Editing Belgian Armed Forces (section)

===World War II===
{{main|Belgium in World War II}}
On 1 September 1939, when the [[Wehrmacht]] invaded [[Poland]], King [[Leopold III of Belgium]] ordered a general mobilisation, in which 600,000 Belgians were mobilised. Despite warnings from the French and British governments, the King refused an alliance. Belgium was invaded, defeated, and occupied in an [[Battle of Belgium|18 Days' Campaign]] after 10 May 1940. Later, 163 Belgian troops were rescued during the [[Dunkirk evacuation]], and Belgium's new navy, the ''Corps de Marine'', only reformed in 1939, also participated.

After the defeat in 1940, significant numbers of Belgian soldiers and civilians escaped to Britain to join the [[Free Belgian Forces|Belgian forces in exile]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Units of the Belgian armed forces in the United Kingdom 1940–1945|url=http://www.be4046.eu/BE_UKIntro.htm|publisher=be4046.eu|access-date=27 February 2013}}</ref> The Belgian government, under [[Hubert Pierlot]], evacuated to London where it remained until the liberation in 1944.

Belgian soldiers formed the [[1st Belgian Infantry Brigade]] (which also included an artillery battery of soldiers from [[Luxembourg]]) more often known as the ''Brigade Piron'' after its commanding officer, [[Jean-Baptiste Piron]]. The Brigade Piron was involved in the [[D-Day|Normandy Invasion]] and the battles in France and the Netherlands until liberation.<ref>{{cite web|title=History of the Piron Brigade|url=http://www.brigade-piron.be/Accueil_en.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206085535/http://www.brigade-piron.be/Accueil_en.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 February 2007|publisher=www.brigade-piron.be|access-date=15 December 2012}}</ref>
[[File:Belgian Commandos in Training in Britain, 1945 D23711.jpg|thumb|right|Belgian commandos training in Britain, 1945]]
Belgians also served in British special forces units during the war, forming a troop of [[No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando#No. 4 Belgian Troop|No.10 Commando]] which was involved in the [[Italian Campaign (World War II)|Italian Campaign]] and [[Operation Infatuate|Landings on Walcheren]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Belgian Commando Troops, 1942–1945|url=http://www.be4046.eu/Commando.htm|publisher=be4046.eu|access-date=4 March 2013}}</ref> The British [[5th Special Air Service]] (SAS) was entirely made up of Belgians.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Belgian SAS in WWII – A Very Short History|url=http://www.belgiansas.us/history.html|publisher=belgiansas.us|access-date=4 March 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140816181119/http://www.belgiansas.us/history.html|archive-date=16 August 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Two Belgian fighter units, the [[349th Squadron (Belgium)|349th]] and [[350th Squadron (Belgium)|350th Squadrons]], were formed in the [[Royal Air Force]], with over 400 pilots. The 350th Squadron alone claimed over 50 "kills" between its formation in November 1941 and the end of the war.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ready|first=J. Lee|title=Forgotten Allies: The Military Contribution of the Colonies, Exiled Governments, and Lesser Powers to the Allied Victory in World War II|year=1985|publisher=McFarland|location=Jefferson, N.C. u.a.|isbn=978-0-89950-129-1|page=254}}</ref>

Two [[corvettes]] and a group of [[Minesweeper (ship)|minesweepers]] were also operated by the Belgians during the [[Battle of the Atlantic]], numbering some 350 men by 1943.<ref>{{cite book|last=Thomas|first=text by Nigel|title=Foreign volunteers of the allied forces : 1939–45|year=1991|publisher=Osprey|location=London|isbn=978-1-85532-136-6|page=17}}</ref> Most military Belgian vessels of the Belgian navy were interned in [[Spain]], except for the patrol craft ''P16'', which managed to escape to the United Kingdom, where it became [[HMS Kernot|HMS ''Kernot'']].<ref>{{cite web|title=HMS Kernot ex P16|url=http://www.marinebelge.be/pages2/kernot.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110823230029/http://www.marinebelge.be/pages2/kernot.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 August 2011|publisher=Marine Belge|access-date=22 March 2013}}</ref>

The [[Force Publique]] also participated in the [[East African Campaign (World War II)|East African Campaign]] and were instrumental to forcing the Italian surrender in [[Ethiopian Empire|Abyssinia]].

{| border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 style="margin:0 0 .5em 1em; background:#fff; border-collapse:collapse; border:1px solid #996; line-height:1.5; font-size:95%;"
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; border:1px solid #996; background-color:#996; color:#fff"
| colspan="3" | '''Belgium in World War II'''
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; border:1px solid #996; background-color:#ddb;"
| colspan="3" | Strength of primary military organizations
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; border:1px solid #996;"
| width="33%"  style="border:1px solid #996" | Military Organization
| width="33%"  style="border:1px solid #996" | Period
| width="33%"  style="border:1px solid #996" | Total personnel over time
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center;"
| style="border:1px solid #996" | 1940 Army
| style="border:1px solid #996" | May - June 1940
| style="border:1px solid #996" |600,000 - 650,000
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center;"
| style="border:1px solid #996" | [[Free Belgian Forces]]
| style="border:1px solid #996" | 1940–1944
| style="border:1px solid #996" | ca. 8,000
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center;"
| style="border:1px solid #996" | Belgian Army 1944–1945
| style="border:1px solid #996" | June 1944 – May 1945
| style="border:1px solid #996" | ca. 100,000
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center;"
| style="border:1px solid #996" | SS volunteers
| style="border:1px solid #996" | April 1941 – May 1945
| style="border:1px solid #996" | ca. 15,000
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center;"
| colspan="3" | SS figures from Kenneth Estes ''A European Anabasis''.
|}