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1944 in Belgium
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1944
Events in the year 1944 in Belgium.
Incumbents
Monarch: Leopold IIILeopold III king of Belgium https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leopold-III-king-of-Belgium Encyclopedia Britannica 28 March 2019 en
Regent: Prince Charles (from 21 September)
Prime Minister: Hubert Pierlot
Events
January
14 January – Occupying German authorities order evacuation of civilians from the Belgian coast.Alain de Gueldre et al., Kroniek van België (Antwerp and Zaventem, 1987).857
16 January – Groupe G resistance organisation dynamites pylons to sabotage electricity supply.Kroniek 857
February
5 February – Occupying authorities streamline procedure for death sentences on charges of "terrorism".Kroniek 857
April
11 April – Heavy allied bombing of industrial targets and transport infrastructure in Belgian cities.Kroniek 858
19 April – Mechelen and Leuven bombed.Kroniek 858
May
21 May – Cardinal Van Roey appeals to Allies to cease bombing civilian targets in Belgium.Kroniek 857
June
7 June – Leopold III, under house arrest since 1940, deported to Germany together with his wife and children.Kroniek 858
July
18 July – Military occupation under General Alexander von Falkenhausen replaced by Reichskommissariat of Belgium and Northern France under Reichskommissar Josef Grohé.Kroniek 858
22 July – Delegates of the Belgian government in exile are among the founding signatories of the Bretton Woods system establishing the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
27 July – Collaborationist leaders Jef van de Wiele and Hendrik Elias meet with Heinrich Himmler.Kroniek 857
August
18 August
Courcelles Massacre in retaliation for the assassination of the collaborationist mayor of Charleroi by the Belgian Resistance.Kroniek 859
Over 330 killed and 600 injured in American mistaken bombing of Namur.Le 18 août 1944, Namur sombrait sous les bombardements… américains Valentin Parmentier 18 August 2024 La Libre Belgique https://www.lalibre.be/belgique/societe/2024/08/18/le-18-aout-1944-namur-sombrait-sous-les-bombardements-americains-jamais-nous-naurions-pu-penser-etre-en-danger-56EYORX2R5G5JLAOFX6ST6JGX4/Namur marks 75th anniversary of bombing by Americans 19 August 2019 The Brussels Times https://www.brusselstimes.com/64320/namur-commemorates-75th-anniversary-of-bombing-by-americans
31 August – Many Belgian collaborators flee to Germany.Kroniek 857
September
2 September – Allied ground forces enter Belgium.
4 September – Liberation of Brussels and Antwerp; Independent Belgian Brigade (Brigade Piron) enters Brussels.Kroniek 858-9
5 September – Customs Convention between Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg signed.H.F. van Panhuys, L.J. Brinkhorst, and H.H. Maas (eds.), International Organisation and Integration (Deventer and Leyden, 1968), p. 978.
7 September – Liberation of Liège.Kroniek 857
8 September – Battle of Geel begins (to 23 September)
15 September – Cinemas reopened in liberated parts of Belgium.Kroniek 857
21 September – Prince Charles, Count of Flanders, is appointed Prince Regent of Belgium in the King's absence.Kroniek 860
27 September – Government in exile becomes government of national unity.Kroniek 857
October
2 October – Battle of the Scheldt begins (to 8 November)
12 October – First V-1 flying bomb attack on Belgium.Kroniek 857
November
1 November – Operation Infatuate launched
3 November – Last German forces in Belgium surrender at Knokke.Kroniek 860
8 November – Belgian Parliament lifts parliamentary privilege of members of collaborationist organisations.Kroniek 857
18 November – Resistance groups disarmed.Kroniek 857
25 November – Resistance groups demonstrate in Parliament to demand official recognition.Kroniek 860
28 November – Allied shipping starts to use the Port of Antwerp.Kroniek 857
December
16 December – German counter-offensive into Belgium: Battle of the Bulge begins with Battle of Lanzerath Ridge, Battle of Losheim Gap, Battle of St. Vith and Battle of Elsenborn Ridge
17 December – Malmedy massacre
20 December – Siege of Bastogne begins (to 27 December)
Births
22 March – Alfons Thijs, historian (died 2014)
31 March – Jean-Marie André, scientist (died 2023)
5 April – Willy Planckaert, road bicycle racer
1 June – Freddy Herbrand, Olympic athlete
8 October – Maurice Bodson, politician (died 2020)
21 December – Jacques Beurlet, footballer (died 2020)
Deaths
14 January – Walthère Dewé, resistance leader, shot in the street
28 January – Aloïs Biebuyck, officer in the First World War
23 February – Leo Baekeland, chemical engineer
3 March – Paul-Émile Janson, liberal politician (Buchenwald concentration camp)
21 March – Pierre de Caters, aviator
12 April – Emmanuel de Blommaert, Olympic rider
10 May – Adolphe De Meulemeester, colonial official
27 May – Adrienne Barbanson, musical patron
9 June – Marie-Louise Hénin, resister
12 August – Suzanne Spaak, resister
17 August – Oswald Englebin, collaborationist mayor of Charleroi, assassinated
20 August – Hippolyte De Kempeneer, film producer
7 October – Abraham Leon, Trotskyist theorist (Auschwitz concentration camp)
1 December – Balthazar De Beukelaer, Olympic fencer
11 December – Joseph Maréchal, Thomist philosopher
See also
Chronology of the liberation of Belgian cities and towns during World War II
References
1944
Category:1940s in Belgium