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I wonder if it is appropriate to mention, and whether room can be found to explain, that the "Special Companies" of the Garde were formed from volunteers from the main body (as explained on p52 of the Handbook of the Belgian Army)?
Also that the Garde was a bourgeois organisation, consisting, largely, of middle class men defending their property and interests; that the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica contained the following entry: The total strength of the Garde Civique in 1905 was 35,102, to which have to be added 8532 volunteers belonging to the corps of older formation, service in which counts on a par with the Garde Civique. Some of the latter regiments, especially the artillery, would rank with British volunteers, but the mass of the Garde Civique does not pretend to possess military value. It is a defence against sedition and socialism.; that the requirement to provide one's own uniform automatically excluded the poorer members of Belgian society; that the Garde Civique was despised by many of the Flemish population, and that they were ridiculed as soldats de dimanche and mocked in cartoons showing them taking all the comforts of home on manoeuvres and enjoying ample quantities of food and drink; and that in IIRC 1908 they opened fire on strikers when regular army troops refused to? Hengistmate (talk) 17:47, 18 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]
The points that you make re the broad political and social contexts in which the Garde Civique functioned are certainly valid User: Hengistmate and should be incorporated in the article. Go ahead! Buistr (talk) 02:28, 19 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]
It is a great pity that the extraordinary website greatwardifferent has fallen into disuse. It contained numerous accounts from reporters (especially American) of the activities of the Garde in the early part of the War. When ordered to lay down their arms, a large contingent marched in good order into Brussels, singing the Marseillaise and the Brabançonne, laid down their rifles and marched away. Another report described companies of the Garde throwing their weapons into rivers, and running around in their underwear rather than be seen in their uniforms. There were also meetings of expat Britons and Americans who had, as required, joined the Garde in peacetime but now found themselves transferred to the Army. It is, though, noted that many Belgians offered to stand at the barricades in what would have been a suicide mission. It is a pity the sources are no longer available. But we can cheat by conducting discussions such as this. Hengistmate (talk) 09:10, 21 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]
