An NCO from 13e Démi-Brigade Légion Étrangère(13e DBLE), proudly holds the brigade flag atop a truck in the North African desert, 1942.
UNITS
LAND
The Belgian SAS
The French Foreign Legion
French Special Air Service
AIR
Normandie-Niemen Squadron
BELGIUM AND FRANCE
Their countries overrun by the Nazi aggressors, a large number of fighting men from Belgium and France found their way to Great Britain and enlisted in a variety of units, some retaining the distinction of their national origin, while others became members of the British military. Throughout the war, the soldiers of the SAS, the French Foreign Legion, and the Normandie-Niemen Squadron resisted the enemy and upheld their national honor, contributing significantly to the Allied victory and the liberation of their native lands.
THE BELGIAN SAS
•FOUNDED: 1942
•STRENGTH: 120
•THEATRE: WESTERN EUROPE
In the spring of 1940, France and the Low Countries fell victim to the marauding GermanWehrmacht following an extended period of inactivity along the Western Front which had become known as the ‘Sitzkrieg’. Within a matter of weeks German forces had reached the English Channel, compelled the British Expeditionary Force to evacuate the European continent at Dunkirk, and taken hundreds of thousands of prisoners. Organized resistance crumbled and the Belgian armed forces effectively ceased to exist.
Although their country was overrun, a large number of Belgian expatriates enlisted in the armed forces of the British Commonwealth, fighting in the air, on land and at sea. Often, these patriotic Belgians became members of standard British units. One exception, however, was the Belgian Independent Parachute Company (BIPC), which was formed at Malvern Wells, Worcester, on 8 May 1942, upon the order of Henry Rolin, the Undersecretary of Defence for the Belgian Government in exile.
Company A, 2nd Battalion Belgian Fusiliers, which consisted of volunteers from North and South America, and a platoon of the 1st Battalion Belgian Fusiliers consolidated with former members of the Belgian armed forces to form the BIPC, and paratroopers won their wings at the Ringway Parachute School in 1942. Further training took place in company with units of the British Special Air Service (SAS) at such locations as Inverlochy Castle in Scotland. By February 1944 the BIPC was formally absorbed into the SAS. Captain Eddy Blondeel, a resident of Ghent and an engineer in peacetime, commanded the unit, which was designated ‘5 SAS’ and numbered about 130 men.
Members of 5 SAS participated in numerous operations behind German lines in the summer of 1944. Belgian SAS troopers often operated in small groups, disrupting enemy supply and communications, gathering intelligence, inflicting casualties and supporting advancing Allied units. In July 1944, during Operations Chaucer, Bunyan and Shakespeare, three teams of six men were dropped into northern France on reconnaissance missions. In August, three groups of 15 soldiers parachuted into the Perche hills in support.
The largest Belgian airborne action of the war occurred in August when 80 troopers parachuted into France east of the Falaise Pocket, from which thousands of retreating German troops were attempting to escape a rapidly closing trap. During Operation Trueform, members of 5 SAS harassed the enemy at every opportunity and kept Allied commanders apprised of the direction of German troop movements.
