The Walloon Guard (french: Garde Wallonne) was a collaborationist paramilitary formation which served as an

auxiliary police Auxiliary police, also called special police, are usually the part-time reserves of a regular police force. They may be armed or unarmed. They may be unpaid volunteers or paid members of the police service with which they are affiliated. The po ...

in German-occupied Belgium and parts of Northern France during

World War II 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 opposing ...

. It was established in November 1941 with the support of the

Rexist Party The Rexist Party (french: Parti Rexiste), or simply Rex, was a far-right Catholic, nationalist, authoritarian and corporatist political party active in Belgium from 1935 until 1945. The party was founded by a journalist, Léon Degrelle,

and was officially incorporated into the German Army (''Wehrmacht'') alongside the Feldgendarmerie. In contrast to the

Walloon Legion The Walloon Legion (french: Légion Wallonie, "Wallonia Legion") was a unit of the German Army (''Wehrmacht'') and later of the Waffen-SS recruited among French-speaking collaborationists in German-occupied Belgium during World War II. It wa ...

, established in June 1941, which participated in fighting on the Eastern Front the Walloon Guard was used within Belgium and initially found it easier to attract volunteers because of the comparatively high salaries offered. The first

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...

was raised on 17 November 1941. It was used primarily for guarding railways and military installations but also participated in the repression of the resistance and deserters from labour deportation. Historian Flore Plisnier notes that "violence became endemic within the formation, ruining its reputation vis-a-vis other pro-German organisations". Particularly notable was the so-called Bande Jayé (), named after its leader, Marcel Jayé, which became indistinguishable from German units and terrorised the civilian population in parts of the Borinage.

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Bibliography

*{{cite book, last=Plisnier, first=Flore, title=Ils ont pris les armes pour Hitler: la collaboration armée en Belgique francophone, location=Brussels, publisher=Renaissance du Livre, year=2011, isbn=9782507003616 Military units and formations established in 1941 Belgian collaboration during World War II 1941 establishments in Belgium Foreign volunteer units of the Wehrmacht Auxiliary police units

See also

References

Bibliography