35063 40' - BELGIAN CHASSEUR ARDENNAIS WITH BICYCLE

At the time of the outbreak of World War II, the Belgian armed forces numbered about 100,000 people in active service, and after the announcement of universal mobilization, this number could increase to 550,000 people. After mobilization, the Belgian army consisted of 7 infantry corps that were stationed, among others, in Antwerp, Brussels and Liege, and from two partially mechanized cavalry divisions in Brussels and in the Ardennes region (the so-called Ardennes riflemen). The basic operational unit of the Belgian infantry was a division composed of three regiments with a force of approximately 3,000 men each. One regiment was equipped with 108 light machine guns, 52 heavy machine guns, 9 heavy mortars or howitzers, and 6 anti-tank guns. The basic shooting weapon of the infantryman was the Mauser model 1889 or the so-called Belgian Mauser model 1935. The supporting weapons were outdated heavy machine guns MG 08 or Hotchkiss M1914. The artillery was mainly equipped with weapons of French production, cal. 75 and 120 mm. It is worth adding that in 1940 - at the time of the German invasion of Belgium - the Belgian armed forces had a small number of Vickers T-15 tanks and a larger number of T-13 vehicles.