Hello, I had a discussion today about Belgians in D-Day which evolved from a discussion about Poles in D-Day. So the problem we ran into is, that the other person presented me with a wikipedia article (Here), which states that the Belgian Infantry Brigade fought in D-Day, I was quick to discredit this as a pure result of the Wikipedia page on D-Day (Here) not mentioning Belgians as belligerents, as well as other sources I read about other allied troops besides American, Canadian, British in D-Day not mentioning them neither. Another problem arose, the page on Belgian Infantry Brigade (Here), states that Belgians weren't present in the Normandy Landings, as they were supposed to be reserved for the Liberation of Belgium, due to being unable to replace casualties sufficiently. Apparently also the page on Belgians in D-Day states that their source is "Baete, Hubert, ed. (1994). Belgian Forces in United Kingdom. Ostend: Defence. pp. 31–7.". Now, I believe the writer of the Wikipedia section might've mistaken the Battle of Normandy (Operation Overlord) for D-Day. Now of course, I won't buy the book just to answer the question. Other source saying Belgians didn't participate in D-Day (Here). The person arguing that Belgium partook in D-Day also showed other sources, like a simple google search of who partook in D-Day showing Belgium as a belligerent. TBH I believe Belgians definitely fought in D-Day, but most being American-Belgians, and maybe very few Belgians who got into other allied armies. Can anyone make their partition clearer?
The Belgian Brigade embarked on 6 August and landed in Normandy on 7 and 8 August 1944 and was attached to British I Corps on or about 11 August. Its first casualties were recorded on 15 August 1944. No. 4 Troop (Belgian) of 10. Inter-allied Commando participated in Operation INFATUATE in November 1944. Some Belgian SAS men were inserted into Northern France and Belgium in August 1944. Otherwise, the Belgian participation on D-Day was limited to liaison officers and the Belgian contingent in the RAF.
The Belgian Brigade did not land on D Day. It did fight in Normandy under command 6th Airborne Division but landed much later. 4th (Belgian) Troop was part of No 10 (Inter-allied) Commando, but No 4 troop were deployed in Italy and did not land on D Day. No 349 and 350 Squadrons RAF were both Free Belgian units and flew over the invasion beaches. Two Belgian Corvettes took part in the D Day landings American-Belgians don't count if they are US Citizens and more than Irish Americans made the Irish Free State a combatant. There may have been individual Belgians in British land and air units but they might need top be identified individually. You might need to eat some humble pie unless someone has some other details.