Battle of Belgium facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Battle of Belgium |
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| Part of the Western Front of World War II | |||||||||
 German soldiers pictured with a Vickers Utility Tractor (VUT) of the Belgian Army, and a pile of Belgian rifles and helmets the day after the Belgian surrender, 29 May 1940 |
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Belgium   France United Kingdom Netherlands |
 Germany |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Maurice Gamelin Maxime Weygand Lord Gort Leopold III  H.G. Winkelman |
Gerd von Rundstedt Fedor von Bock |
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| Strength | |||||||||
| 144 divisions 13,974 guns 3,384 tanks 2,249 aircraft |
141 Divisions 7,378 guns 2,445 tanks 5,446 aircraft (4,020 operational) |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 222,443+ casualties (200,000 captured) ~900 aircraft |
Unknown (see German casualties) but at least 43 paratroopers were killed and a further 100 wounded. | ||||||||
The Battle of Belgium or Belgian Campaign was part of the greater Battle of France. This was an offensive campaign by Germany during the Second World War. It took place over 18 days in May 1940. It ended with the German occupation of Belgium following the surrender of the Belgian Army.
The Allied Armies tried to stop the German Army in Belgium. They thought it was the main German attack. After the French had fully committed the best of the Allied Armies to Belgium between 10 and 12 May, the Germans went towards the English Channel. The German Army reached the Channel after five days. They encircling the Allied Armies. The Germans forced the Allies back to the sea. The Belgian Army surrendered on 28 May 1940, ending the battle.
The Battle of Belgium included the first tank battle of the war. It was the largest tank battle in history up to that date. The battle also included the Battle of Fort Eben-Emael, the first strategic airborne operation using paratroopers.
Belgium was occupied by the Germans until the winter of 1944–1945. It was freed by the Western Alliance.
Images for kids
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A pacifist rally in Heysel, near Brussels, in 1936
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King Leopold III, Belgian head of state, an advocate of the policy of neutrality
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Leopold III, Belgium's monarch from 1934, reviewing Belgian troops in early 1940
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Eben-Emael: the Belgians hoped to severely delay the Germans using such fortifications
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Map of the area between Belgium and the Netherlands near Fort Eben-Emael: The fort protected the vital strategic bridgeheads into Belgium
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Belgian soldiers resting at the roadside
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A Fairey Fox of the Aéronautique Militaire Belge
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The SOMUA S35 tank was considered one of the most modern types in French service at the time
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Fallschirmjäger of Sturmabteilung Koch pose for a photograph after the capture of Fort Eben-Emael.
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German soldiers are welcomed into Eupen-Malmedy, a German border region annexed by Belgium in the Treaty of Versailles (1919)
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British troops cross the Franco-Belgian border at Herseaux on 10 May
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Belgian civilians fleeing westwards away from the advancing German army, 12 May 1940
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German Panzer II tanks in western Belgium, May 1940
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General Erich Hoepner commanded XVI Army Corps at the Battle of Hannut and the Gembloux gap offensive
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German soldiers inspect an abandoned Belgian T-13 tank destroyer
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Destroyed French tanks in Beaumont on 16 May
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German infantry with a Pak 36 anti-tank gun in western Belgium in May 1940.
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A Belgian Renault ACG1 tank, knocked out during the Battle for Antwerp, 19 May 1940
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Strategic situation in Belgium and France on 21 May
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The Germans advance to the English Channel after 21 May
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German troops watch Belgian civilian refugees fleeing the fighting
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Negotiating the Belgian capitulation
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German soldiers pile up Belgian weapons in Bruges after the surrender
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A destroyed French heavy Char B1 in Beaumont
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See also
In Spanish: Batalla de Bélgica para niños
