Belgian Royal Military Museum, Brussels

Here's a collection of photos from our visit to the Royal Military Museum in Brussels in 2011. The collection was extensive, starting with a large gallery of Belgian Napoleonic War relics. Unfortunately all the galleries closed at 12pm for lunch the day we visited so we didn't get a full look through the World War One section.

Napoleonic uniforms

Artillery from World War One.

A wonderful WWI Renault FT light tank. It's one of my favorite tanks and remained in use right through to the Second World War, although it was totally obsolete.

A gigantic WWI British Mark II tank. The Mark II was first used during the Battle of Somme, although its performance was terrible as almost all broke down before they saw action. They were slowly improved throughout the war, eventually becoming a decisive weapon on the Western Front.

A French Renault UE Chenillette gun carrier in German livery. After the Nazis conquered France they commandeered all manner of vehicles for their war effort. Although obsolete for front line service by the time the war started, they were useful for supporting roles, such as ammunition carriers and gun carriages.

The tank gallery in a outside courtyard. Most of the tanks however were Cold War era and therefore not particularly interesting to me.



Me with a Russian tank and German tank destroyer.

A WWII German Hetzer (significantly modified). After experiencing defeats against the Russians on the Eastern Front, the Germans introduced a new type of tank, the Jagdpanzer or tank destroyer. As the Jagdpanzer was designed to ambush other tanks and would be engaging head on, it was able dispense with a turret in favor of mounting a heavier gun with thicker frontal armour. It also had the advantage of a lower profile, making it easier to hide. As the war progressed and German fortunes turned for the worst, more and more jagdpanzers were built as their lack of a traversing turret meant they were quicker and less complicated to manufacture.

A post war German tank destroyer.

Polar explorer

Ship models in the naval section. Unfortunately we didn't get to look through that section because it was closing.

All of the photos above were taken in 2011. After we had visited the Aero Museum next door, we discovered the military museum was about to close so we did a very quick run through, hence the very few photos. In 2018 we returned to Belgium and took a much more leisurely tour through both museums.

2018 Visit

The Napoleonic Wars

An officer's hat

The Napoleonic period was distinguished by its extraordinarily elaborate uniforms and headwear.

German pickelhelms. They appear to be steel but were in fact made of tanned pigskin.

Steel cuirassiers helms

Tall hats and distinctive plumes signified rank and unit.

More cavalry helments and headwear.

Liberty or Death!

This cap was based on a Roman 'emancipation cap' worn by freed slaves. It became popular as a revolutionary headwear.

Grenadiers headwear

German pickelhelms of the Franco-Prussian War 1870

Medieval and Early Modern Era

14th and 15th century armour and helmets

Full armour suits from 15th Century

15th Century

With the advent of gunpowder, armour was reduced to chest and head armour.

Jousting armour

Russian Imperial Uniforms of the Tsars (special exhibit 2018)

The dress uniform of Tsar Alexander III

Dress uniform Tsar Alexander II

Russian Imperial uniforms 19th Century

Russian Imperial dress uniforms 19th Century

Tsarevitch Alexei

Russian summer uniform and equipment from the Great War.

Russian Imperial decorations

Russian winter uniform

German First World War Helmets

Like the other powers of Europe, the German army entered the war equipped with weaponry and uniforms largely unchanged from peacetime ceremonial wear from the 1890s. This included cavalry helmets with ostrich feather plumes and bedecked bear fur busbys. Totally impractical for the war that was about to be fought.

German ceremonial cavalry headwear was, like in other armies of the time, more about show than practicality.

Cavalry and officer ceremonial helmets

Pickelhelms

After the first months of war, the elaborate, pigskin pickelhelm was being replaced with something a little less 'visible.' Dust covers in mud brown became standard issue. By 1915 the ubiquitous 'stahlhelm' (steel helmet) would be standard issue.

First World War Tanks

Mark A Whippet tank. https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww1/gb/British_medium_Mark-A_whippet.php

Whippet "Firefly"

Renault FT17

Mark IV "Male." The Male version was armed with 6 pounder naval guns. The Female version was armed only with Vickers machine guns.

Mark IV from the rear https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww1/gb/tank_MkIV.php

Artillery pieces

Link to our photos from our visit to the neighbouring Brussels Airforce Museum https://militarymuseum.blogspot.com/2019/06/brussels-aeroworld-brussels-belgium.html

Brussels Autoworld, Belgium 2011

In the centre of the Parc du Cinquantenaire 11, in Brussels, Belgium stands the Arc du Triomphe. Construction of the Arc commenced in 1880 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Belgium's independence but it wasn't finished in time however and a wooden substitute was used during the celebrations. Construction resumed in 1905 and was finished in 1910.

On each side of the Arc there are two massive exhibition halls, both containing impressive museums. One hall houses the Royal Military Museum with its excellent collection of military uniforms dating back to the Napoleonic Wars, tanks from both World Wars and an amazing collection of aircraft. For photos of our visit to the other museums in the complex, see here: https://militarymuseum.blogspot.com/2019/06/brussels-aeroworld-brussels-belgium.html and here: https://militarymuseum.blogspot.com/2019/06/royal-belgian-military-museum-brussels.html


The other hall houses the amazing Brussels Autoworld, an impressive collection of cars and motorcycles. The collection was first amassed by Ghislain Mahy, a pioneering auto dealer in Brussels in the early 20th century. He began to collect old cars, first to display in his car dealership, but his collection soon grew until it became one of the most important classic car collections in Europe.  https://www.autoworld.be/onthaal

The Mahy Collection of over 1000 vehicles makes up the core of the museum. Veteran vehicles, especially early Belgian marques form a key part of the collection.

Fiat and Renault Torpedo from the 1920s.

1925 Chrysler



A collection of Austin's. The leading car, the Swallow, is particularly handsome.

The ubiquitous French Citroen Traction-Avant



Not all Bugattis were racers or luxury vehicles.

A Hanomag Kommisbrot. Built in 1925 as a budget vehicle . Its construction was absolutely basic and powered by a 500cc single cylinder engine mounted in the rear. This was an unorthodox position for the time but allowed simplification of the drive train as it dispensed with the differential. It was a novel solution that would be followed by budget car makers in the 1930s.

A Detroit Electric. Who said electric vehicles were a new thing? Detroit Electric began manufacturing electric powered vehicles in 1906. As you'd expect, they were successful as town vehicles at a time when gasoline powered vehicles weren't particularly reliable. Not needing a large engine and radiator, they retained a very old fashioned look right into the 1920s. http://www.detroitelectric.org/

The distinctive shovel nosed bonnet of the Franklin. Franklin were unorthodox in that they used an air-cooled engine. Later they would add a dummy radiator grill so that they would not stand out too much from the crowd.

Renault Torpedoand an early BSA motorcycle

1908 Renault racer

1907 Darmont Type D5. Like the British Morgan company, Darmont built in three wheeled cyclecars using engines were sourced from a variety of different motorcycle manufacturers.

1911 Opel. In the 1930s Opel would become Germany's largest selling car manufacturer, thanks to their adoption of US manufacturing techniques (they were part of the US General Motors group).

1915 Wanderer. The Saxon auto company Wanderer would later merge with DKW, Audi and Horch to form Auto Union. They originally started as a bicycle manufacturer, moving into motorbikes and family touring cars. These little 'puppchen' cars only seated two - a driver in front and a passenger behind.

A veteran three wheeler

Peugoet Bebe in the front and a French le Zebra behind.



Belgian FN motorcycles and an FN tricycle lorry. http://tempohanseat.blogspot.com/2019/11/fn-tricar.html

1933 Minerva fire engine. Minerva were a Belgian company.

Bugatti roadster

1920 Delage D8-120 from France. A fine luxury marque.

1934 Cadillac and a 1954 Goggo Isaria scooter.

BMW 340. This was the model that was also built by the East German EMW company after the war.
http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2011/02/veb-sachsenring-east-germanys-peoples.html

Extremely stylish and streamlined Panhard and Levassor Dynamic. These were built from 1936 to 1939 when the war intervened. They were extremely avant-garde in their styling and featured a central driving position. Panhard is one of the oldest car manufacturers in the world, starting production in 1891. They still exist today but only build military vehicles.
http://www.citroenet.org.uk/panhard-et-levassor/panhard-index.html

One of my favourite cars of all time, the 1937 Cord 810-912. http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/showroom/1937/cord.html

Another of my favourite vehicles, the Tatra T600 Tatraplan from Czechoslavia powered by a rear mounted air cooled four cylinder engine. http://www.team.net/www/ktud/Tatra.html and http://home.clara.net/peterfrost/tatra.html & http://www.tatraplan.co.uk/

French microcar - Rovin D4 http://www.microcarmuseum.com/tour/rovind4.html

BMW Isetta microcar with a Vespa car behind.

Messerschmitt KR200

1942 Peugeot VLV electric car. France's industrial capacity was diverted to the German war effort during the occupation and petrol was an almost impossibly scarce resource for civilians, so Peugeot built a couple of hundred of these little electric cars as a speculative venture. http://microcarmuseum.com/tour/peugeot-vlv.html

French Simca Aronde. Simca were owned by the American Chrysler Corporation.

The Belgian version of the Royal Auto Club with a Renault 4CV

1949 Oldsmobile

The Goddess, the legendary Citroen DS. Stunning and space age in 1955 and still an icon today.

Bugatti racer

Streamlined Bugatti

In 2018 we returned to Belgium and revisited the museum. Our photos are posted here: https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2019/09/brussels-autoworld-belgium-2018.html

New windscreen

About six months ago I bought a repro windshield from Draganfly. I was surprised to find that not one of the fixing holes in the windshield actually aligned to the bolts in the front shield so I abandoned the idea, at least temporarily. Over Easter I pulled the windshield out again and recut all the holes. Once recut the windshield slipped in quite easily. I couldn't get the upper fixing bolts secured however and had to make do with a temporary fix.

The bike had a come with a small, custom windshield. It vibrated alot when riding and didn't really serve much of a purpose. I didn't really expect too much of the new windshield either, except for appearances sake. In fact, the first thing I found when I took the bike out was that the windshield is really quite restrictive on the bike's turning circle, especially when turning right. There is very little clearance between clutch lever and the windshield. It has already cut into the perspex. But despite this inconvenience I was surprised to find that the windshield actually works. It creates a slipstream that sweeps up over the windscreen over the rider. I found that I could actually ride without my helmet visor down and not be blown away.

And here are a couple of shots of a nice BSA that I found while riding around. This bike was clearly being ridden as a daily rider. It wasn't fancy or over restored. The paint job was by hand. It's good to see an old machine ridden as the maker intended.