Index of Belgian Orders and Decorations Awarded to US Service Members During WWII
Statistics:
Order of Leopold, Grand
Cross w/palm 1
Order of Leopold, Grand Officer w/palm
32
Order of Leopold, Commander w/palm
12
Order of Leopold, Commander w/o
palm 3
Order of Leopold, Officer w/palm 187
Order of Leopold, Officer w/o palm 61
Order of Leopold, Knight w/palm 150
Order of Leopold, Knight w/o palm 48
Order of Crown, Grand Cross w/palm 9
Order of Crown, Grand Officer w/palm
11
Order of Crown, Commander w/palm 23
Order of Crown, Commander w/o palm
15
Order of Crown, Officer w/palm 80
Order of Crown, Officer w/o palm 105
Order of Crown, Knight w/palm 105
Order of Crown, Knight w/o palm 64
Order of Leopold II, Grand Cross w/o
palm 2
Order of Leopold II, Grand Officer
w/palm 4
Order of Leopold II, Commander
w/palm 41
Order of Leopold II, Commander w/o
palm 29
Order of Leopold II, Officer w/palm 20
Order of Leopold II, Officer w/o palm
89
Order of Leopold II, Knight w/palm 262
Order of Leopold II, Knight w/o palm
62
Military Cross 1st Class 56
Military Cross 2nd Class 93
Military Decoration 1st Class w/o palm
2
Military Decoration 2nd Class w/palm
395
Military Decoration 2nd Class w/o palm 212
Croix de Guerre w/palm 2,958
Total Awards 5131+
This book has 105 pages
ISBN 978-1-932891-01-0
ISBN 1-932891-01-3
Library of Congress
Control Number Pending
This is a companion volume to the series of indexes of all the divisions, corps, armies and commands of the US Army in WWII. Other indexes will be published as they are completed.
This is an index of all known US recipients of Belgian orders and decorations for service during WWII. A. DeBaene’s Belgium Remembers and Honor the U.S. Armies of Liberation, which was published, in very limited quantities in 1948, by J. Rozez of Brussels, was a key reference source. Additional data was obtained from many other resources.
Although it is an excellent reference book, DeBaen’s study is not without fault. The book was compiled and printed in a complicated manner, making it difficult to find a specific person on any of the lists. I have combined information from this and other sources, and listed recipients in alphabetical order by their last name.
While I am not an expert on the Belgian Military or its National Orders and Decorations, I do have a fair amount of experience and knowledge on these subjects. The decrees all seem to be issued by their Defense Department; I am not certain of the proper title used during WWII but today it is known as SPF Défense. Unlike US general orders, the decrees are numbered sequentially and not reset each year. While I do not know with certainty when the numbering sequence began, I believe it probably started during World War II, as Decree No. 825 was issued on July 30, 1945, and Decree No. 4713 was issued on February 24, 1948. It seems unlikely that the numbering sequence began before Belgian’s entrance into World War II, since roughly four thousand decrees were issued in less than three years and only 824 were issued before July 20, 1945.
DeBaene’s book lists a few orders issued by what he refers to as the Foreign Office and War Office, which I presume is similar to our State Department. These decrees are not numbered, but are referred to by the date on which the decree was announced. I do find it difficult to believe that the Belgium government in exile did not award any orders or decorations to any US service members before July 20, 1945. Also, I know that they did continue to award orders and decorations to US service members well after 1948, for service during WWII. A prime example of this would be Audie Murphy, who was not awarded his Croix de Guerre until 1954. I assume DeBaene’s book only covers awards to US military personnel. If this assumption proves correct, there would likely be additional awards issued to US civilians and the civil servants of various US governmental departments.
I find it hard to believe that the Belgium government in exile did not award any orders or decorations to service members before July 20, 1945. Also I know that the Belgian government did continue to award orders and decorations to US service members well after 1948, for service during World War II. A prime example of this is Audie Murphy, who was not awarded his order and decoration until 1954.
There must be a difference between a “decree” and an “order of the day.” If a recipient was cited in an order of a day, a palm device was attached to the ribbon of the order of decoration. In DeBaene’s book, however, the palm is mentioned specifically in the decree. If it was warranted there, then, there must be a difference between the two documents.
The Belgian palm, used during WWII, has King Leopold’s ciphers. There are two versions of the cipher: one is a stylized “L” and the other looks very similar to <LLL>. The <LLL> was the first version, but was later changed to the stylized “L.”
In 1919 a decree added a series of distinguishing features to the ribbon of their national orders to denote when a civilian recipient served with distinction during war. In 1946 these features were extended to similar recipients who received their orders for service during WWII. If the order was for exceptional bravery, which is defined by being named in a national Order of the Day, a roughly ¼ inch bullion stripe is woven into the edges of the ribbon of the order and a silver star is affixed to the ribbon. If the act of bravery was of less degree, the silver star is omitted. If the order was awarded for distinguished service during hostilities, a gold stripe is woven in the center of the ribbon and a silver star. I have seen an order with three gold stripes woven into the ribbon and, although I have not found conclusive proof, I assume that this is to denote exceptional bravery and distinguished service.
The paragraph above is included in case there were awards of Belgian orders to US civilians for service during WWII. At the very least, I would assume that the Belgian government would have conferred order upon US State Department civilians who either worked with the government in exile of served in liberated Belgium during or just after WWII.
How to read the source: (BelgianDecree#4224,1947) breaks down as “Belgian Decree number 4224 issued in 1947.” For decrees issued by the War Office and Foreign Office, the number is replaced by the complete date that the decree was announced. If there is no decree information for an entry, then none was present in the source.
Anyone with proof of additional awards made by the Belgian government to Americans for service during WWII is encouraged to contact the author. This includes any additional information on persons found within this work, such as their assignments during WWII.
Every effort has been made to minimize errors and misspelled names. An error may be attributable to the source document, or may have occurred while transcribing the names/units. Some of the original documents are of very poor print quality, making them difficult to decipher.