Edouard "Eddy" Blondeel DSO (25 January 1906 – 23 May 2000) was the wartime commander of the Belgian 5th SAS during World War II.

[1] In 1940 he received orders to report to Joliette in Quebec, Canada, the rallying centre for Belgians living in North America.

The men trained at various locations, including the parachute school at Ringway (near Manchester), the airborne centre at Hardwick, and the glider base at Brize Norton.

When Blondeel was informed, by radio, that he had crossed the border, he asked Brigadier McLeod if he could be dropped with some men to join Renkin.

His squad was almost immediately put in action with the resistance when he received a message from London stating that 'The Belgian government are not happy'.

After the war, Blondeel explained that he believed the reasons were largely because of Jean-Baptiste Piron, a Belgian military commander, as he had desperately wished his Brigade to be the first into Belgium.

[3] Shortly after the Belgian operation, the squadron traveled to Brussels where Blondeel visited home, where he saw his wife and two daughters for the first time in five years.

From 20 to 23 December 1944, a detachment of armed jeeps under Blondeel's command reconnoitered in the Marche area of Italy, under the general use of the 29th Armoured Brigade.

Blondeel gathered his squadron together for a celebration feast, and played piano classics and popular war melodies, ending with Auld Lang Syne.

[citation needed] Blondeel faced difficulties in Belgium, hindered by bureaucracy and politics, and it is said he never promoted to the rank of General due to some politicians' dislike of him.

To ensure his wartime unit would not be disbanded, Blondeel established the Belgian SAS Regimental Association, of which he was elected president.

He was appointed General Commissioner for Scouts, elected Governor of the Belgian Rotary club, and President of Mars and Mercure (a reserve officers association).