THE
BELGIAN INFANTRY BRIGADES
TRAINED IN NORTHERN IRELAND
1945- 1946
Already in
1942 the Belgian Government in exile in London agreed that it was
necessary,
once Belgium would be liberated, to rebuild a nucleus of a new
Army, well trained,
ready for battle and the eventual occupation of Germany.
The purpose
was to rebuild an army corps, the 1ste Belgian Army Corps,
consisting of :
a General Headquarter unit
2 Infantry Divisions, each with 3 Brigades
Corps and Divisional units.
Composition of a Infantry Brigade
Once Belgium was liberated in September 1944 the Belgian Government started to realise the plan.
A Belgian
Military Mission went to London in December 1944 to discuss
the
implementation
with the British War Office.
Following
agreement was reached .
The 1st Infantry Brigade, called "Brigade Piron", would
be reinforced, trained,
and was to be ready on May 1st 1945.
The 2nd Infantry Brigade would receive its training in Northern
Ireland, starting end of January 1945
The 3rd and 4th Infantry Brigade would also go to Northern
Ireland for training, starting end of March 1945.
The 5th and 6th Infantry Brigade would follow end of May 1945.
 |
| Northern Ireland, deployment situation of the Infantry Brigades |
No agreement was reached concerning the divisional and army corps units.
The consequence was that only 5 infantry brigades were raised and trained in Northern Ireland.
The 2nd, 3th,
4th and 5th Infantry Brigade were formed with warvolunteers and
conscripts,
the 6th Infantry Brigade was formed with the already existing 1st,
2nd and 3th Fuselier Battalion.
 |
| General view on one of the camps in Northern Ireland with the Nissen huts. |
With the end of hostilities in Europe on May 8th 1945, the tasks of the infantry brigades changed.
One infantry
brigade was foreseen for the War against Japan,
but this plan was also abandonned after the capitulation of Japan.
Finally all
the brigades took part in the occupation of Germany,
and formed the spine of the new Belgian Army.
THE BELGIAN INFANTRY BRIGADES
TRAINED IN NORTHERN IRELAND
1945- 1946
