Today’s world leaders should heed the “mistakes” of the past or face the consequences, warns Count Henri d’Oultremont, on the eve of his 101st birthday on 31 May. As one of only three known Belgian survivors of the famous Piron Brigade, the decorated veteran knows what he is talking about. The Belgo-Luxembourg unit went down in military folklore after it took part in the Liberation of Normandy and Belgium alongside the Allies. One other member of that brave band of brothers, André Liegois, celebrated his
101st birthday a few days before Henri on 25 May. D’Oultremont told The Bulletin he fears political leaders have not heeded the “mistakes” that led to the outbreak of WW2. “Yes, that is my big fear. The people in charge of our lives today either do not remember or do not even know about what happened back then,” he says from his Brussels home. “I was lucky in a way because my father was in the military and I learned a lot from him about
war and conflict.” With several bitter wars still raging, d’Oultremont says he is reminded of the period that preceded the beginning of World War Two. He has visited schools in Belgium to share his experiences with young people. “I try to explain to them how dangerous times are now as well, not least when you compare today with how it was between 1935 and 1940. There is, in a way, a similar political climate today as back then so my hope is that today’s political
leaders will learn from the past.” When speaking to younger people in particular, he says that “we shouldn’t despair,” adding, “We’ve had over 80 years of peace so why should it change? We have to look for solutions so that the same doesn’t happen again.” Royal British Legion membership Last year, d’Oultremont was granted centenarian membership of the Royal British Legion (RBL), a UK-based charity set up to help former and serving military personnel, as well as their families. Among its many branches worldwide are
three in Belgium, in Brussels, Ypres and Antwerp, which count scores of Belgians among their members. For his centenary in 2025, the veteran received a richly deserved certificate of appreciation from the Brussels branch. Still in remarkably good health – and memory – he was asked what it was like to serve with such brave comrades and in such trying times, to which he modestly replied, “I did my best.” D’Oultremont was born in 1925, the year the Treaty of Locarno was signed by France,
Germany, the UK and Belgium, guaranteeing post-WWI territorial boundaries and fostering an all-too-brief era of European peace. That was shattered by the outbreak of another world war, one in which the soldier served with pride and valour, following the example of his father and grandfather, a national hero, who both served in the Belgian Army. A monument at Tervaete in West Flanders honours the memory of his grandfather, also named Henri, and the men under his command who died in the heroic counter-offensive during the
Battle of the Yser in October 1914. Looking forward to his birthday this weekend, d’Oultremont says, “I cannot wait. I will be surrounded by many family members – there are over 20 of them. We will have a nice little party, with a cup of tea, and it promises to be a wonderful occasion.” Another special date is on the near horizon. Every year on the Saturday preceding Belgium’s National Day on 21 July, he participates in the annual Belgian military parade in London and
lays a wreath for the Brigade Piron at the Cenotaph war memorial in Whitehall. The parade was inaugurated by Britain’s King George V in 1934 to honour Belgium’s King Albert I, who died in a climbing accident. Belgium is the only non-Commonwealth country to have the honour of bearing arms at the Cenotaph. Piron Brigade’s wartime feats In a recent interview with RBL Brussels Chair, Dennis Abbott, d’Oultremont described his service with the Piron Brigade, from 1944-45, as “the best year of my life”. He
was 19 (pictured above) when he joined up, “eager to do his bit” after enduring more than four and a half years of enemy occupation in his home city of Liège. D’Oultremont and his university friends enlisted when a British officer visited Liège. “In two months, 15,000 young Belgians joined the Piron Brigade and various Allied units,” he says. Liège’s strategic importance as a rail junction meant it was heavily bombed by the Allies and d’Oultremont’s family home lost its roof and windows. He lived
in the cellar together with his mother and three sisters. The Piron Brigade, named after its commander, Colonel (later General) Jean-Baptise Piron, had fought its way up the Normandy coast, liberating towns such as Cabourg and Deauville in August 1944, before crossing the Belgian border. On 4 September, “amid scenes of huge rejoicing,” it took part in the liberation of Brussels with the British Armoured Guards Division. Postwar life After being demobbed, Henri went to study engineering in Liège, where he would meet his future
wife, Monique de Decker de Brandeken, at a dance. She died in 2004 and d’Oultremont has remained a widower since. They had two children, daughter Dominique, and son Juan, a well-known artist, TV presenter and songwriter. He also has 11 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. In his civilian life, d’Oultremont spent 33 years working in different roles for US multinational IBM, from salesman to press officer. Both he and André Liegois often attend RBL commemorations. Two other Brigade veterans sadly passed away last August, Pierre Dufrane,
aged 108, and Xavier Verzin, aged 100, while a third, José Michotte de Welle, died last month, aged 102. After his birthday celebrations this weekend, d’Oultremont’s attention will turn to the annual RBL commemoration at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission plot in Brussels Town Cemetery (Evere) on 20 June. The cemetery is the final resting place for war dead from the UK, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland and South Africa. D’Oultremont was decorated for his military service with honours including the
Médaille du Volontaire 1940–1945, Médaille Commémorative de la Guerre 1940–45 and the Chevalier Ordre de la Couronne. Photos: (main image) On parade with re-enactors at the 78th anniversary of the Liberation of Brussels in 2022; Second image (from left): Didier Dufrane (son of the late Pierre Dufrane), President of the Fédération Royale Nationale des Amicales de la Brigade Piron, Henri d’Oultremont, André Liegeois and the late Xavier Verzin
Henri d'Oultremont, Piron Brigade, Liège, Liberation of Normandy, Liberation of Brussels, Royal British Legion, Belgian National Day, Cenotaph, WWII veterans, 101st birthday