[31] During the confusion inherent in jungle fighting, the Belgian medical unit found itself on one occasion in advance of the front line troops. Plus use our free tools to find new customers. : Gendarmerie/JBL; May08 pictured preserved at Le Bourget, : Gendarmerie /CSA; 2003 SAG Fort de France, : From 2001 to 2008 (Overseas);

In 1914, the Force Publique, including the Katanga companies, totalled about 17,000 askaris with 178 white officers and 235 white NCOs. A. Bruneel, May 1909– March 1911, Lt-Col/Col. They comprised a mixture of Belgian regular soldiers and mercenaries from other countries who were drawn by the prospect of wealth or simply attracted to the adventure of service in Africa. A few months later, on 17 August, he was promoted to "Commandant of the Force Publique". London: James Currey Ltd. p. 7. The Force Publique (French: [fɔʁs pyblik], "Public Force"; Dutch: Openbare Weermacht) was a gendarmerie and military force in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1885 (when the territory was known as the Congo Free State), through the period of Belgian colonial rule (Belgian Congo – 1908 to 1960). [6] One major purpose of the Force was to enforce the rubber quotas and other forms of forced labour. [3] A number of other Belgian officers and non-commissioned officers were also dispatched to the territory as the nucleus of the officer corps. For the remainder of the period of Belgium's rule, the Force Publique continued its joint military and police role, split into territorial units, charged with maintaining public order, and mobile units (between the wars known as unites campees) charged with territorial defence. [24], After the First World War, as outlined in the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was forced to cede "control" of the Western section of the former German East Africa to Belgium. The chain of events this started eventually resulted in Joseph Mobutu (Mobutu Sésé Seko), a former Sergeant-Major in the FP who had been promoted to Chief of Staff of the ANC by Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, gaining power and establishing his dictatorial kleptocracy. We use the latest and greatest technology available to provide the best possible web experience.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings to continue. Model: C/N: Built: ID: SA319B Alouette III: 2009: 2009: Gendarmerie/JBL; May08 pictured preserved at Le Bourget : AS350B Ecureuil: 1692: 1983: F-MCSA: From 1996 to 2008 (Overseas) : Gendarmerie /CSA; 2003 SAG Fort de France : AS350B Ecureuil: 1810: 1985: F-MCSA: From 1986 to 1996 (Overseas) F-MCSB: From 2001 to 2008 (Overseas); 2005 conv to AS350BA : AS350B Ecureuil The companies were as follows: Aruwimi, Bangala, Bas-Congo, Cateracts, Équateur, Ituri, Kasai, Kwango, Lac Léopold II, Lualaba, Lulongo, Makrakas, Makua-Bomokandi, Ponthiérville, Rubi, Ruzizi-Kivu, Stanley Falls, Stanley Pool, Ubangi, and Uele-Bili. The role required of the Force Publique was that of both defending Free State territory and of internal pacification. The Force Publique performed well on the battlefield, winning the respect of their British and Portuguese allies, as well as that of their German opponents. A separate gendarmerie was organised in 1959 drawn from the Territorial Service Troops of the FP. Rebuild to, : Gendarmerie /JCP; cnvt. Princeton: Princeton University Press. They returned to the Belgian Congo at the end of 1944 without having seen active service. [34], Between 1945 and 1960, Belgium continued to organise the Force Publique as an entity cut off from the people that it policed, with recruits serving in tribally mixed units and no more than a quarter of each company coming from the province in which they served. As result, the proportion of commissioned Belgian officers to askaris (about one to a hundred) was very low by the standards of most colonial armies of this period. Attached please find copies of the most recent available maps of N'Djamena. The Force Publique lost about 500 men during the East Africa Campaign,[29] among them 4 Belgians. [24] The military contribution was also important: the Force Publique grew to 40,000 in the course of the War, formed into three brigades, a river force and support units. [19], The separate companies comprising the Force Publique eventually grew to over 600 men each. [5], Serving under these European officers was an ethnically-mixed African soldiery, who eventually became comparable to the askaris fielded by other European colonial powers. [24] Their retreat cut off, the Italian troops surrendered to General Auguste-Édouard Gilliaert on 7 July 1941, and included nine generals, among them Generals Pietro Gazzera and Count Arconovaldo Bonaccorsi, 370 officers, and 2,574 noncoms and 1,533 native soldiers. The Rulers of Belgian Africa, 1884–1914. For example, the white community in Luluabourg was besieged in improvised fortifications for three days until rescued by a Belgian Army paratroop drop. Battalions from the latter were assigned to every provincial capital, while companies were stationed at each district headquarters.[26]. 96 were here. F. Olsen, 1920 – August 1924, Col./Maj-Gen. P. Ermans, 1925 – July 1930, Maj-Gen. L. De Konick, July 1930 – July 1932, Colonel. The 3rd groupement, commanded by a colonel whose headquarters was at Stanleyville, grouped F.P. 14 août - Normandie : la gendarmerie compte 122 réservistes supplémentaires .

[8], There was also disturbing evidence that limbs were severed of children of poorly performing parents in the rubber plantations during this time. [23][24] At the time of the Battle of Tabora in September 1916, about 25,000 men were under arms; during the war their actions were supported by more than 260,000 local bearers.

From 1916 onwards, the Force Publique grew to reach a strength of three mobile Groupes (brigades), Kivu, Ruzizi, and Tanganyika, comprising a total of 15 battalions, from the static garrison and police force of 1914. [6], As time went on, the Force Publique began to increasingly recruit and to rely on Belgian officers and native Congolese soldiers, so that the white and black foreign mercenaries had been mostly phased out by 1908. The Belgian Government made no effort to train Congolese commissioned officers until the very end of the Colonial period, and there were only about 20 African officer cadets at military schools in Belgium on the eve of Independence. 2005 conv to AS350BA, : From 1986 to 1996 (Guadeloupe - Overseas), : From 1989 to 2003 (Nouvelle Caledonie - Overseas), : From 2008 to 2009 (Nouvelle Caledonie - Overseas), : From 1991 to 2001 (Nouvelle Caledonie - Overseas), : From 2004 to 2009 (Nouvelle Caledonie - Overseas), : 2010 pictured at Tarbes Laloubere; 2011 DAG Tarbes, : pictured at meeting aerien aerodrome le luc, : 09apr15 Modane, Savoie, southeastern France, : Gendarmerie; JBH; w/o 21jan85 after hard landing on mountains. [25], On 10 May 1919, the Belgian colonial administration issued a decree formally reorganising the Force Publique into two branches.