Lieutenant-General baron Louis Ruquoy (or Louis Rucquoy) (; 3 November 1861 – 1937) was the Chief of Staff of the

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. ...

during the second part of the

First World War 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 ...

Career

Ruquoy entered the Belgian Army in 1877. By 1914 he was Lieutenant-Colonel and commander of the 3rd Regiment of ''chasseurs à pied''. He was wounded twice in October 1914 during the evacuation of Antwerp. On June 11, 1915 he was promoted to

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

and became commander of the Belgian 5th Division. On 30 March 1916 he became Lieutenant-General and in January 1917 he succeeded Felix Wielemans as Chief of the General Staff. In April 1918, he was replaced by

Cyriaque Gillain Cyriaque Cyprien Victor Gillain (11 August 1857 – 17 August 1931) was a Belgian officer who served in World War I and was chief of the Belgian general staff between April 1918 and February 1920. Youth and education Gillain was born in Bie ...

and became commander of the 5th Division again. He ended the war as commander of the Belgian occupation forces in the Rhineland. After the war, he was made a Baron by

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 ...

. His only son, Pierre, was killed in the trenches near

Boezinge Boezinge (; vls, Boezienge) is a village in the municipality of Ypres in the Belgian province of West Flanders. Boezinge can be reached via the N369 road in the direction of Diksmuide. It was an independent municipality until 1977. History Boezin ...

on 26 December 1916.

Honours

* 1919 : Grand Cordon in the Order of Leopold.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruquoy, Louis 1861 births 1937 deaths Belgian generals Belgian military personnel of World War I Belgian Army generals of World War I