Belgian Armor
By Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
November 2006

Devastated by the First World War, Belgium built large modern fortifications and a well-equipped modern army to support them during the years that followed. Though a very small nation, Belgium possessed modern industry and a relatively large and well-educated population. Eighteen infantry divisions, two light infantry divisions, two cavalry divisions and supporting units were organized into five first-line and two reserve corps. Belgium emerged from the Great War with a considerable military reputation thanks to the bravery of the kingdom’s small army in resisting for four years despite the German conquest of all but a tiny sliver of Belgian territory, and the resolute leadership of King Albert.

Belgian pre-war planning took armored combat very seriously and the Belgians made plans to deal with a German tank attack. The Belgian Army went to war well-supplied with anti-tank guns, with over 750 of the very effective 47mm FRC model 31, a locally-made weapon. A Belgian regular division had 32 of them, usually drawn by tractors; a reserve division had 24 guns. In addition to planning for static defense, the Belgians also supplied each of their regular divisions with a company of T-13 tank destroyers, a lightly armored vehicle mounting the 47mm FRC m 31 in an open-topped turret with full traverse.

A T13 tank destroyer, fitted with armored turret roof.

In 1936, German troops entered the Rhineland in defiance of the Versailles Treaty stipulations calling for the zone to remain demilitarized. Belgium prepared for war, but her ally France’s new Popular Front government declined to oppose the German provocation. Dismayed by French lack of will, Belgium cancelled her 1920 alliance with France and reverted to a policy of strict neutrality. In the future, Belgium would rely on the League of Nations, where she gained a seat on the Security Council in 1937, and in the guarantee of Belgian and Dutch neutrality offered by Adolf Hitler the same year. With the economy still staggering from the Great Depression — unemployment stood at 16.8 percent in 1938, down from a high of 23.2 percent in 1932 — the government had rung up large deficits since 1929. A large armaments program was out of the question.

Even so, Belgian troops had sufficient artillery and anti-tank guns by the standards of 1939. What they lacked was armored support. Successive governments led by the Catholic, Liberal, Socialist and Christian Socialist parties all agreed that tanks were offensive weapons and not suitable for a neutral country’s armed forces. Nevertheless, Belgium fielded a number of tanks and armored fighting vehicles in the 1940 campaign.

Left over from the Great War were 75 Renault FT-17 light tanks, some with machine guns, some with a short-barreled 37mm gun. None were in front-line service in 1939 and 1940, all being relegated to the training establishment.

Leopold, King of the Belgians, and a T15 light tank.

In 1935, the Belgians bought 42 Carden-Lloyd Mark IV light tanks, replacing their turrets with a Belgian-made conical turret mounting a 13.2mm Hotchkiss heavy machine gun and christening them the T15. In 1940 the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Divisions each had 16, and nine served with the 1st Chasseurs Ardennais Division, an elite light infantry unit mounting most of its troops on bicycles. In each division, the tanks were split up more or less equally between the unit’s three regiments, assuring that what little impact the Belgian armor could have had would be dispersed.

The Belgians also bought an unarmed version of the Mark IV as an artillery tractor, and in 1937 began to convert them to the T13 tank destroyer. This was very similar to the T15, but had a 47mm gun in place of the machine gun. Fifty were converted from British-made tractors, and another 150 were produced in Belgium as tank destroyers. Though included on the paper tables of organization for active infantry divisions, not all divisions had received them in May, 1940 though the 1st Chasseurs Ardennais and the cavalry divisions all had theirs. Showing its origins, the T13 came with a towing hook and was often used as a tractor.

Belgium ordered 75 modern Renault AMC-35 light tanks in 1937; only 12 of the order were actually received due to rampant production delays at Renault (some sources say 25 arrived, but this does not match Belgian orders of battle for the 1940 campaign). Disliking the weak French armament, the Belgians fitted their dozen tanks with a locally-produced turret carrying the 47mm FRC m 31. Eight of these modified tanks, designated AGC-1, were ready for action in 1940 and formed an independent company in the Belgian general reserve at Brussels. Four were lost in action and two destroyed by their crews after becoming stuck in ditches.

Belgium’s armored fist, the AGC-1 on maneuvers.

Belgium’s armor in 1940, therefore, totaled a dozen actual battle tanks, 42 light tanks of dubious fighting value, and another 200 tank destroyers. Dispersed between infantry divisions, with heavier allotments to the three favored mobile divisions, they had little operational impact on the campaign. Many generals refused to deploy their handful of vehicles at the front for fear of losing them, but the tank troops fought bravely when they actually did see action. Belgium only lasted for three weeks before succumbing to the Germans; King Leopold was made of far less stern stuff than his father. When the king ordered the army to surrender, the troops simply ignored him and kept fighting, but it only delayed the inevitable result.

Belgium had formed a motorized cavalry brigade in its general reserve, and given a more realistic policy toward tanks as a defensive weapon the doctrinal basis was present to expand this formation into an armored division. Belgium had the industrial capacity to manufacture tanks and the connections to obtain licenses for modern French or British designs. Financial strictures balanced against job security for Belgian factory workers; the political pendulum could easily have swung toward acceptance of the tank.

To explore this possibility in game terms, there’s no need for a free download. We included an optional Belgian armored division in the counter mix for Strange Defeat. Had Belgium either maintained or renewed her alliance with France, the policies forbidding tank development would not have been in place. Three or four tank battalions — well within Belgium’s budget and industrial capacity — combined with the motorized cavalry brigade would have made a very efficient armored division. Therefore, if the “Allied Belgium” option chit is drawn (or agreed to before play) the Belgian “Arm” armored division begins play at Brussels.

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