Force Publique
Force Publique | |
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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 1877 (when the territory was known as the Congo Free State), through the period of Belgian colonial rule (Belgian Congo – 1908 to 1960). The FP was retitled as the Congolese National Army or ANC in July 1960 after independence.
Establishment
The Force Publique was initially conceived in 1877 when King
Under the Congo Free State
To command his Force Publique, Leopold II was able to rely on a mixture of volunteers (regular officers detached from the Belgian Army), mercenaries[4] and former officers from the armies of other European nations, especially those of Scandinavia, Italy and Switzerland). To these men, service in the Congo Free State offered military experience, adventure and—as they saw it—an opportunity to participate in a humanitarian endeavour. From 1877 to 1908 the officer corps consisted of 648 Belgians, 112 Italians, 53 Danes, 47 Swedes, 26 Norwegians and smaller numbers recruited from other nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States.[5]
Serving under these European officers was an ethnically-mixed African soldiery, who eventually became comparable to the
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.[4]
Atrocities
Under Leopold II the Force Publique was described as an "exceptionally brutal army".
During the Free State period, the Force Publique suffered from institutional problems. During the early years of the force, mutinies of black soldiers occurred several times. By the early 1890s, much of the eastern portion of the Free State was under the control of Arab ivory and slave traders (though the Government was able to re-establish control over the east by the mid-1890s).[10] Organizational problems were also quite prevalent during the Free State era. With many Force Publique detachments being stationed in remote areas of the territory, some officers took to using soldiers under their control to further private economic agendas rather than focusing on military concerns.[11] By the end of 1891, the force had 60 officers, 60 non-commissioned officers, and 3,500 black soldiers. Friendly tribes and militias were often used to help exert control over the outermost parts of the Free State.[12] By 1900, the Force Publique numbered 19,000 men.[13]
Under the Belgian Congo
Organisation and role
Following the takeover of the Free State by the Belgian government in 1908, the new authorities reorganised the Force Publique. This process was rather slow, however, and was only completed during the
The uniforms of the old Free State remained in use among the Force Publique until the
The Force Publique was organised into 21 separate companies (originally numbered but later known only by their names) each between 225 and 950 men strong, along with an artillery and an engineers unit. The entire force numbered over 12,100 men. The companies were as follows: Aruwimi, Bangala,
The separate companies comprising the Force Publique eventually grew to over 600 men each. Their constituent units, known as detachments, were so widely scattered that the force had no real military value. Rather the bulk of these sub-units consisted of small garrisons in fixed locations, with local policing functions.[19] It was intended that each administrative company form a Compagnie Marche of 150 men. Each Marche or field company was intended to have four Belgian officers and NCOs plus between 100 and 150 askaris. In principle, companies comprised two or three 50-man platoons. There were supposed to be enough companies to form three Marche battalions. Eight Congolese soldiers were promoted to NCO.[19]
The 2,875 men of the Troupes du Katanga constituted a semi-autonomous force of six companies: four de marche and two other infantry, plus a cyclist company and a battalion headquarters. In addition, there was the Compagnie d'Artillerie et de Génie (Artillery and Engineers Company) manning
First World War
In 1914, the Force Publique, including the Katanga companies, totalled about 17,000
During the First World War (1914–18), an expanded Force Publique served against
Interwar period
After the
On 10 May 1919, the Belgian colonial administration issued a decree formally reorganising the Force Publique into two branches. The troupes campées was tasked with guarding the border and protecting the colony from external aggression, while the troupes en service territoriale was responsible for maintaining internal security. Battalions from the latter were assigned to every provincial capital, while companies were stationed at each district headquarters.[23]
Second World War
After Belgium had surrendered to Nazi Germany on 28 May 1940, Governor-General Pierre Ryckmans decided that the colony would continue to fight on the side of the Allies.[24] With Belgium occupied, the contribution to the Allied cause by the Free Belgian forces from the Belgian Congo was primarily an economic one providing copper, wolfram, zinc, tin, rubber, cotton and more. Already prior to the war uranium from the Shinkolobwe mine had been shipped to New York; it was later used in the Manhattan Project to produce the atomic bomb for Hiroshima.[21] 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.[25] It provided detachments to fight Italian forces during the East Africa campaign and serve as garrisons in West Africa and the Middle East.
At the end of 1940, the XIth Battalion of the Force Publique was placed at the disposal of the British forces in the
The Force Publique then helped to establish an overland route from Lagos through Fort Lamy and the Sudan to Cairo. Between 1942 and 1943, an expeditionary force of 13,000 was sent to Nigeria. Nine thousand of these troops served in Egypt and Palestine. They returned to the Belgian Congo at the end of 1944 without having seen active service.[27]
The Force Publique also sent the 10th Belgian Congo Casualty Clearing Station to the battle zone. Between 1941 and 1945, some 350 Congolese and 20 Belgians, under the command of Medical Colonel Thomas, worked together with the British medical services in Abyssinia, Somaliland, Madagascar and Burma. They especially proved their value serving with the Indian XXXIII Corps on the Upper Chindwin, where they were attached to the 11th (East Africa) Division.[28] During the confusion inherent in jungle fighting, the Belgian medical unit found itself on one occasion in advance of the front line troops. This incident was later used by British officers to motivate the fighting troops to greater efforts ("even a hospital can do better").[29]
Final stages of Belgian rule
At the end of 1940, the FP headquarters, recognising the need for aviation support for the force, began forming the Aviation militaire de la Force Publique equipped with requisitioned civilian machines and based at N'Dolo Airport in Leopoldville. The first machine purchased for the force was a de Havilland DH.85 Leopard Moth that entered service on 9 October 1940.[30]
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. There was a mutiny by the XIV battalion at Luluabourg in 1944.
In 1945, the FP mobile units consisted of 6 battalions of infantry (the V battalion at
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. Tightly disciplined and drilled, the Force Publique impressed visitors to the
In 1960, the Force Publique comprised 3 groupements (Groups) each of which covered two provinces.
Organization
Vanderstraeten reported the dispositions of the Force Publique in July 1960 as:[37]
- Leopoldville Province: Headquarters FP (French: FP QG), HQ 2nd Groupement, the 13th Infantry Battalion, and 15th Gendarmerie Battalion in Leopoldville itself, 4th Brigade with 2nd and 3rd Infantry Battalions at Thysville, along with 2nd Reconnaissance Squadron, HQ Lower River Defences (EM Défense du Bas-Fleuve or EM DBF) at Boma, plus 3 detached gendarmerie companies and 6 detached gendarmerie platoons. The EM DBF probably directed what remained of the coastal defence guns listed above in 1945.
- Coquilhatville, 2nd Instruction Centre at Irebu(17 OSO, 1214 GS), 3 detached gendarmerie companies, 4 detached gendarmerie platoons. Total estimated personnel in the province was 46 Officiers et sous-officiers (OSO) and 2239 Grades et soldats (GS).
- Province Orientale: HQ 3rd Groupement, 5th Infantry Battalion, and 16th Gendarmerie Battalion at Stanleyville, 6th Infantry Battalion at Watsa, 3rd Reconnaissance Squadron at Gombari, 3 detached gendarmerie companies and 4 detached gendarmerie platoons. Estimated total personnel authorised for the province was 150 OSO and 3456 GS.
- Province de Kivu: 3rd Instruction Centre, Lokandu (17 OSO and 1194 GS), 11th Infantry Battalion at Rumangabo, HQ 7th Gendarmerie Battalion at Bukavu, 2 gendarmerie companies at Bukavu, 2 detached gendarmerie companies, and 4 detached gendarmerie platoons. Estimated total personnel authorised for the province was 76 OSO and 2870 GS.
- Jadotville. Estimated total personnel authorised for the province was 142 OSO and 4438 GS.
- Kasai Province: 9th Gendarmerie Battalion and 8th Infantry Battalion at Luluabourg.
Total strength of the Force Publique immediately prior to independence was 22,403 Congolese regular soldiers and NCOs, 599 European NCOs, and 444 European officers.[2]
Commanders
The last 15 commanders of the Force Publique were:[38]
- Lt-Col. Louis Paternoster, May 1907 – December 1907
- Col. Joseph Gomins, May 1908 – May 1909
- Col. Albéric Bruneel, May 1909 – March 1911
- Lt-Col./Col. Auguste Marchant, March 1911 – January 1916
- Maj-Gen. Charles Tombeur, 1916 – May 1918
- Maj-Gen. Philippe Molitor, 1918 – April 1920
- Lt-Col./Col. Frederik-Valdemar Olsen, 1920 – August 1924
- Col./Maj-Gen. Paul Ermens, 1925 – July 1930
- Maj-Gen. Leopold De Koninck, July 1930 – July 1932
- Col. August Servais 1932 – November 1933
- Col/Maj-Gen. Émile Hennequin, April 1935– November 1939
- Lt-Col/Col. Auguste Gilliaert, November 1939– December 1940
- Lt-Gen. Paul Ermens, December 1940 – August 1944
- Maj-Gen./Lt-Gen. Auguste Gilliaert, August 1944 – 1954
- Maj-Gen. Émile Janssens, 1954 – July 1960
Post-independence
On 5 July 1960, five days after the country gained independence from Belgium, the Force Publique garrison in
This violence immediately led to a military intervention into Congo by Belgium in an ostensible effort to secure the safety of its citizens (the earlier Luluabourg intervention had been against orders). The re-entry of these forces was a clear violation of the national sovereignty of the new nation, as it had not requested Belgian assistance.
Soon afterwards, after an extraordinary meeting of ministers of the new Congolese Government at Camp Leopold on 8 July, the FP was renamed as the Congolese National Army (
The chain of events this started eventually resulted in Joseph Mobutu (
Aviation
Prior to independence, the air component of the Force Publique (Avi / or Avimil, Aviation militaire de la Force publique) was based mainly at the N'Dolo airport, Leopoldville. Avimil's roles included the transportation of passengers, medical supplies and other goods, as well as undertaking connecting flights and recognition duties. Between 1944 and 1960 the following unarmed aircraft and helicopters were used by Avimil:
- Stampe Vertongen SV 7-4B (V-40 to 46)
- Airspeed Oxford Mk.I AS.10 6 (A-21 to 26)
- Airspeed Consul AS.65 6 (C-31 to 36)
- 12 De Havilland DH.104 Dove(D-10 to 22)
- 1 De Havilland DH.114 Heron2 (OO-CGG)
- 2 Sikorsky H-19D(S-41 & 42)
- Two Sikorsky S-55(S-43 & 44)
- 3 Sud Aviation Alouette IISE.3130 (Artouste) (A-51 to 53)
- 3 Piper L-18C Super Cub(P-61 to 63)
At independence on 30 June 1960, Avimil was placed under the control of the new government of the Republic of the Congo, and continued its missions until 20 July 1960. On this date the chief of Belgian forces in the Congo ordered the assembly of non-Congolese personnel and operational aircraft ('des appareils en état de vol') at the Belgian base at Kamina. On 23 August they were transferred to Elizabethville, and on 26 August officially turned over to the secessionist State of Katanga.[30]
Former members
Officers
- Edward A. Burke
- Lindsay Burke
- Louis Napoléon Chaltin
- Camille Coquilhat
- Alexandre Delcommune
- Francis Dhanis
- Paul Ermens
- Leopold De Koninck
- Auguste-Édouard Gilliaert
- Émile Janssens
- Finn Kjelstrup
- Kristian Løken
- Mathieu Pelzer
- Thorleiv Røhn
- Leon Rom
- Pierre Ryckmans
- Charles Tombeur
- Edmond Van der Meersch
- Guillaume Vankerckhoven
Soldiers
- Louis Bobozo
- Isaac Kalonji
- Daniel Kanza
- Justin Kokolo
- Victor Koumorico
- Victor Lundula
- Joseph Makula
- Joseph-Désiré Mobutu
- Albert Kunyuku, last surviving Belgian Congolese veteran of the group
See also
- Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- 1940–1945 African War Medal
- Archives Africaines (Brussels) has records of the Force Publique
References
- ^ Abbott (2009), p. 10.
- ^ a b Abbott (2014), p. 10.
- ^ Rudi Geudens, Force Publique: Organisation (1885–1918), accessed October 2011
- ^ a b c d Abbott (2009), pp. 10, 11.
- ISBN 9780691052779.
- ^ a b c Osterhammel (2015), p. 441.
- ISBN 0-333-17236-1
- ISBN 0 349 10449 2
- ^ "- YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on 9 March 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
- ISBN 0 349 10449 2
- ^ "Zaire – EVOLUTION OF THE ARMED FORCES". www.country-data.com.
- ISBN 9789004256248.
- ISBN 9780618001903.
- ^ Abbott (2009), pp. 9–11.
- ^ Abbott (2009), p. 11.
- ^ Abbott (2009), pp. 11, 31, 46.
- ^ Abbott (2009), pp. 31, 47.
- ^ Abbott (2009), pp. 31, 46, 47.
- ^ ISBN 1-84176-489-2.
- ^ WWI in Africa Archived 22 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine, be14-18.be
- ^ David van Reybrouck. Congo: The Epic History of a People. HarperCollins, 2014. p. 132ff.
- ISBN 0-19-926191-1.
- ^ Thomas 2012, p. 305.
- ISBN 978-0-06-220011-2.
- ISBN 0-333-17236-1
- ^ "Abyssinian campaign (Dutch)". Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2008.
- ^ "Belgian Army remembers role of Force Publique (Dutch)". Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2008.
- ISBN 1847010474.
- ^ "Un Belge face aux Japs" (book) isbn D/1986/2070 (French)
- ^ a b Luc Baudoux, Les Avions de la Force Publique du Congo Archived 12 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine, accessed October 2011. Description of handover of machines to Katanga substantiated by Jules Gérard-Libois, 'Katanga Secession,' University of Wisconsin Press, 1966, 114.
- ^ "Histoire de la Force Publique" du Lieutenant Général F.P. Émile Janssens, Ghesquière & Partners Éditeurs, 1979, p. 239-240
- ^ Janssens, 1979, p. 263
- ^ See also Vanderstraeten, 'De la Force publique a l'Armee National Congolaise,' Brussels, 1983, Annex I, 469–471
- ONUCLiaison Reports with the ANC, No. 18, 25–26 June 1961, pg 61 of 84, says General Mobutu has declared the headquarters 'has now been moved from Luluabourg to Elisabethville.'
- ^ Une école au Congo Belge dans les années 50, Watsa – Page 16) Camps militaire de Watsa | ecoledewatsa.blogspace.fr Archived 12 July 2012 at archive.today
- ^ "Armée et police". www.stanleyville.be.
- tableaux d'organisation (TO)en vigueur au 1 octobre 1959, corriges en fonction des principales modifications apportees aux TO jusqu'au 30 juin 1960. Vanderstraeten, 1983, Annex I, 471.
- ^ Histoire générale du Congo: de l'héritage ancien à la République Démocratique, Par Isidore Ndaywel è Nziem, Théophile Obenga, Pierre Salmon, p. 687.
Bibliography
- Abbott, Peter (2009) [1st pub. 2002]. Armies in East Africa 1914–18 (8th ed.). ISBN 9781841764894.
- Abbott, Peter (2014). Modern African Wars (4) Congo 1960–2002. ISBN 978-1-78200-076-1.
- King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa, Houghton Mifflin Company 1998
- ISBN 2-8031-0050-9.
- ISBN 978-0691169804.
- Sonck, Jean-Pierre (April 2001). "L'Aviation Coloniale Belge (1940–1941)" [Belgian Colonial Aviation (1940–1941)]. Avions: Toute l'Aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (97): 17–22. ISSN 1243-8650.
- Sonck, Jean-Pierre (May 2001). "L'Aviation Coloniale Belge (1940–1941)". Avions: Toute l'Aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (98): 54–56. ISSN 1243-8650.
- Thomas, Martin (2012). Violence and Colonial Order: Police, Workers and Protest in the European Colonial Empires, 1918–1940. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139576550.
Further reading
- Bryant Shaw, Force Publique, Force Unique: The Military in the Belgian Congo 1914–1939 Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin, 1984
- 'Lisolo Na Bisu: Notre histoire: le soldat congolais de la FP 1885–1960,' ISBN 2-87051-049-7, 2010
External links
- Archive Force Publique, Royal museum of central Africa