World War I
A major reorganisation of the army had been authorised by the government in 1912, providing for a total army of 350,000 men - 150,000 in the field forces, 130,000 in fortress garrisons and 70,000 reserves and auxiliaries. However, this reorganisation was nowhere near complete - it was planned for completion by 1926 - and only 117,000 men could be mobilised for the field forces, with the other branches equally deficient.
The Commander-in-Chief was King Albert I, with Lieutenant-General Chevalier de Selliers de Moranville as the Chief of the General Staff.
- 1st Division (Lieutenant-General Baix) - around Ghent.
- 2nd Division (Lieutenant-General Dassin) - Antwerp.
- 3rd Division (Lieutenant-General Leman) - around Liège.
- 4th Division (Lieutenant-General Michel) - Namur and Charleroi.
- 5th Division (Lieutenant-General Ruwet) - around Mons.
- 6th Division (Lieutenant-General Albert Lantonnois van Rode) - Brussels.
- Cavalry Division (Lieutenant-General de Witte) - Brussels.
In addition, there were garrisons at Antwerp, Liège and Namur, each placed under the command of the local divisional commander.
Each division contained three mixed brigades (of two infantry regiments and one artillery regiment), one cavalry regiment, and one artillery regiment, as well as various support units. Each infantry regiment contained three battalions, with one regiment in each brigade having a machine-gun company of six guns. An artillery regiment had three batteries of four guns.
The nominal strength of a division varied from 25,500 to 32,000 all ranks, with a total strength of eighteen infantry battalions, a cavalry regiment, eighteen machine-guns, and forty-eight guns. Two divisions (the 2nd and 6th) each had an additional artillery regiment, for a total of sixty guns.
The Cavalry Division had two brigades of two regiments each, three horse artillery batteries, and a cyclist battalion, along with support units; it had a total strength of 4,500 all ranks with 12 guns, and was - in effect - little more than a reinforced brigade.
The Belgian Army stubbornly resisted during the early days of the war, with the army - around a tenth the size of the Germany Army - holding up the German offensive for nearly a month, giving their French and British allies time to strengthen for the Marne counteroffensive later in the year.
Read more about this topic: Belgian Land Component
Famous quotes containing the words war i, world and/or war:
“War is the trade of Kings.”
—John Dryden (16311700)
“Autonomy means women defining themselves and the values by which they will live, and beginning to think of institutional arrangements which will order their environment in line with their needs.... Autonomy means moving out from a world in which one is born to marginality, to a past without meaning, and a future determined by othersinto a world in which one acts and chooses, aware of a meaningful past and free to shape ones future.”
—Gerda Lerner (b. 1920)
“We had won. Pimps got out of their polished cars and walked the streets of San Francisco only a little uneasy at the unusual exercise. Gamblers, ignoring their sensitive fingers, shook hands with shoeshine boys.... Beauticians spoke to the shipyard workers, who in turn spoke to the easy ladies.... I thought if war did not include killing, Id like to see one every year. Something like a festival.”
—Maya Angelou (b. 1928)