The Walloon Guard () was a

collaborationist Wartime collaboration is cooperation with the enemy against one's country of citizenship in wartime. As historian Gerhard Hirschfeld says, it "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory". The term ''collaborator'' dates to the 19th ...

paramilitary formation which served as an

auxiliary police Auxiliary police, also called volunteer police, reserve police, assistant police, civil guards, or special police, are usually the part-time reserves of a regular police force. They may be unpaid volunteers or paid members of the police servic ...

in German-occupied Belgium and parts of Northern France during

World War II 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 ...

. The Walloon Guard was established in November 1941 with the support of the

Rexist Party The Rexist Party, or simply Rex, was a far-right Catholic authoritarian and corporatist political party active in Belgium from 1935 until 1945. The party was founded by a journalist, Léon Degrelle.

and was officially incorporated into the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

(''Wehrmacht'') alongside the ''

Feldgendarmerie The term ''Feldgendarmerie'' (; ) refers to military police units of the armies of the Kingdom of Saxony (from 1810), the German Empire and Nazi Germany up to the end of World War II in Europe. Early history (1810-1918) From 1810 to 1812 King ...

''. In contrast to the

Walloon Legion The Walloon Legion (, , ) was a unit of the German Army (''Wehrmacht'') and later of the Waffen-SS recruited among French-speaking collaborationists in German-occupied Belgium during World War II. It was formed in the aftermath of the German ...

, established in June 1941, which participated in fighting on the Eastern Front the Walloon Guard was used within Belgium and initially found it easier to attract volunteers because of the comparatively high salaries offered. Although notionally recruited from the general population and former soldiers of the

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 ...

, the majority of its personnel were Rexist members. A German liaison officer was attached to each company. The first

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

was raised on 17 November 1941. It was used primarily for guarding railways and military installations but also participated in the repression of the resistance and deserters from labour deportation. Its personnel were armed. Historian Flore Plisnier notes that "violence became endemic within the formation, ruining its reputation vis-a-vis other pro-German organisations". Particularly notable was the so-called ''Bande Jayé'' (), named after its leader, Marcel Jayé, which became indistinguishable from German units and terrorised the civilian population in parts of the

Borinage The Borinage () is an area in the Walloon province of Hainaut in Belgium. The name derives from the coal mines of the region, ''bores'', meaning mineshafts. In French, the inhabitants of the Borinage are called Borains. The provincial capit ...

. The Walloon Guard was a loose counterpart of the Flemish Guard (''Vlaamsche Wacht'') formed in May 1941. The two formations wore near-identical uniforms.

References

Bibliography

* *{{cite book, last=Plisnier, first=Flore, title=Ils ont pris les armes pour Hitler: la collaboration armée en Belgique francophone, location=Brussels, publisher=Renaissance du Livre, year=2011, isbn=9782507003616 Military units and formations established in 1941 Belgian collaboration during World War II 1941 establishments in Belgium Foreign volunteer units of the Wehrmacht Auxiliary police units of Nazi Germany