Dear WW2 forum members, my grandfather, an English officer, was captured in Calais. While being marched south-east he escaped and along with two others made it to Le Crotoy on the Somme estuary. They were recaptured and brought to Brussels. There, according to my grandad's memoirs, they were "put into Guards Barracks". Does anyone know or can anyone tell me how to find out where exactly these barracks were/are? I would like to visit them. At the end of the war, after spending the intervening years as a POW, my grandad was flown back to England from Brussels Airport. Am I right in assuming that this is the airport at Zaventem? Any help gratefully received!
It COULD be (but I am not certain) that the"guards barracks" were the barracks of the préwar Belgian regiment of Guides (who were unofficially considered as the regiment of guards)
Thanks LJAd amd Skipper for your comments. Yes I think the airport must have been Melsbroek. Am not sure either about the regiment of the Guides . . . someone suggested to me that the Guards Barracks my Grandad referred to were those in Etterbeek. I wonder how I can find out?
Regarding the "Guards barrack", we had plenty of them along the Boulevard General Jacques.and Avenue de la Couronne But, specificaly, the Royal Guard is a mounted Unit of the Gendarmerie (now disbanded) which is now in the United Police. They are at the corner of these roads! In Wikipedia, enter "Garde royale belge" And the "airport" in the Vicinity of Brussel could as well be Evere! Now, covered with big buildings, like Nato HQ, Air Force Logistic centers, ... Hubbar49
Do you know where his POW Camp was? Much to my surprize, there were several in Belgium. (Having thought all 1940 - 41 camps were transitory only.) "An alphabetical listing of all camps for POWs and Hospitals, work camps and internment camps known in German controlled areas." https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/european-camps-british-commonwealth-prisoners-of-war-1939-45