Belgian Forces in Germany

The Belgian Forces in Germany (Forces belges en Allemagne (FBA), Belgische strijdkrachten in Duitsland (BSD)) was the name of the Belgian forces of occupation in West Germany after the Second World War. The occupation lasted between 1946 and 2002, when the last Belgian soldiers left the region. The FBA-BSD was originally part of the British Zone of Occupation and formed part of the British BAOR.

History
From the 1st April 1946, three Belgian infantry brigades were present in West Germany under British command. Shortly after, the Belgians were give their own zone with operational autonomy in the British sector. The territory covered the towns of Aachen, Cologne, Soest, Siegen and Kassel in North Rhine-Westphalia. There was also a Belgian garrison in Bonn until 1949.

When West Germany joined NATO in May 1955, the Belgian mission changed from being a "force of occupation" to being a "force of protection" against Warsaw Pact forces under the Northern Army Group (NORTHAG). Plans for the evacuation of families in event of war were also drawn up.

The zone was considered an integral part of Belgium, and was often referred to as the "10th Province of Belgium". Tens-of-thousands of Belgian citizens lived in the area with their families. At the start of the 1950s, 40,000 soldiers were garrisoned there. The number was around 25,000 at the beginning of 1990.

Following the restructuring of the Belgian army, the contingent was gradually reduced. The last Belgian barracks (Troisdorf-Spich) was shut on the 31 August 2004. Nevertheless, some soldiers remained in the camp of Vogelsang on the Belgian border until 2005.

Commemoration
A museum in Soest, Germany is dedicated to the role of FBA-BSD. In 2011, the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces in Brussels held a temporary exhibition on the subject, entitled Belgian soldiers in Germany 1945-2002.