Events in the year 1944 in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Incumbents

Monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power i ...

: Leopold III ** Regent:

Prince Charles, Count of Flanders nl, Karel Theodoor Hendrik Anton Meinrad , image = Karel van België Charles de Belgique Karl von Belgien.jpg , image_size = 230px , spouse = Jacqueline Peyrebrune , issue = Isabelle , birth_date = , birth_place = Bruss ...

(from 21 September) *

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Hubert Pierlot Hubert Marie Eugène Pierlot (, 23 December 1883 – 13 December 1963) was a Belgian politician and Prime Minister of Belgium, serving between 1939 and 1945. Pierlot, a lawyer and jurist, served in World War I before entering politics in the 192 ...

Events

;January * 14 January – Occupying German authorities order evacuation of civilians from the Belgian coast.Alain de Gueldre et al., ''Kroniek van België'' (Antwerp and Zaventem, 1987). * 16 January – Groupe G resistance organisation dynamites pylons to sabotage electricity supply. ;February * 5 February – Occupying authorities streamline procedure for death sentences on charges of "terrorism". ;April * 11 April – Heavy allied bombing of industrial targets and transport infrastructure in Belgian cities. * 19 April – Mechelen and Leuven bombed. ;May * 21 May – Cardinal Van Roey appeals to Allies to cease bombing civilian targets in Belgium. ;June * 7 June – Leopold III, under house arrest since 1940, deported to Germany together with his wife and children. ;July * 18 July – Military occupation under General

Alexander von Falkenhausen Alexander Ernst Alfred Hermann Freiherr von Falkenhausen (29 October 187831 July 1966) was a German general and military advisor to Chiang Kai-shek. He was an important figure during the Sino-German cooperation to reform the Chinese Army. In 19 ...

replaced by

Reichskommissariat of Belgium and Northern France The Reichskommissariat of Belgium and Northern France (german: Reichskommissariat Belgien-Nordfrankreich) was a Nazi German civil administration (''Zivilverwaltung'') which governed most of occupied Belgium and northern parts of occupied Franc ...

under Reichskommissar

Josef Grohé Josef Grohé (6 November 1902 – 27 December 1987) was a German Nazi Party official. He was the long-serving ''Gauleiter'' of Gau Cologne-Aachen and ''Reichskommissar'' for Belgium and Northern France toward the end of the Second World Wa ...

. * 22 July – Delegates of the

Belgian government in exile The Belgian Government in London (french: Gouvernement belge à Londres, nl, Belgische regering in Londen), also known as the Pierlot IV Government, was the government in exile of Belgium between October 1940 and September 1944 during World W ...

are among the founding signatories of the Bretton Woods system establishing the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development * 27 July – Collaborationist leaders

Jef van de Wiele Fredegardus Jacobus Josephus (Jef) van de Wiele (Deurne, Belgium, 20 July 1903 – Bruges, 4 September 1979) was a Belgian Flemish Nazi politician. During the Nazi occupation of Belgium he became notorious as the leader of the most virulently pro-Na ...

and

Hendrik Elias Hendrik Jozef Elias (12 June 1902 – 2 February 1973) was a Belgian politician and Flemish nationalist, notable as the leader of the Vlaams Nationaal Verbond between 1942 and 1944. Biography Elias was a noted academic, holding doctorates in bot ...

meet with

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

. ;August * 18 August – Courcelles Massacre in retaliation for the assassination of the collaborationist mayor of Charleroi by the

Belgian Resistance The Belgian Resistance (french: Résistance belge, nl, Belgisch verzet) collectively refers to the resistance movements opposed to the German occupation of Belgium during World War II. Within Belgium, resistance was fragmented between many se ...

. * 31 August – Many Belgian collaborators flee to Germany. ;September * 2 September – Allied ground forces enter Belgium. * 4 September – Liberation of Brussels and Antwerp;

Independent Belgian Brigade The Independent Belgian Brigade was a Belgian and Luxembourg military unit in the Free Belgian forces during World War II, commonly known as the Piron Brigade (''Brigade Piron'') after its commanding officer Jean-Baptiste Piron. It saw action i ...

(Brigade Piron) enters Brussels. * 5 September – Customs Convention between Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg signed.H.F. van Panhuys, L.J. Brinkhorst, and H.H. Maas (eds.), ''International Organisation and Integration'' (Deventer and Leyden, 1968), p. 978. * 7 September – Liberation of Liège. * 8 September –

Battle of Geel The Battle of Geel, also known as the Battle of the Geel Bridgehead, was a battle between British and German troops near Geel (Gheel) in Belgium. It occurred between 8 and 23 September 1944 and was one of the largest and bloodiest battles to occu ...

begins (to 23 September) * 15 September – Cinemas reopened in liberated parts of Belgium. * 21 September –

appointed Prince Regent in the king's absence. * 27 September – Government in exile becomes government of national unity. ;October * 2 October –

Battle of the Scheldt The Battle of the Scheldt in World War II was a series of military operations led by the First Canadian Army, with Polish and British units attached, to open up the shipping route to Antwerp so that its port could be used to supply the Alli ...

begins (to 8 November) * 12 October – First

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb (german: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Ministry of Aviation (Nazi Germany), Reich Aviation Ministry () designation was Fi 103. It was also known to the Allies as the buz ...

attack on Belgium. ;November * 1 November –

Operation Infatuate Operation Infatuate was the code name given to an Anglo-Canadian operation in November 1944 during the Second World War to open the port of Antwerp to shipping and relieve logistical constraints. The operation was part of the wider Battle of the ...

launched * 3 November – Last German forces in Belgium surrender at Knokke. * 8 November – Belgian Parliament lifts parliamentary privilege of members of collaborationist organisations. * 18 November – Resistance groups disarmed. * 25 November – Resistance groups demonstrate in Parliament to demand official recognition. * 28 November – Allied shipping starts to use the

Port of Antwerp The Port of Antwerp-Bruges is the port of the City of Antwerp. It is located in Flanders (Belgium), mainly in the province of Antwerp but also partially in the province of East Flanders. It is a seaport in the heart of Europe accessible to ...

. ;December * 16 December – German counter-offensive into Belgium:

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

begins with

Battle of Lanzerath Ridge The Battle of Lanzerath Ridge was fought on December 16, 1944, the first day of the Battle of the Bulge during World War II, near the village of Lanzerath, Belgium, along the key route for the German advance on the northern shoulder of the op ...

Battle of Losheim Gap The Battle of Losheim Gap was fought in the Ardennes, in Eastern Belgium, between the Allies and Nazi Germany, part of the Battle of the Bulge. It was the first battle and spearhead of the German attack, inflicting heavy American casualties, and c ...

, Battle of St. Vith and

Battle of Elsenborn Ridge The Battle of Elsenborn Ridge refers to the northernmost German attacks during the Battle of the Bulge. The area from Elsenborn Ridge itself to Monschau was the only sector of the American front line attacked during the Battle of the Bulge whe ...

* 17 December – Malmedy massacre * 20 December –

Siege of Bastogne The siege of Bastogne () was an engagement in December 1944 between American and German forces at the Belgian town of Bastogne, as part of the larger Battle of the Bulge. The goal of the German offensive was the harbor at Antwerp. In order to r ...

begins (to 27 December)

Births

* 31 March –

Jean-Marie André Jean-Marie André (born 31 March 1944, in Charleroi, Belgium and deceased 3 January 2023, in Namur, Belgium) was a Belgian scientist and professor of Theoretical and Chemical Physics at the Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix (now, Un ...

, scientist * 5 April –

Willy Planckaert Willy Planckaert (born 5 April 1944 in Nevele) is a Belgian former road bicycle racer. His brothers, Eddy and Walter Planckaert, as well as his son Jo Planckaert, are also former professional road bicycle racers. Major results ;1965 :1st, Br ...

, road bicycle racer * 1 June – Freddy Herbrand, Olympic athlete * 8 October – Maurice Bodson, politician (died 2020) * 21 December – Jacques Beurlet, footballer (died 2020)

Deaths

* 14 January – Walthère Dewé, resistance leader, shot in the street * 28 January – Aloïs Biebuyck, officer in the First World War * 23 February –

Leo Baekeland Leo Hendrik Baekeland (November 14, 1863 – February 23, 1944) was a Belgian chemist. He is best known for the inventions of Velox photographic paper in 1893, and Bakelite in 1907. He has been called "The Father of the Plastics Industry" ...

, chemical engineer * 3 March – Paul-Émile Janson, liberal politician ( Buchenwald concentration camp) * 21 March –

Pierre de Caters Baron Pierre de Caters (25 December 1875, in Berchem – 21 March 1944, in Paris) was a Belgian adventurer, aviator and car and motorboat racer. In 1908, he was the first Belgian to fly an aircraft. He was also the first Belgian to receive a ...

, aviator * 12 April – Emmanuel de Blommaert, Olympic rider * 10 May – Adolphe De Meulemeester, colonial official * 27 May – Adrienne Barbanson, musical patron * 12 August – Suzanne Spaak, resister * 17 August – Oswald Englebin, collaborationist mayor of Charleroi, assassinated * 20 August – Hippolyte De Kempeneer, film producer * 7 October – Abraham Leon, Trotskyist theorist ( Auschwitz concentration camp) * 1 December – Balthazar De Beukelaer, Olympic fencer * 11 December –

Joseph Maréchal Joseph Maréchal, SJ (; 1 July 1878 – 11 December 1944) was a Belgian Jesuit priest, philosopher, theologian and psychologist. He taught at the Higher Institute of Philosophy of the University of Leuven and was the founder of the school o ...

, Thomist philosopher

References

{{Year in Europe, 1944 1940s in Belgium