Events in the year 1944 in Belgium.
Incumbents Monarch: Leopold III Regent: Prince Charles (from 21 September) Prime Minister: Hubert Pierlot
Events January 14 January – Occupying German authorities order evacuation of civilians from the Belgian coast.Alain de Gueldre et al., Kroniek van België (Antwerp and Zaventem, 1987). 16 January – Groupe G resistance organisation dynamites pylons to sabotage electricity supply.
February 5 February – Occupying authorities streamline procedure for death sentences on charges of "terrorism".
April 11 April – Heavy allied bombing of industrial targets and transport infrastructure in Belgian cities. 19 April – Mechelen and Leuven bombed.
May 21 May – Cardinal Van Roey appeals to Allies to cease bombing civilian targets in Belgium.
June 7 June – Leopold III, under house arrest since 1940, deported to Germany together with his wife and children.
July 18 July – Military occupation under General Alexander von Falkenhausen replaced by Reichskommissariat of Belgium and Northern France under Reichskommissar Josef Grohé. 22 July – Delegates of the Belgian government in exile are among the founding signatories of the Bretton Woods system establishing the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development 27 July – Collaborationist leaders Jef van de Wiele and Hendrik Elias meet with Heinrich Himmler.
August 18 August Courcelles Massacre in retaliation for the assassination of the collaborationist mayor of Charleroi by the Belgian Resistance. Over 330 killed and 600 injured in American mistaken bombing of Namur. 31 August – Many Belgian collaborators flee to Germany.
September 2 September – Allied ground forces enter Belgium. 4 September – Liberation of Brussels and Antwerp; Independent Belgian Brigade (Brigade Piron) enters Brussels. 5 September – Customs Convention between Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg signed.H.F. van Panhuys, L.J. Brinkhorst, and H.H. Maas (eds.), International Organisation and Integration (Deventer and Leyden, 1968), p. 978. 7 September – Liberation of Liège. 8 September – Battle of Geel begins (to 23 September) 15 September – Cinemas reopened in liberated parts of Belgium. 21 September – Prince Charles, Count of Flanders, is appointed Prince Regent of Belgium in the King's absence. 27 September – Government in exile becomes government of national unity.
October 2 October – Battle of the Scheldt begins (to 8 November) 12 October – First V-1 flying bomb attack on Belgium.
November 1 November – Operation Infatuate launched 3 November – Last German forces in Belgium surrender at Knokke. 8 November – Belgian Parliament lifts parliamentary privilege of members of collaborationist organisations. 18 November – Resistance groups disarmed. 25 November – Resistance groups demonstrate in Parliament to demand official recognition. 28 November – Allied shipping starts to use the Port of Antwerp.
December 16 December – German counter-offensive into Belgium: Battle of the Bulge begins with Battle of Lanzerath Ridge, Battle of Losheim Gap, Battle of St. Vith and Battle of Elsenborn Ridge 17 December – Malmedy massacre 20 December – Siege of Bastogne begins (to 27 December)
Births 22 March – Alfons Thijs, historian (died 2014) 31 March – Jean-Marie André, scientist (died 2023) 5 April – Willy Planckaert, road bicycle racer 1 June – Freddy Herbrand, Olympic athlete 8 October – Maurice Bodson, politician (died 2020) 21 December – Jacques Beurlet, footballer (died 2020)
Deaths 14 January – Walthère Dewé, resistance leader, shot in the street 28 January – Aloïs Biebuyck, officer in the First World War 23 February – Leo Baekeland, chemical engineer 3 March – Paul-Émile Janson, liberal politician (Buchenwald concentration camp) 21 March – Pierre de Caters, aviator 12 April – Emmanuel de Blommaert, Olympic rider 10 May – Adolphe De Meulemeester, colonial official 27 May – Adrienne Barbanson, musical patron 9 June – Marie-Louise Hénin, resister 12 August – Suzanne Spaak, resister 17 August – Oswald Englebin, collaborationist mayor of Charleroi, assassinated 20 August – Hippolyte De Kempeneer, film producer 7 October – Abraham Leon, Trotskyist theorist (Auschwitz concentration camp) 1 December – Balthazar De Beukelaer, Olympic fencer 11 December – Joseph Maréchal, Thomist philosopher
See also Chronology of the liberation of Belgian cities and towns during World War II
References