1ste Genie Bataljon Kwartiermuts

Original 1930s period Belgian Army overseas cap, known as a “Kwartiermuts”, privately tailored for a soldier of the 1st Genie Bataljon (Engineers).

• Private Purchase Example: A tailor-made cap, purchased at a local shop rather than issued, as was common for Belgian soldiers in the interwar years.

• Unit Identification: The piping and cyphers indicate service with the 1st Genie Bataljon, one of the Belgian Army’s specialist engineer formations.

• Complete Condition: Scarce in this form, the cap still retains its original tassel, a feature often lost over time.

• Condition: Well-preserved, with light age wear but no major damage.

Historical Context

May 1940 Campaign

• Night of 9–10 May: Lieutenant Weverbergh’s detachments prepared demolition charges on bridges of the Bilzen–Winterslag railway and over the Hasselt–Genk road and rail line. At 02:30, alarms sounded. Demolition teams were dispatched to bridges over the Demer and Herk, tasked with preparing and holding them until ordered destroyed. By dawn, all charges were in place. Enemy aircraft dropped dummy parachutists, causing confusion.

• 10 May (morning–afternoon): After blowing the assigned bridges, Lt. Weverbergh rejoined the battalion. At noon, orders came to prepare for movement. That evening, 1Gn left Sint-Lambrechts-Herk for Ransberg, while demolition parties remained. Losing radio contact and without orders from the infantry, these teams eventually destroyed the bridges on their own initiative before rejoining the battalion—without losses.

• 11–13 May: From Ransberg, patrols checked the effectiveness of demolitions (e.g. the bridge at Halen). The battalion later moved to Londerzeel.

• Mid-May: 1Gn was tasked with placing demolition charges along the Willebroek Canal, including at Kapelle-op-den-Bos and Buda. When the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) took over the defense south of Vilvoorde, the battalion handed over charges and moved to Puurs-Kalfort, later preparing further demolitions at Ruisbroek-Windham.

• 15–17 May: After short stays in Puurs, the battalion crossed the Temse bridge with the 1Div and reached Sint-Niklaas, then moved on to the Ghent bridgehead, halting at Drongen. Here, 1Gn took over prepared demolitions on bridges across the Grote Coupure in western Ghent, built a raft on the Ghent–Terneuzen Canal at Meulestede, and was ordered to reorganize “as far as possible” into a cyclist battalion. Tensions arose with local authorities and police over blocking the harbor docks with barges.

• Late May: The division shifted to the River Lys (Leie) line. 1Gn was trucked to Rollegem-Kapelle. One company built a raft across the Lys to ferry gendarmerie elements. Under artillery fire, the battalion withdrew to Oekene, later to Langemark, where it worked on anti-tank obstacles using railway wagons on the Roeselare–Ypres line, then moved to Hooglede.

• Final days: As Belgian lines weakened west of Roeselare, 1Gn infantry companies were used as reinforcements:

  • 1st Company deployed east of Poelkapelle,

  • 2nd Company east of Westrozebeke.

On 28 May 1940, while holding these positions, the battalion received word of Belgium’s capitulation. That same day, the men returned to their quarters at Hooglede.

Collector’s Note

A scarce interwar Belgian Army Kwartiermuts from the 1st Genie Bataljon, complete with its tassel and correct unit cyphers. These engineer-marked caps are much harder to encounter than infantry-marked examples, making this a particularly desirable piece for collectors of Belgian militaria from the interwar and 1940 campaign period.