Independent Belgian Brigade

By the end of the year the army had been restructured, including the creation of the 1st Belgian Brigade, under the command of Major Piron, with a mix of infantry, artillery and reconnaissance units.

[citation needed] The D-Day landings took place on 6 June 1944 without Brigade Piron, to the great disappointment of its 2,200 men but the British preferred to reserve them for the liberation of Belgium.

(This policy was applied to all of the smaller national military contingents, which were expected to form the basis of post-war armies and for whom it would have been difficult to find replacements for casualties.)

[citation needed] The brigade operated under the command of the British 6th Airborne Division (Major General Gale), which was part of the First Canadian Army.

On 28 August 1944, the brigade was placed under the British 49th Infantry Division in order to mop up the Seine estuary and help in the siege of Le Havre.

[2] On 29 August, the brigade crossed the Seine to support Operation Astonia, the attack on Le Havre on the following day.

The efforts of Brigade Piron on Normandy's Côte Fleurie are commemorated by memorials, road names and war graves.

The British were already in Belgium and expected to enter Brussels on the following day and this transfer would allow the Belgian and Dutch Brigades to operate in their homelands.

[4] The brigade arrived at the French–Belgian border on 3 September, after an overnight journey and continued to Rongy in Brussels the following day, just after the British.

In early September the brigade acted as guides for British soldiers, attempted to aid Resistance fighters, and took part in mine-clearing at the Evere and Melsbroek airports.

Brigade Piron liberated other Belgian towns and cities before reaching the Netherlands border on 22 September.

A T17 Staghound armoured car with the markings of the Brigade Piron
A Universal Carrier of the Brigade Piron mobbed by civilians during the Liberation of Brussels in 1944.