The organisation of the Belgian Armed Forces on the 10th of May 1940.

The organisation of the Belgian Armed Forces on the 10th of May 1940.

The Belgian Armed Forces comprised the Army, a small naval element and an Army Airforce. Unlike the Netherlands, Belgium did not have a real naval tradition. Belgium was often caught up in conflicts between the major continental powers. For this reason, it was obvious to concentrate efforts on the land army. Belgium  started operation a few observation balloons in the late 1880's. Airplanes were introduced from 1911 in the years prior to the Great War. Belgium used aircraft throughout the First World War. The air element was kept under control of the Army. Belgium did not have an independent Airforce until after the Second World War. The Army Airforce had about 265 aircraft. Most of them dated from the 1920's and 1930's only a small number were modern planes. (I will try to write more about the Army Airforce in the future.)

The Army was the largest branch of the Armed Forces. It comprised the Field Army and Fortress troops. The Belgian Armed forces counted around 610.000 men total (8% of the population). About 100.000 of these were still in the training centers. The rest were in actuve duty. The Army counted twelve infantry divisions: six active, six 1st reserve and six 2nd reserve. The active and 1st reserve divisions exchanged a regiment to make 12 homogeneous units. Each division had three infantry regiments plus supporting units. The active and 1st reserve divisions were relatively well equipped and even had twelve T13 self-propelled anti-tank guns/tankhunters.  The divisions of 2nd reserve had old rifles and machineguns dating from WW1. They also had very few heavy supporting weapons.

The cavalry started motorisation in 1935. The last unit gave up its horses in 1938. Belgium chose to equip its cavalry with motorcycles. Only the heavy weapons were transported by lorries or tractors. It is likely that this choice was influenced by the actions of the Belgian Expeditionary Corps in Russia during World War One. This Corps fought with the Russians on the Eastern front and was equipped with armoured cars and motorcycles. 

Cavalry reservists had been trained on horses. The High Command chose to equip these recalled reservists with bicycles instead of horses. Belgium had a dense road network and bicycles required few logistic support. Bicycles were a very useful form of transportation in North-West Europe and were also used by the Dutch and German military. 

The cavalry was organised in two divisions and one brigade. Each division comprised three motorcycle regiments and two bicycle regiments plus artillery, engineers and logistic support. These two divisions counted some T15 light tanks and T13 tankhunters. They seem to have had 16 T15's and 16 T13's each. The independent cavalry brigade consisted of two regiments mounted in lorries. The cavalry also manned the eight operational ACG-1 tanks in the Escadron AB/CC (Armoured Car Squadron of the Cavalry Corps).

The Chasseurs Ardennais are another interesting branch. The Chasseurs Ardennais (hunters of the Ardenns) were organised in two divions and a motorcycle battalion. They were a light infantry force. They have some resemblance with mountain units like the German Gebirgsjäger with the exception that the Chasseurs Ardennais were intended to operate in the forested hills of the Ardennes and not in real mountain area's like the Alps. The Chasseurs counted a lot of professional soldiers. They are often regarded as the elite of the Belgian army. The 1st division had three infantry regiments, entirely equipped with bicycles, plus supporting units. It also counted nine T15 light tanks and thirty-two T13 tankhunters. This was the largest concentration of armoured vehicles in one division. The second division was less mobile. Only 1/3 of the men had bicycles, but all of the heavy weapons were transported by lorries. This division did not have armoured vehicles, it had towed guns instead. Finally the Chasseurs Ardennais also formed a motorcycle battalion with two infantry companies plus heavy machineguns and towed anti-tank guns.

The infantry, cavalry and Chasseurs Ardennais account for 22 divisions and a brigade. But there are still some other combat units who are sometimes neglected.

The Cyclistes Frontières/Grenswielrijders were set up with a similar task as the Chasseurs Ardennais. These Border Cyclists were intended to operate close to the German border north of the Ardennes. They were organised in two regiments and one battalion.They were light infantry on bicycles supported by some heavy machineguns and quite a large amount of T13's. The 1st regiment had 12 tankhunters, the 2nd had 6 + 6 old Vickers Carden-Loyd Mark VI vehicles. The Limburg battalion did not have any tankhunters but the independent T13 Grenswielrijder company had nine. 

The Gendarmes were a paramilitary police unit. They provided two regiments for the army, called light regiments. These regiments consisted of infantry in motorcycles, supported by heavy machineguns and towed anti-tank guns. Each regiment also had 6 old Berliet  VUDB armoured cars and 2 T13 tankhunters. 

It is relevant to include the Border Cyclists and light regiments because they are mobile units with some armoured vehicles. 

Summary Field Army
6 active infantry divisions
6 1st reserve infantry divisions
6 2nd reserve infantry divisions
2 cavalry divisions, 1 brigade and one tank company (Escadron AB/CC)
2 Chasseurs Ardennais divisions and one battalion
2 Border Cyclist regiments, 1 battalion and one T13 company
2 Gendarmerie light regiments

(+ 7 special fortress battalions)

These are the combat units of the Belgian Field Army. These combat units were supported by a large amount of artillery, engineer and logistic units. 

The Fortress troops are the second part of the Army. They manned the fortresses at Liège and Namur and provided 7 special fortress battalions equipped with heavy machineguns. These seven battalions operated smaller bunkers but withdrew together with the field army. 

Some good sources:
A good source on orders of battle is the site of Leo Niehorster:

http://www.niehorster.org/000_admin/000oob.htm
The Axis History forum has a section on the smaller nations in WW2.
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewforum.php?f=12
This is a good site with day-by-day accounts in Dutch.

http://18daagseveldtocht.wikispaces.com/home