
The Chindwin River is a river in Burma , and the largest tributary of the country's chief river the Ayeyarwady . It flows entirely within Burma and is known as Ning-thi to the Manipuris.-Source:...
, where they were attached to the 11th (East Africa) Division
11th (East Africa) Division
The 11th Infantry Division was a British Empire colonial unit formed in February 1943 during World War II.-Formation:In 1943, the 11th Division was formed primarily of troops from British East Africa....
. During the confusion inherent in jungle fighting, the Belgian medical unit found itself on one occasion in advance of the front line troops. This incident was later used by British officers to motivate the fighting troops to greater efforts ("even a hospital can do better").
Final Stages of Belgian Rule
At the end of 1940 the FP headquarters, recognising the need for aviation support for the force, began forming the Aviation militaire de la Force Publique equipped with requisitioned civilian machines and based at N'Dolo AirportN'Dolo Airport
N'Dolo Airport , also known as Ndolo Airport, is a secondary airport in the city of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, located in the commune of Barumbu near the city center....
in Leopoldville. The first machine purchased for the force was a de Havilland DH.85 Leopard Moth
De Havilland Leopard Moth
-See also:...
that entered service on 9 October 1940.
For the remainder of the period of Belgium rule the Force Publique continued its joint military and police role, split into territorial units, charged with maintaining public order, and mobile units (between the wars known as unites campees) charged with territorial defence. There was a mutiny by the XIV battalion at Luluabourg in 1944.
In 1945 the FP mobile units consisted of six battalions of infantry (the V battalion at Stanleyville
Kisangani
Kisangani is the capital of Orientale Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the 3rd largest urbanized city in the country and the largest of the cities that lie in the tropical woodlands of the Congo....
, the VI battalion at Watsa
Watsa
Watsa is a community in Province Orientale of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, administrative center of the Watsa Territory.Watsa was the location of the VI battalion of the Force Publique in the 1940s and 1950s....
, the VIII battalion at Luluabourg, the XI battalion at Rumangabo
Rumangabo
Rumangabo is a military base of the Military of the Democratic Republic of the Congo located north of Goma in Nord-Kivu province. 3.5 km south of the military base is the headquarters of the Virunga National Park....
, the XII battalion at Elisabethville, and the XIII battalion at Leopoldville
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
), three reconnaissance units, military police units, a brigade under training at Camp Hardy, still under construction at Thysville, four coastal defence guns, and a small aviation element including two De Havilland DH.104 Doves.
Between 1945 and 1960 Belgium continued to organise the Force Publique as an entity cut off from the people that it policed, with recruits serving in tribally mixed units and no more than a quarter of each company coming from the province in which they served. Tightly disciplined and drilled the Force Publique impressed visitors to the Congo with its smart appearance but a culture of separateness, encouraged by its Belgian officers, led to brutal and unrestrained behaviour when the external restraints of colonial administration were lifted in 1960. The infamous chicote was only abolished in 1955. The Belgian Government made no effort to train Congolese commissioned officers until the very end of the Colonial period and there were only about 20 African officer cadets at military schools in Belgium on the eve of Independence. A separate Gendarmerie
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
was organised in 1959 drawn from the Territorial Service Troops of the FP. By July 1959 a total of 40 companies and 28 platoons of gendarmerie were either formed or in training.
In 1960, the Force Publique comprised three groupements (Groups) each of which covered two provinces. The 1st groupement had its headquarters at Elisabethville in Katanga
Katanga Province
Katanga Province is one of the provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Between 1971 and 1997, its official name was Shaba Province. Under the new constitution, the province was to be replaced by four smaller provinces by February 2009; this did not actually take place.Katanga's regional...
. The 2nd groupement covered Léopoldville and Equateur
Équateur
Équateur is one of the ten provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is in the north of the country, and bordered the Republic of the Congo to the west, the Central African Republic to the north, to the east the Orientale province, and to the south the Kasai-Oriental, Kasai-Occidental, and...
. The 3rd groupement, commanded by a colonel whose headquarters was at Stanleyville
Kisangani
Kisangani is the capital of Orientale Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the 3rd largest urbanized city in the country and the largest of the cities that lie in the tropical woodlands of the Congo....
, grouped F.P. units in Kivu
Kivu
Kivu was the name for a large "Region" in the Democratic Republic of Congo under the rule of Mobutu Sese Seko that bordered Lake Kivu. It included three "Sub-Regions" : Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu and Maniema, corresponding to the three current provinces created in 1986...
and Orientale Province(PO). It comprised three infantry battalions (each of approximately 800 men), seemingly including 6 Battalion at Watsa
Watsa
Watsa is a community in Province Orientale of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, administrative center of the Watsa Territory.Watsa was the location of the VI battalion of the Force Publique in the 1940s and 1950s....
,(under Lieutenant Colonel Merckx in 1960) two battalions of Gendarmerie
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
(each of approximately 860 men), a reconnaissance squadron (jeeps, trucks and armoured M8 Greyhound
M8 Greyhound
The M8 Light Armored Car was a 6x6 armored car produced by the Ford Motor Company during World War II. It was used by the U.S. and British troops in Europe and the Far East until the end of the war. The vehicle was widely exported and as of 2006 still remains in service with some third world...
vehicles - approximately 300 men), a transport company, a military police company (approximately 100 men), a heavy mortar platoon, a combat engineer company and a training centre at Lokandu.
The last three commanders of the Force Publique were:
- Lieut-General P. Ermans, December 1940-August 1944
- Gen MAj/Gen Lieut A. Gilliert, Aug 1`944-1954
- Ēmile Janssens, Gen. Maj., 1954–1960
Post-Independence
On 5 July 1960, five days after the country gained independence from Belgium, the Force Publique garrison near LéopoldvilleKinshasa
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
mutinied against its white officers (who had remained in complete command) and attacked numerous European and Congolese targets.The immediate incident sparking the mutiny was reported to have been a tactless speech made by the Belgian general commanding the FP to African soldiers in a mess hall at the main base outside Leopoldville, in which he stated that Independence would not bring any change in their status or role. Lieutenant General Ēmile Janssens intention may only have been to stress the need for continued discipline and obedience to orders but the impact on the soldiers, unsettled by the demands of maintaining order during Independence celebrations and fearful that they would be excluded from the benefits of the new freedom, was disastrous. The outbreak caused fear amongst the approximately 100,000 Belgian and other civilians and officials still resident in the Congo and ruined the credibility of the new government as it proved unable to control its own armed forces. For example, the white community in Luluabourg
Kananga
Kananga, formerly known as Luluabourg or Luluaburg, is the capital of Lulua District in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It has a population of 1,130,100 ....
was besieged in improvised fortifications for three days until rescued by a Belgian Army
Belgian 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...
paratroop drop.
Soon afterwards, the FP was renamed as the Congolese National Army (Armee Nationale Congolaise (ANC)), and its leadership was Africanised. This violence immediately led to a military intervention into Congo by Belgium in an ostensible effort to secure the safety of its citizens (the earlier Luluabourg intervention had been against orders). The re-entry of these forces was a clear violation of the national sovereignty of the new nation, as it had not requested Belgian assistance (see Congo Crisis
Congo Crisis
The Congo Crisis was a period of turmoil in the First Republic of the Congo that began with national independence from Belgium and ended with the seizing of power by Joseph Mobutu...
). The chain of events this started eventually resulted in Joseph Mobutu (Mobutu Sésé Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko Nkuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga , commonly known as Mobutu or Mobutu Sese Seko , born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, was the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1965 to 1997...
), a former Sergeant-Major in the FP who had been promoted to Chief of staff
Chief of Staff
The title, chief of staff, identifies the leader of a complex organization, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a Principal Staff Officer , who is the coordinator of the supporting staff or a primary aide to an important individual, such as a president.In general, a chief of...
of the ANC by Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Patrice Lumumba
Patrice Lumumba
Patrice Émery Lumumba was a Congolese independence leader and the first legally elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo after he helped win its independence from Belgium in June 1960. Only ten weeks later, Lumumba's government was deposed in a coup during the Congo Crisis...
, gaining power and establishing his dictatorial kleptocracy
Kleptocracy
Kleptocracy, alternatively cleptocracy or kleptarchy, is a form of political and government corruption where the government exists to increase the personal wealth and political power of its officials and the ruling class at the expense of the wider population, often without pretense of honest...
. His regime was to remain in power until May 1997.
Aviation
Prior to independence, the air component of the Force Publique (Avi / or Avimil, Aviation militaire de la Force publique) was based mainly at the N'Dolo airport, Leopoldville. Avimil's roles included the transportion of passengers, medical supplies and other goods, as well as undertaking connecting flights and recognition duties. Between 1944 and 1960 the following unarmed aircraft and helicopters were used by Avimil:- Stampe Vertongen SV 7Farman F.500|-References:* The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft , 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 1759-See also:...
-4B (V-40 to 46), - Airspeed OxfordAirspeed OxfordThe Airspeed AS.10 Oxford was a twin-engine aircraft used for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery during the Second World War.-Design and development:...
Mk.I AS.10 6 (A-21 to 26) - Airspeed ConsulAirspeed Consul-See also:-References:...
AS.65 6 (C-31 to 36), - 12 De Havilland DH.104 Dove (D-10 to 22)
- 1 De Havilland DH.114 Heron 2 (OO-CGG),
- 2 Sikorsky H-19D (S-41 & 42),
- Two Sikorsky S-55 (S-43 & 44),
- 3 Sud Aviation Alouette II SE.3130 (Artouste) (A-51 to 53)
- 3 Piper L-18C Super Cub (P-61 to 63) (loan from the Light Aviation of the Army Belgian Army).
At independence on 30 June 1960, Avimil was placed under the control of the new government of the Republic of the Congo
Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)
The Republic of the Congo was an independent republic established following the independence granted to the former colony of the Belgian Congo in 1960...
, and continued its missions until 20 July 1960. On this date the chief of Belgian forces in the Congo ordered the assembly of non-Congolese personnel and operational aircraft ('des appareils en état de vol') at the Belgian base at Kamina
Kamina
Kamina is a city in Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located at around . It is the provincial capital.- Transport :...
. On 23 August they were transferred to Elizabethville, and on 26 August officially turned over to the sessionist State of Katanga
State of Katanga
Katanga was a breakaway state proclaimed on 11 July 1960 separating itself from the newly independent Democratic Republic of the Congo. In revolt against the new government of Patrice Lumumba in July, Katanga declared independence under Moise Tshombe, leader of the local CONAKAT party...
.
Famous former members
Léon RomLeon Rom
Leon Rom was a Belgian soldier who became the district commissioner of Matadi in the Congo Free State, and later head of the Force Publique army....
, Guillaume Vankerckhoven, Mathieu Pelzer, Kandolo
Kandolo
Kandolo is a settlement in Kenya's Eastern Province....
, Yamba-Yamba, Lindsay Burke, Camille Coquilhat, Edmond Van der Meersch, Paul Ermens, Joseph Mobutu
Further reading
- Bryant Shaw, 'Force Publique, Force Unique: The Military in the Belgian Congo 1914-1939' Ph.D dissertation, University of Wisconsin, 1984
- 'Lisolo Na Bisu: Notre histoire: le soldat congolais de la FP 1885-1960,' Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and of Military HistoryRoyal Museum of the Armed Forces and of Military HistoryThe Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History The Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History The Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History (or simply the Royal Military Museum (RRM) is a museum that occupies the two northernmost halls of the historic complex in...
, Brussels, Belgium, ISBN 2-87051-049-7, 2010