Victor Joseph Lecouturier

Belguim Army dispatch rider, Independent Belgian Brigade, Compagnie de transport. Injured 7/7/1945 on the Ollerton to Nottingham Road at the Deerdale Crossroads, Bilsthorpe when his motorcycle was struck by another motorcycle which swerved into him. Died Mansfield Hospital 9/7/1945. Repatriated POW Percy Eddie Robinson of 24 Radford Grove Lane, Nottingham at the inquest stated he was riding towards Nottingham at 14:30 when he overtook a stationary Belgian convoy. A vehicle in the convoy swung across the road and while attempting to avoid it he collided with a stationary motorcycle.

Buried Brookwood Cemetery, Belgiam plot, repatriated 27/10/1949 buried Gembloux community Cemetery, grave 2867.

In 1940, the Belgian government-in-exile decided to raise a military unit from pre-war Belgian émigrés and soldiers rescued from Dunkirk. The first components of a Belgian military in Britain were created after the French surrender when the Camp Militaire Belge de Regroupement (CMBR; "Belgian Military Camp for Regrouping") was created in Tenby , Wales. The original forces were known as the 1st Fusilier Battalion A 2nd Fusilier Battalion was formed in Canada from Belgian émigrés in the Americas. In 1942, the various Belgian ground forces units in the United Kingdom were amalgamated into the 1st Belgian Infantry Brigade, more often known as the Brigade Piron after its commanding officer, Colonel Jean-Baptiste Piron. Belgian volunteers continued to join the Free Belgian forces throughout the war, most crossing through occupied and Vichy France, as well as Francoist Spain. Because the French refused to provide any form of visa to Belgians of military age, many of those arriving in England tended to be older and to have already had long military careers. This created a problem for the Free Belgian forces, which was therefore generally "top heavy", with a greater ratio of older officers to other ranks.