MILITARY VEHICLE LEXICON PART 3 - BELGIUM | Model Military International 203

Sava, or rather S.A.V.A., i.e. Societe Anversois pour la fabrications de Voitures Automobiles, introduced the first vehicle equipped with a rotating turret, the armour of which - unlike the Minerva’s - covered the crew from above.

In October 1915, Le Corps expéditionnaire belge des autoscanons-mitrailleuse disembarked in Arkhangelsk for operations on the eastern front of the Great War. It took part in the heavy fighting in Eastern Galicia of 1916-17. At the start there were 58 vehicles in the unit - including 12 Minerva armoured cars, 23 motorcycles and 120 bicycles.

The Belgians were among the pioneers of using armour in combat. Attacking Belgium during August and September 1914, Germany had already encountered very stiff resistance; and then the Belgian Minerva, Sava and Mors armoured cars were joined by captured German vehicles, all of which could also carry few infantry riders.

Thanks to a good knowledge of the terrain, the Belgians suffered minor losses. However, as a result of initial combat experiences, it was decided that their troops needed at least basic protection from enemy fire. In late August 1914, the first lightly armoured vehicles (their armour was only 5 mm thick) left the factories in Antwerp not yet occupied by the Germans. At first the only section to be protected was the actual troop-carrying compartment. Protection for the driver, co-driver and engine compartment was introduced some time later.

The armour began to evolve, too. Curved elements appeared; turrets of some vehicles were polygonal whereas in other cases they were of a round shape and half open. The Belgians - perhaps the first to do so - used double-layer armour that was in use by the end of the Great War. It was discovered that such a solution, even with armour plates of the same thickness, significantly lowers the possibility of penetration. Armoured cars were initially armed with a single Lewis machine gun and later 37 mm cannon. The car considered to be the most suitable to be converted into an armoured vehicle was the Minerva with a fourcylinder, 40hp engine.

After nearly all of Belgium had been occupied by the Germans, a squadron of Belgian armoured cars was re-deployed to the Eastern Front where the Minervas were joined by British Lanchester armoured cars; their most successful actions were in the area of Eastern Galicia, today the western part of Ukraine. It is stated in some sources that the last Minerva armoured car was decommissioned as late as in 1938.

Berliet VUDB armoured car. The one sporting license number 505 belonged to the 2e Lanciers. It was commanded by Lt. Jules Duqué. The photo was taken in 1932 during the manoeuvres at Bourg-Léopold attended by the King of the Belgians, Albert I. 502 was photographed after its capture by Germans.

RISE AND DECLINE RENAULT FT

In 1919, the formation of a Regiment des Chars de Combat (tank regiment) began. It consisted of 75 Renault FT tanks purchased throughout 1920-1922. The tanks were of three types: the first was armed with a 37 mm Puteaux cannon, the second with a Hotchkiss machine gun, whereas the third type was the TSF version, the command and communications variant. However, as early as 1930, Renault FT tanks were recognised as obsolete, and over 30 vehicles, which was nearly the half of the total fleet, were decommissioned. Only four years later, in 1934, the entire regiment was disbanded. The Renault tanks were withdrawn from the army establishment, and handed over to the Gendarmerie. Belgian authors, especially George Mazy and Raymond Surlemont, state that the last operational Renault FT remained in use by the Gendarmerie until 1938. However, Steven Zaloga extends their employment to 1939.

BERLIET VUDB

In 1930 Belgian army received 12 Berliet VUDB armoured cars purchased from France. These vehicles, with serial numbers 0501 to 0512, replaced the worn out Minervas in the 2e Lanciers. However, shortly after the first participation of these vehicles in manoeuvres, they turned out to be unbalanced (height was 2.15 m with a width of only 1.96 m) and underpowered (merely 40 hp). Therefore, the Army handed the unwanted Berliets to the Gendarmerie at the first opportunity. The Gendarmerie assigned the troublesome vehicles to the two so-called “light regiments” which were being prepared for service in case of war. Nonetheless, the cars broke down one after the other. Most likely, the few last remaining Berliets served during the 1940 campaign. The last reports about actions by the VUDB armoured cars found in the archives of the Museum of the Armed Forces in Brussels is dated 17 May, which is around the time when von Bock’s Army Group was on the outskirts of Antwerp and Brussels.

NEUTRALITY -DOCTRINE AND REALITY

The Kingdom of Belgium had been constantly emphasising its neutrality in the international arena. One of the results of such political thinking was significant negligence in military development, including the armoured force. On the other hand, Fabrique Nationale (FN) in Herstal near Liege had meanwhile become one of the leading producers of the best small arms.

One can easily imagine how Belgian society and politicians thought in the late 1930s. Hitler’s Germany denounced the Treaty of Versailles and the agreements signed in Locarno; it had occupied the Rhineland, and the German Kriegsmarine as well as the Wehrmacht started to build their numbers up. Slowly and indecisively fascist Italy was becoming the Hitler’s ally. How Spain would act in that situation was unknown. At the same time, their long-time ally, Britain, was paralysed with apathy and the idleness of the affluent elite, and was already behind Germany in the arms race. A deep political, economic and social crisis absorbed France, which - shocked by the trauma of the Great War - was hiding behind the allegedly unconquerable Maginot Line. However, France and Belgium were remaining connected by military cooperation agreements from the 1920s, and conferences of general staffs of both countries took place periodically. They did not bring any significant outcome, unfortunately. During the last such conference, both sides discussed details of cooperation in case of military aggression from Germany. The Belgians were aware that although they had a potent and relatively well developed armed forces, they were not capable of defending the 380-kilometre long stretch from Antwerp in the north to Arlon in the Ardennes. Moreover, the political party supporting cooperation with France had lost the parliamentary election significantly and the partnership was abandoned. The new ruling politicians wanted complete neutrality and were against any interference by other countries in the internal affairs of Belgium. The parliament passed an act with 136 votes for and only 42 against it. France and Britain considered the act almost as a betrayal. The King of the Belgians, Leopold III, was called a traitor by the French press. The Germans on the other hand, cynically guaranteed neutrality and aid in case of intervention from other countries.

Unsurprisingly, as the threat of German aggression intensified, Belgium renewed the partnership with former allies. This time, however, they cooperated on the quiet. Unfortunately the allies took the idea of secrecy of this agreement probably too seriously, as their headquarters knew their plans only in general terms; they reached no agreement on the details. The lack of proper communication resulted in French cavalry divisions entering the Ardennes while the Chasseur Ardennais were withdrawing from the area, as they did not know anything about the arrival of French troops. Another example is that the British forces reaching positions on the Dyle River found no prepared fortifications, which they expected Belgian forces would have built earlier.