Frédéric Vandewalle

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Frédéric Vandewalle
Birth nameFrédéric Vandewalle
Born(1912-07-07)July 7, 1912
Arlon, Belgium
Died5 November 1994(1994-11-05) (aged 82)
Anderlecht, Brussels, Belgium
Years of service1937–1967
RankColonel
UnitForce Publique
Congolese National Army
Battles/warsSimba rebellion
Signature

Frédéric Vandewalle (Arlon, 5 July 1912 – Anderlecht, 5 November 1994)[1] was a Belgian colonel and diplomat in the Belgian Congo and independent Congo. He was an influential figure right before and after Congo's independence from Belgium. He was one of the organisers of the Katangese secession and led Operation Ommegang against the Simba rebellion during the Congo Crisis. His precise role in the assassination of Patrice Lumumba is the subject of debate among historians.

Career

Vandewalle joined the colonial forces called

Balubakat uprising. On 17 October, he became the Belgian consul, thereby replacing Henri Créner
.

After the

UN armoured vehicles and lorries bought at George Arthur Forrest. The brigade reached Stanleyville during a coordinated action with the US-Belgian Operation Dragon Rouge
. After this victory, Vandewalle's unit took the rest of the Simba-controlled areas as well.

Vandewalle was severely injured in 1966 in a car crash where his wife died. He recovered and started to extensively write about his Congolese experiences. He also appeared on television:

Centre for Historical Research and Documentation on War and Contemporary Society, he also gave an interview.[4] Vandewalle wrote his memoirs Mille et quatre jours about the Katangese period down in 13 fascicles, published in small numbers. He had at his disposal the papers of chief of staff Jacques Bartelous and consul Henri Créner, that he took with him from Congo to Belgium. According to Ludo De Witte, the memoirs exhibit great candidness because they are written at a time of neocolonial victory feeling.[5] On the other hand, the experts of the Belgian parliamentary inquiry into the murder of Lumumba did not attach great importance to the memoirs because Vandewalle was not as informed as he intimated, according to the experts. At some crucial passages in Mille et quatre jours, he made curious mistakes.[6]

Vandewalle's personal papers are kept at the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium.

Publications

  • "Les mutineries au Congo Belge", in: Zaïre, 1947, nr. 5, p. 487-514
  • "Deuxième note au sujet des mutineries au Congo Belge", in: Zaïre, 1948, nr. 2, p. 905-906
  • Congo 1960-1964. Conférence donnée à Arlon le 6 juin 1968 à l'Ecole d'infanterie, 1968
  • L'Ommegang. Odyssée et reconquête de Stanleyville, 1964. Témoignage africain, 1970
  • Les Rapports secrets de la Sûreté congolaise (1959-1960), 1973, 2 parts (with Jacques Brassinne de La Buissière).
  • Mille et quatre jours. Contes du Zaïre et du Shaba, 1975–1977, 13 parts.
  • Une ténébreuse affaire, ou Roger Trinquier au Katanga, 1979.
  • "A propos de la gendarmerie katangaise" in: Bulletin trimestriel du CRAOCA, 1987, nr. 1, p. 65-92

Literature

Footnotes

References

  1. ^ "Vandewalle, Frédéric". AfricaMuseum. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  2. ISBN 978-90-223-3076-0
    .
  3. ^ Frank Villafana, Cold War in the Congo. The Confrontation of Cuban Military Forces, 1960-1967, 2017, p. 76-77
  4. ^ Interview by Jean Vanwelkenhuyzen, 22 February 1972
  5. ^ Ludo De Witte, De moord op Lumumba, 1999, p. 50-51
  6. ^ Verslag van de parlementaire onderzoekscommissie belast met het vaststellen van de precieze omstandigheden waarin Patrice Lumumba werd vermoord en van de eventuele betrokkenheid daarbij van Belgische politici, 16 November 2001, vol. I, p. 262
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