Activity details
Cinquantenaire Parc 3
1000 Brussels
Belgium
Pop-up exhibition - "The Liberation"
Every first Tuesday of the month, from May to December, a question mark disappears and one or more objects, linked to a new figure who played a role in the liberation of our country, are added!
Curious? Head to the museum reception, where our showcase awaits you!
May - Hugo Van Kuyck
Antwerp-born Hugo follows in 1940 the Belgian government in exile to Limoges and later joins the American army. In 1943 he is sent to Great Britain to prepare the future landing in Western Europe. He then heads the Beach Intelligence Section and studies the coastlines, the Atlantic Wall bunkers and the tides to determine the places and times best suited for an operation: Overlord eventually takes place on 6 June 1944 in Normandy.
He ends the war with the rank of lieutenant colonel and receives several honorary distinctions: the Bronze Star Medal, the U.S. Air Force Air Medal and the Legion of Merit. His jacket and peaked cap are exhibited in the Military Museum’s Second World War section.
June - Charles Kaise and the Piron Brigade
The Piron Brigade, the “Belgian army in exile” with 2,300 troops in 1944, translates the government’s determination to continue the fight against the Axis powers. Several internal sections ensure the brigade’s autonomy. At the age of 36, 1st Sergeant Charles Kaise is assigned to the small Military Police section. During the Normandy landings, the MPs organise traffic, point lost men in the right direction and are in charge of prisoners of war.
Adjutant H. Kaise, who worked for Royal Military Museum’s aviation department, presented the institution with his father’s uniform and belt in 1975 and 1982 respectively.
July - Flight Lieutenant Paul H. Cooreman DFC, “Paolo” of 609 Squadron
This Ghent-born son of a former Belgian Prime Minister joins the army, more specifically the 1st Regiment of Guides. He is taken prisoner in 1940 and imprisoned in Oflag IVC (Colditz), but is released on 25 August 1940. He then makes his way to Great Britain, via France and Spain (where he is briefly imprisoned in the Miranda de Ebro camp). He is assigned to 609 Squadron of the Royal Air Force (55 Belgians serve there and 15 of them will be killed) and carries out 130 combat missions. On 3 August 1944 he is shot down by the German FLAK during a flight over Normandy. He survives the crash and remains in service until the end of the war.
August - Joseph-Florent Leszczynski and the Special Air Service (S.A.S.)
Joseph, a.k.a. “Tchouki”, is the son of a Russian military doctor who first fought in France in 1914-1918 and later during the Russian civil war. The family settles in Brussels, but goes into exile in Switzerland in 1940. Joseph leaves Geneva and travels to Great Britain (via France and Spain), where he is recruited by the British S.A.S..
He is sent to Tripolitania (North Africa) and then to Italy. He is recalled to England on 5 June 1944 to jump on Normandy. He reaches Brussels two days before the liberation, and is then parachuted near Arnhem (Netherlands). He also fights at Bande (Battle of the Bulge), as well as in Germany where he discovers, among other things, the Bergen-Belsen camp, which he initially holds to be a fortified position.
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The 1st Belgian Independent Parachute Company, a unit of Belgian paratroopers constituted in Great Britain, is assigned to the S.A.S. brigade (Special Air Service) in February 1944 and becomes the 5th S.A.S.. The unit takes part in numerous operations in France.
In August 1944 troops are dropped over the French-Belgian border (Operation Noah from 16/08/1944 to 06/09/1944) to prepare the liberation of the Belgian territory in France. The S.A.S. paratroopers enter Belgium, make contact with the Resistance and begin their progress by ambushing German troops. After other drops and operations on Belgian soil (Battle of the Bulge) the S.A.S. men participate in the Battle of Holland and advance towards Germany where they arrest Nazi dignitaries (Von Ribbentrop and the Dönitz government).
September - Marcel Louette (White Brigade) (1907 – 1978)
During the 18-Day Campaign Marcel Louette is commander of the 10th company of the 36th Line Regiment. He is taken prisoner, but allowed to return to Antwerp a few days later. He immediately joins the Resistance and creates the White Brigade, an organisation also given a war nickname: Fidelio.
The movement carries out sabotage operations, gathers intelligence, distributes clandestine press, helps Jews and people refusing to work in Germany, ... He is arrested on 9 May 1944 and taken to the Gestapo headquarters (Koningin Elisabethlaan in Antwerp), where he undergoes an “extensive interrogation”; he is then transferred to the SS-Auffanglager-Breendonk where he is also tortured. On 31 August 1944 he is sent to the Vught concentration camp (Netherlands) and on to Sachsenhausen (Germany), where he is liberated by Soviet troops on 22 April 1945.
October - René Van Den Neste (1922 – 2011) and the 4th Fusiliers Battalion
On 25 June 1944 the Belgian government in London commits to constituting six battalions to guard communication lines. The 4th Battalion, created on 7 October, is stationed in Tervuren (Panquin barracks) and placed at the disposal of the American 9th Army.
René Van Den Neste, who belonged to the Resistance and later on became an artist in the circle of surrealist painters and writers around Magritte, enlists at the age of 22, joins the 4th Battalion of Belgian Fusiliers, is given number F4-160 (on 900 men) and is assigned to the 3rd section of the 2nd platoon of the 1st company.
The 4th Battalion is the first Belgian unit to enter Germany, on 3 January 1945. It sets up screening lines for refugees and arrests German soldiers (and SS) disguised as civilians, as well as members of the V.N.V. (Vlaamsch Nationaal Verbond) and relatives of Léon Degrelle.