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The Secret Army (french: Armée Secrète or AS, nl, Geheim Leger, GL) was a faction within 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 ...
active during the German occupation of Belgium during World War II. Founded in August 1940 as the Belgian Legion, the Secret Army changed its name on a number of occasions during its existence, adopting its final appellation in June 1944. It was the largest resistance group active in the country. The Secret Army incorporated many former officers from the defeated
Belgian Army The Land Component ( nl, Landcomponent, french: Composante terre) is the land branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The King of the Belgians is the commander in chief. The current chief of staff of the Land Component is Major-General Pierre Gérard. ...
and, politically, was dominated by right-wing conservatives and
royalists A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...
. Though relations were sometimes strained, the Secret Army enjoyed the closest relations of any large resistance movement with 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 ...
.


Foundation

The origin of the Secret Army can be traced back to shortly after the Belgian surrender after the German invasion of 10–28 May 1940. A number of career officers from the defeated
Belgian Army The Land Component ( nl, Landcomponent, french: Composante terre) is the land branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The King of the Belgians is the commander in chief. The current chief of staff of the Land Component is Major-General Pierre Gérard. ...
joined together to create the first small resistance organisations, such as the "Belgian Legion" (''Légion Belge'' or ''Belgisch Legioen'') and "Reconstructed Belgian Army" (''Armée Belge Reconstituée'' or ''Heropgericht Belgisch Leger''). The members involved were generally right-wing in their political views and hostile to pre-war democratic politics. They strongly identified with
King Leopold III Leopold III (3 November 1901 – 25 September 1983) was King of the Belgians from 23 February 1934 until his abdication on 16 July 1951. At the outbreak of World War II, Leopold tried to maintain Belgian neutrality, but after the German invasi ...
, expressing hostility towards Belgian politicians and
communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
as well as the German occupiers. In the spring of 1941, the Reconstructed Belgian Army and Belgian Legion merged, keeping the Belgian Legion name, under the leadership of , and Jules Bastin. The organisation had units across the country, with as many as 50,000 members, and its own local organisation.


Activities

The group's leaders attempted to forge contacts with the Belgian government in London and with the British
Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its p ...
(SOE) and MI9. In 1942, Claser travelled to London in person to bring the organisation into contact with both the Belgian and British authorities. The Belgian government, however, distrusted the intentions of the Belgian Legion. Although expanding rapidly, the Belgian Legion was beset by internal political disputes. Arrests of leading resistance members also destabilised the movement. By the end of the occupation, Claser, Lentz and Bastin had all been arrested. In 1943, the Belgian Legion changed its name to "Army of Belgium" (''Armée de Belgique'' or ''Leger van België'') and subsequently to the Secret Army (''Armée Secrete'' or ''Geheim Leger'') in June 1944. Between 1943 and 1944, the majority of the aid sent to the resistance in occupied Belgium was delivered to the group. In exchange, however, the group had to subscribe to the government's strategic plans to avoid confrontation with the Germans until shortly before the
Liberation of Belgium The Liberation of Belgium from German occupation was completed on 4 February 1945 when the entire country was reportedly free of German troops with the liberation of the village of Krewinkel. The operation began when Allied forces entered on 2 S ...
when the group was tasked with providing tactical help to the Allied forces. Relations between the Belgian government and the Secret Army remained tense throughout the war, however, with neither party trusting the other. In February 1944, Jules Pire took over as its leader and began to restructure the group's leadership and make it more cohesive. As part of its attempt to resemble an official army, the group even adopted its own form of uniform in April 1944 based on worker's overalls. Shortly after
D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
in June 1944, the Secret Army was ordered to begin sabotaging railway and communications networks. Together with other groups including the
Front de l'Indépendance The Independent Front (french: Front de l'Indépendance or FI; nl, Onafhankelijkheidsfront, OF) was a left-wing faction of the Belgian Resistance in German-occupied Belgium in World War II. It was founded in March 1941 by Dr Albert Marteaux ...
and
Witte Brigade The White Brigade ( nl, Witte Brigade, french: Brigade blanche) was a Belgian resistance group, founded in the summer of 1940 in Antwerp by Marcel Louette, who was nicknamed "Fidelio". The group was originally known as "De Geuzengroep" and chang ...
, Secret Army personnel played an important role in the capture of 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 ...
in September 1944 before the arrival of Canadian troops, preventing the Germans from destroying the installation as they prepared to retreat. At its height in 1944, the Secret Army had as many as 54,000 members across Belgium. Around 4,000 members of the Secret Army were killed during the occupation. After the liberation, many members of the Secret Army were incorporated into the re-formed Belgian Army's new Fusilier Battalions. As many as 80 percent of the 53,700 soldiers in the battalions had previously been members of the Secret Army or the small
National Royalist Movement The National Royalist Movement (french: Mouvement national royaliste or MNR, nl, Nationale Koninklijke Beweging, NKB) was a group within the Belgian Resistance in German-occupied Belgium during World War II. It was active chiefly in Brussels and ...
.


Notable members

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Jef Van Bilsen Anton Arnold Jozef "Jef" Van Bilsen (13 June 1913, in Diest – 22 July 1996, in Kraainem), usually cited as A. A. J. Van Bilsen in his academic publications, was a Belgian professor who, in December 1955, proposed a 30-year scheme (known as the ...
(1913–96), former
Verdinaso Verdinaso (''Verbond van Dietsche Nationaal-Solidaristen'', ), sometimes rendered as Dinaso, was a small authoritarian and fascist political party active in Belgium and, to a lesser extent, the Netherlands between 1931 to 1941. Verdinaso was foun ...
member who joined in 1942


References


Bibliography

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Further reading

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External links


Homepage
of the Secret Army Foundation. {{DEFAULTSORT:Secret Army(Belgium) World War II resistance movements Belgian resistance groups Military units and formations established in 1944 1944 establishments in Belgium