The General Sabotage Group of Belgium (french: Groupe Général de Sabotage de Belgique), more commonly known as Groupe G, was a

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 ...

group during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, founded in 1942. Groupe G's activities concentrated particularly on sabotage of German rail lines and it is widely considered to have been the most effective resistance group in Belgium during the period.

History

Groupe G was founded in 1942, by a group of former students of the

Free University of Brussels University of Brussels may refer to several institutions in Brussels, Belgium: Current institutions * Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), a French-speaking university established as a separate entity in 1970 *Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), a D ...

and its ranks were mainly filled by students. Unusually for a resistance cell of the period, the unit's activities were not restricted to a single area as it operated across the country.

Actions

In 1944, Groupe G was responsible for a co-ordinated action on all high voltage electric lines in Belgium. This action alone is estimated to have cost German forces around 10 million man-hours of repairs before the communications were restored.

References

External links

* {{Belgian resistance groups World War II resistance movements Military units and formations established in 1942 1942 establishments in Belgium Belgian resistance groups