X-Nico

unusual facts about Belgian Army



508th Fighter Squadron

It was also awarded the Belgian Fourragère after being cited three times in the Belgian Army Order of the Day for operations contributing to the liberation of the Belgian people.

ACEC Cobra

It was developed by Ateliers de Constructions Electriques de Charleroi (ACEC) along with the Belgian Army.

Belgian aircraft registration and serials

In 1954 the Belgian Army formed its own aviation element and serial numbers were allocated in the form OL-A01, the OL for Observation Leger (light observation), the letter for the type and the number for each individual aircraft.

Volkswagen Iltis

The Volkswagen Type 183, more commonly known as the Iltis (German for Polecat), is a military vehicle built by Volkswagen for use by the German military and under licence by Bombardier for the Canadian Forces and Belgian Army.


see also

47 mm Model 1931 anti-tank gun

Reports of panzers knocked out by the '47' during the Battle of Belgium do exist, but in general the bulk of the Belgian army was deployed in the north of the country, on the flat terrain of Flanders, and not in the hilly terrain of the Ardennes in the south, which was regarded as impenetrable but nonetheless served as the primary route of invasion for about 2,500 German panzers.

Montigny mitrailleuse

The Belgian army initially purchased Fafschamps volley guns.

Radio Belgique

After 18 days of fighting, the Belgian army, along with King Leopold III, surrendered and the country was placed under German occupation.

T-15 Light tank

Since experience with the Polish armed forces Vickers' showed that the air cooled 80 hp engine tended to overheat, the Belgian army requested a prototype equipped with a water-cooled Rolls-Royce engine, which would not fit in the back and therefore was installed sideways in the modified 6-ton tank.

Vinkt Massacre

As the German Army continued to advance west, pushing back both the British Expeditionary Force (trying to escape to Dunkirk) and the Belgian army, the village of Vinkt became an important target, as it lay both on the road south from Gent to Lille, and astride the Schipdonk Canal that blocked the German advance to the west.