Belgian Congo In WWII

Don't respond to LIII1940..

 

True. But then again they were in an area of the war that was perhaps even more ignored the the CBI. It truly was a "World" war. But some of the areas of war were not as flashy or as exciting as some of the others.

 

US jeeps in Congo

 

With 37mm AT guns

 

More

 

Dated.But interesting nonetheless.

The Belgian Campaign in Ethiopia 1941
Internet Archive: Details: The Belgian Campaign in Ethiopia

"This pamphlet is based on 1941 interviews with Belgian officers who led an army consisting of troops who had been local black police in the Belgian Congo, then Belgium's African colony and originally the personal property of King Leopold of Belgium's royal family. The interviews described and celebrated the surrender of Italian General Gazzera, and were conducted following the conclusion of the Belgian campaign, a "trek of 2,500 miles through jungle swamps and desert wastes." Belgian unique hardships, heroism and aggressive action against a numerically superior Italian force are reflected as well as the role of the Belgian Congo Army's victory in assisting WW II Allied efforts to oppose the Axis in the colonial sphere."

 

Very interesting thread, I was thinking about the Congo just last night as it's in the news again, as per for the most miserable reasons.

Rwanda-Congo force pushes deeper in militia zones - International Herald Tribune
Congo warlord stands trial in child soldier case | Reuters

The Congo has suffered dreadfully ever since Leopold II formed the Congo Free State in 1885, with an incredibly brutal drive for profit which included the severing of hands to prove killings but also to show how bullets hadn't been wasted.

The baskets of severed hands, set down at the feet of the European post commanders, became the symbol of the Congo Free State. ... The collection of hands became an end in itself. Force Publique soldiers brought them to the stations in place of rubber; they even went out to harvest them instead of rubber... They became a sort of currency. They came to be used to make up for shortfalls in rubber quotas, to replace... the people who were demanded for the forced labour gangs; and the Force Publique soldiers were paid their bonuses on the basis of how many hands they collected.

And of course Leopold II's ambition started the scramble for Africa, how sad to see over a century of misery for it's people.

 

xxxx xxxx

 

This was mentioned already in a couple of the previous posts.

 

The Belgian Congo, reservoir of the allies (1942)

Internet Archive: Details: The Belgian Congo, reservoir of the allies

 

So it was. Sorry about that. I wasn't trying to steal your thunder. I've deleted my entry on the subject.

 

The Steamer La Fondère on the Congo, 1941.

 

"The Belgian Congo Cyclist Company on parade. These men take readily to bicycles and to many other mechanical objects of war."

 

This is true. I remember watching a documentary which happened to feature the Congolese being used by the French to defeat Kaiser Wilhelm II in the Abyssinian Crisis, apparently the Congolese were put on the front lines and were used as pawns to sacrifice and push forward in advance to the Germans. I saw this ages ago, probably on discovery channel and the reason why I remember this it is that once the The Triple Entente (France) had supposedly won over Abyssinia, their were still some (Belgian) Congolese troops taken as prisoners. Prisoners and civilians from German occupied territories within Africa where involved in experiments in which German scientists would conduct a series of tests to differentiate between racial types. The programme didn't go into too much detail however, it did describe how the wives and children of the captured prisoners would be given sharp shards of glass to scrape off the skin of their husbands/fathers skulls. Worse experiments where conducted on Jews, Once Hitler came to power...

 

You have any proof for these allegations ?
What Abessynian crisis ?
You are talking about WWI?
In WWI,the colonial Belgian troops were used against the Germans in Tanganyka,and they conquered Ruanda and Burundi,which,after the war became Belgian mandate territories .
And,why would soldiers of Belgian Congo be used by the French ????

 

Keep this on topic. The trhead is about Belgian Congo during WWII , not the Kaiser defending his colonies from the French during WWI.

 

I wonder if the Belgian forces and native forces too, had a similar TO&E to the Belgian Army in 1940, can anyone give me a breakdown of a Infantry Company from this zone and its support elements to please. I doubt that they had any AFVs but did they use the same Artillery as the Belgian home army.

Yan.