SUMMARY

Military service was based on the drawing of lots, inherited at independence in 1830 from the French and Dutch occupations. Each province had to provide a specific number of conscripts, according to a quota voted annually by parliament. The draw took place every year in February, and anyone who drew the wrong number could be replaced by another young man for a fee, often through specialist companies. In 1909, when personal military service was introduced, it cost 1,800 francs (around 3,000 euros today) to be replaced in the army.

Compulsory military service was introduced in Belgium under a law signed on 14 December 1909 by King Leopold 11, three days before his death. This law required every family to place one son at the disposal of the nation. In 1913, Albert 1 -r, his successor, amended the law by making all the sons of a family compulsory.

Millions of militiamen (conscripts) served under this obligation until it was suspended in March 1995 when the armed forces were professionalised. It was this law that enabled the Belgian army to count 250,000 men on 4 August 1914, the start of the First World War. At that time, the length of "personal" service varied between 15 months for the infantry and 24 months for the cavalry and horse artillery.

Over the next 86 years, the length of service fluctuated constantly. Often linked to the international situation. In 1920, after the First World War. It was rapidly reduced to ten or thirteen months, depending on the service, before falling to eight months in 1928 for certain categories of militiamen. In 1936, as the Second World War approached, the period under arms was increased to twelve or even 18 months for certain militia classes and to 17 months for reserve officer candidates. From 1974 onwards, career women volunteers made their appearance in the armed forces.

This book will help genealogists to find clues about their ancestors who served under arms during the major conflicts, both in Belgium and on foreign battlefields.

AUTHORS

Yves Heraly. He was born in 1948 in Léopoldville (now Kinshasa) in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 1990 he began researching the Heraly family genealogy, which originated in Walloon Brabant. Former treasurer of the Cercle d'histoire, d'archéologie et de généalogie de Wavre et du Brabant Wallon. In 1998 he founded the GéniWal association (Généalogie Wallonie Informatique), of which he is chairman.

- Robert Van Hecke. He was born in Charleroi in 1958 and began his genealogy in 1998. A member of GéniWal since the beginning, he gives courses on the basics of palaeography to the Namur and Brabant-Wallon sections. He has written several articles in the journal of the Belgian Dynastic Movement, Brabant-Wallon section, on the first Belgian medals and the volunteers of the Belgian revolution of 1830.