The Belgian Expeditionary Corps of Armoured Cars in Russia (french: Corps Expeditionnaire des Autos-Canons-Mitrailleuses Belges en Russie) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

military unit sent to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It fought alongside the Imperial Russian army on the Eastern Front. Between 1915 and 1918, 444 Belgian soldiers served with the unit of whom 16 were killed in action.

History

Equipment from the Belgian Armoured Car squadron in Russia

In August 1914, the German Empire invaded neutral Belgium. The campaign was initially very successful, pushing the

, French and

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

forces westwards. By the end of 1914, however, the Western Front had stabilised into static

trench warfare Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising military trenches, in which troops are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery. Trench warfare became ar ...

. Following the

Battle of the Yser The Battle of the Yser (french: Bataille de l'Yser, nl, Slag om de IJzer) was a battle of the First World War that took place in October 1914 between the towns of Nieuwpoort and Diksmuide, along a stretch of the Yser River and the Yperlee ...

in October, the Belgian army remained entrenched along the

Yser Front The Yser Front (french: Front de l'Yser, nl, Front aan de IJzer or ), sometimes termed the West Flemish Front in British writing, was a section of the Western Front during World War I held by Belgian troops from October 1914 until 1918. The front ...

and was left with a number of armoured cars which could not be used. In early 1915, the Russian

Tsar Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Polan ...

formally requested military support from

King Albert I Albert I (8 April 1875 – 17 February 1934) was King of the Belgians from 23 December 1909 until his death in 1934. Born in Brussels as the fifth child and second son of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders and Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-S ...

and a self-contained unit was formed for service in Russia. As Belgium was officially an independent neutral power rather than an ally of the Russian Empire Belgian soldiers in this unit were officially considered as volunteers in the Imperial Russian Army itself. The first contingent of the Belgian Expeditionary Corps (333 volunteers equipped with Mors and Peugeot armoured cars) arrived in

Archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...

in October 1915. The unit fought with distinction in Galicia and was mentioned in the Order of the Day five times. After the

Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

in 1917, the Belgian force remained in Russia until the

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (also known as the Treaty of Brest in Russia) was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire), that ended Russia's ...

withdrew Russia from the war. After the ceasefire, the unit found itself in hostile territory. As the route north to

Murmansk Murmansk (Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. "Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ'') ...

was blocked, the soldiers destroyed their armoured cars to prevent their capture by

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

forces. The unit finally reached the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

through China and the

Trans-Siberian railway The Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR; , , ) connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway line in the world. It runs from the city of Moscow in the west to the city of Vladivostok in the ea ...

in June 1918. A similar, slightly larger British unit, the RNAS Armoured Car Expeditionary Force (ACEF), also served in Russia during the same period.

Notable personnel

The unit was never particularly numerous, but included some notable personnel: * Henri Herd, known as "Constant le Marin", who was a prominent boxer and 4-time World Champion *

Henry George Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era. He inspired the eco ...

track cyclist Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it wa ...

who won a gold medal at the 1920 Summer Olympics *

Julien Lahaut Julien Lahaut (6 September 1884 – 18 August 1950) was a Belgian politician and communist activist. He became leader of the Communist Party of Belgium after the First World War. A dissident during the German occupation of 1940–44, he becam ...

, politician and chief of the

Communist Party of Belgium french: Parti Communiste de Belgique , abbreviation = KPB-PCB , colorcode = , leader1_title = Historical leaders , leader1_name = Joseph JacquemotteJulien LahautLouis Van Geyt , founder = Julien Lahaut , founded = , dissolved = , merge ...

who was assassinated in 1950. *

Marcel Thiry Marcel Thiry (13 March 1897 – 5 September 1977) was a French-speaking Belgian poet. During World War I, he and his brother Oscar served in the Belgian Expeditionary Corps in Russia. He was awarded the Prix Valery Larbaud in 1976 for '' Toi qui ...

, Walloon poet, who served in the corps with his brother Oscar. * Théo Halleux, construction contractor who built the first high multi-storey buildings in Liège.

Commemoration

From 1931, soldiers who had served with the unit were awarded the 1914–1918 Commemorative War Medal with a bar (reading "1916—R—1917" or "1916—R—1918") denoting service in Russia. The last veteran of the unit died in 1992. In 2014–15, the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

raised 40,000 euros towards building a replica Mors-Minerva armoured car. The vehicle went on display in the markings of the Expeditionary Corps in 2015.

In fiction and popular culture

The 2015 Belgian

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

drama-action film ''

Cafard ''Cafard'' is a 2015 French-Dutch-Belgian animated war film written and directed by Jan Bultheel. The film tells the story of a boxer, Jean Mordant (based on the real-life Henri Herd, known as Constant le Marin), who joins the Belgian Expeditiona ...

'' ("Cockroach" in French) tells the story of a boxer, Jean Mordant (based on the real-life Henri Herd, known as Constant le Marin), who joins the Expeditionary Corps in order to avenge the rape of his daughter by German soldiers in Occupied Belgium.

References

External links

King Albert's Heroes: How 400 young Belgians fought in Russia and conquered the United States
lecture by August Thiry (Thomas More College, Mechelen) to the Institute of European Studies, UC Berkeley. Uploaded to YouTube 1 Oct 2018. Military history of Belgium during World War I Military units and formations established in 1915 Military units and formations disestablished in 1918 Military units and formations of Russia in World War I Military units and formations of Belgium Expeditionary units and formations Military units and formations of Belgium in World War I Belgium–Russia relations