The 1st Corps of the Belgian Army (), was a

Belgian army The Land Component (, ), historically and commonly still referred to as the Belgian Army (, ), is the Land warfare, land branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The King of the Belgians is the commander in chief. The current chief of staff of the Land ...

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...

active during

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

World War II

During the Belgian Campaign of 1940, it initially held defences at

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

but was forced to retreat by the German

XVI Panzer Corps The XVI Army Corps (16th Corps) was a corps in the German Army during World War II. The XVI (motorized) Corps () was activated as a headquarters for motorized units in February 1938 in Berlin. The XVI Corps was assigned to the 10th Army in the ...

. The Battle of Fort Ében-Émael occurred along the Corps' defensive line. German planners had recognised the need to eliminate Fort Ében-Émael if their army was to break into the interior of Belgium. It decided to deploy airborne forces (''

Fallschirmjäger The () were the airborne forces branch of the Luftwaffe before and during World War II. They were the first paratroopers to be committed in large-scale airborne operations. They were commanded by Kurt Student, the Luftwaffe's second-in-comman ...

'') to land inside the fortress perimeter using gliders. Using special explosives and

flamethrower A flamethrower is a ranged incendiary device designed to project a controllable jet of fire. First deployed by the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century AD, flamethrowers saw use in modern times during World War I, and more widely in World W ...

s to disable the defences, the ''Fallschirmjäger'' then entered the fortress. In the course of the battle, German infantry overcame the defenders of the I Belgian Corps' 7th Infantry Division in 24 hours.

Post-war service

During the Cold War, it served initially as an army of occupation in Germany and then as part of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG). The corps headquarters was initially established at Yser Caserne, Lüdenscheid, on 15 October 1946. Lieutenant General Jean-Baptiste Piron took command in November 1946. Corps headquarters moved to Haelen Caserne, Junkersdorf, Lindenthal, Cologne, in 1948. During Exercise Battle Royal in September 1954, the Corps consisted of 1 (BE) Infantry Division and 16 (BE) Armoured Division with 1 Canadian Brigade and 46th Parachute Brigade ( 16th Airborne Division) under command. The corps' 14th and 20th Artillery Battalions were supported by the 4th U.S. Army Field Artillery Detachment. The detachment was co-located with the Belgian battalions, in quarters across the street from the Belgian Houthulst Kaserne, on Langenwiedenweg Strasse,

Werl The pilgrimage town Werl (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Wiärl'') is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia and belongs to the Soest, Germany, Soest district in the Arnsberg administrative district. The official name of pilgrimage town has been ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. In 1960, the 1st and 16th Divisions were transformed into mechanised divisions of the " Landcent" type. That year, 1st Division at Bensberg consisted of: * 1st Infantry Brigade (Siegen), * 7th Brigade (Spich), * 18th Armoured Brigade (Euskirchen), The 16th Armoured Division consisted of: * 17th Armoured Brigade (Duren), * 16th Infantry Brigade (Ludenscheid), * 4th Infantry Brigade (Soest). In 1966 the Belgian Army's active force was mechanised, and the force was reduced to two active-duty two-brigade divisions (in 1985, the 16th in Germany with the 4th Mechanised Brigade at Soest, and the 17th Armoured Brigade at

Siegen Siegen () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg (region), Arnsberg region. The university town (n ...

, and the 1st in Belgium with the 1st Mechanised Brigade at Bourg Leopold and the 7th Mechanised Brigade at

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

, in the

Ardennes The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. Geological ...

region.) In 1985 there were also two reserve brigades, the 10th Mechanised and 12th Motorised. In 1995, the corps merged with the 1st Mechanised Division and Paracommando Brigade to become the "Intervention Force". The corps' HQ was relocated from Germany back into Belgium in 1996.

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*{{usurped,
Article title
} Army units and formations of Belgium

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Military units and formations disestablished in 1995 Military units and formations of Belgium in World War II

World War II

Post-war service

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links