The Belgian Congo in Wartime 1940-1945

By Colonel J. Bagot Grey

You have certainly heard a lot about the war effort of the Belgian Congo. A relatively small number of Europeans have made a remarkable contribution to this common struggle. The production of raw materials that were essential for the Allies has reached a record. You are certainly not ignorant of the fact that the Force Publique was glorified during participation in the liberation of Abyssinia. They won important victories over the Italian army. In addition, Congo has trained and equipped an awesome expedition force to fight with the armies of the Middle East. The rapid sensational development of military companies and the difficulties encountered in recruiting European frameworks have prevented this continent from actively participating in the European continent's offensive.

I would like to show you my personal impressions that an impartial observer has gained in three and a half years.

Upon my arrival in Congo in early 1941, my first impression was: the great ability of Belgian technicians in public works and all other administrative services. The first cities I visited were: Boma, Matadi and Leopoldville. These are not agglomerations that just came out of the ground. They are not a collection of mud huts built along the stone buildings in the swamps and in the middle of the jungle, as one imagines before entering Central Africa. They are modern cities that have been built, taking into account the wealth, decency and dignity of the natives and the whites.

Since then I have traveled a lot through Congo. And I can assure you, without fear of being accused of being chauvinistic, that all Belgians can be proud of the forceful way in which their overseas empire was made productive and still is. The Belgian from Europe was always renowned for his zeal in work, for his pride with which he practices his profession, for the irreconcilable independence of his character.

It is these same qualities that can be found at the origin of the development of the great tropical Empire that is Congo. It is precisely these that are required for government builders. Under Belgian supervision, the Congo of Stanley and Livingstone, with its unhealthy and stinking jungle, has quickly become a country where it is good to live and from which the curse of tropical diseases was quickly excluded. In the beginning of 1941 I was sent to Congo by the British Ministry of Intelligence. My assignment was to help the Belgians who were there to provide accurate data about the war. The normal means of communication were broken off. However, it was possible for me to provide useful services. Whatever the case, the work went on. Later, as the Belgians themselves finalized their intelligence service, confidence in the victory of the Allies and the decision to work through it followed an upward curve.

The first part of 1941 was a dark period. Belgium and France were crushed. The German fleet, intended to transport the invasion army, was moored along the coasts of the canal, opposite the chalk cliffs of Dover. in order to start the final attack against Great Britain, an attack that stood in the way of virtually nothing.

Every Belgian in Congo, by the way, fully understood that if the blow had been inflicted and in the event of success, England would share the fate of the other countries of Europe. In a few weeks, the Germans could exercise absolute control over Congo. This prospect filled everyone with fear and horror. With the help of the sources of the Ministry of Intelligence and more specifically those provided by the Belgian section that was specifically concerned with Belgian propaganda. provided to the Belgians, it was our duty to keep the confidence alive in the possibility that Britain would defend its fortress until such time as the funds of the free world could be collected to change the course of the war. Congo was very lucky that it had large administrators. The unprecedented attitude of Mr. Pierre Rijckmans, Governor General, was, from the beginning, a factor of paramount importance. It is a remarkable fact that on the day that the news of the surrender of the Belgian army on 28 May 1940, Mr Rijckmans reached, while he was no longer in contact with his Government and that the King as a prisoner of war was in impossibility to guide nationals from overseas or to provide some advice, the Governor-General to deliver a radio message in Leopoldstad, addressed to the Congo and to the whole world, with these memorable words: "The Belgian Congo will put theirs warriors on the side of her ally Great Britain. We will not stop fighting until the Fatherland and the King are liberated. "

What men! What a wonderful chéf! Congo also had another great chéf in the person of Lieutenant General, Deputy Governor General Ermens. He has proven enormous services as commander-in-chief. He collaborated with all movements that had the purpose of encouraging the moral and war effort of Congo. It was especially he who founded victory clubs, and it was these local groups who combined all their efforts with the aim of propaganda for victory. General Ermens had a major influence on public opinion. He delivered the necessary courage and faith to be convinced about achieving the full victory. Led by such chéfs and supported by a powerful opinion that demanded increasingly stricter and harder warfare, Congo then made an effort worthy of the suffering of occupied Belgium. Despite a man's strength that was reduced to the minimum and exhausted by an inhuman climate, the war effort made more and more progress and was able to meet the ever-increasing demands.

During the last years of the war I spent very hard days with the Belgians of Congo. I have seen with my own eyes how they have put themselves to work to increase the production of valuable raw materials: copper, tin, tantalum, cobalt, palm oil, copal, industrial diamond. In this way they have assured industrial war production without interruption, both in England and in America. After these years of moral suffering and physical efforts, I participated in their joy of the liberation of Brussels. Liège and other Belgian cities.