WesWorld

1 January
Three new vessels for the Navy have been laid down today. At Zeebrugge a coastal tanker, the Tresignes, based on a Dutch design was laid down. She will be the first of two such ships. Meanwhile at the Cockerill Yard in Antwerp two vessels have been laid down; the second Zinnia Class fishery protection vessel, Godetia, and the Ekster, a ship of the Dutch Cornelius Drebbel Class of Fleet replenishment ships. These two new support vessels will enable more effective long-distance voyages by the Navy, although claims of potential support for the Dutch fleet in times of need as been plaid down given the recent political tensions. Both the Dutch designs have been offered as part payment for the recent transfer of cruisers and destroyers. It is also rumoured that two ex-Belgian liners may also be returned for conversion for other uses.

20 January
A fresh round of crucial talks in the Chamber of Representatives begin today on the Economic Plan. The Christian Social Party seem to back the plan, but the Belgian Labour Party is divided on the issue.

24 January
A vote on the Economic Plan was due today was postponed at the last moment as the Representatives arrived. It has emerged that Princess Juliaana is not currently in Belgium. This has been linked to increasing rumours regarding Queen Wilhelmina's health. With political doubts about the future political scene given the plans were personally begun by the Queen, it was decided to postpone the vote.

25 January
Today the Chamber of Representatives voted on the proposed Economic Plan after an impassioned plea by Prime Minister Hubert Pierlot to avoid further indecision.
The result was:
Yes: 116
No: 82
Abstain/ Spoiled: 4

The Economic Union has narrowly passed the Chamber and the Bill will now be sent to the Senate for a vote. Given the political uncertainty this may be delayed.

7 February
The Rubenshuis (Rubens House), the former home and studio of Peter Paul Rubens in Antwerp has opened as a museum following a lengthy restoration. Dozens of paintings and artworks by Rubens and his contemporaries have been installed in the rooms, as well as period furniture. Paintings include Rubens’ early Adam and Eve (c. 1600) and a self-portrait made when he was about fifty.

11 February
Prime Minister Hubert Pierlot in a radio address to the nation at lunchtime informed the population that Queen Wilhelmina has passed away. This evening Princess Juliaana's Royal Spokesman issued a confirmation.
The mood is sombre but mixed across Belgium tonight. Even as official mourning begins some rumblings of republicanism that have not died away for some time have become slightly louder in the cafes and bars of Wallonia.

18 February
Given the lukewarm acceptance of the Customs Union plan in Belgium, a further revised proposal for Netherlands and Belgium has been drawn up for discussion in both nations. The United Economic Planning Committee has proposed that the Belgian Franc would be not be pegged to the Guilder but that Belgium would still have access to loans on equally favourable terms and could decide to participate in joint monetary policies with other UKN nations. For inter-UKN trade with Belgium, the primary currency would be the Belgian Franc. Some degree of joint interest rate policy is still thought wise.

21 February
Political discussion of the revised plan has seen a greater acceptance. The Belgian Labour Party still support calls for the central Treasury to be based in Belgium as a more neutral location for all the UKN nations. The Kongolese Economics Minister seems to have publicly said the same during a newspaper interview yesterday.

2 March
In a controversial move, the Senate has begun readings of the proposed Customs Union Bill. Some Representatives wanted a chance to vote on the amended deal on offer, but it seems this new offer will be subject only to a Senate vote as the changes have been deemed minor. No date for the vote has yet been set.

17 March
Another attempt by Representatives to have the Senate vote on Customs Union stopped has failed with a judicial hearing favouring the Government’s preferred solution. The Judge ruled that the proposed amendments had addressed all the recommendations the Government had made following the House vote in January.

Quoted from "Hood"

17 March
Another attempt by Representatives to have the Senate vote on Customs Union stopped has failed with a judicial hearing favouring the Government’s preferred solution. The Judge ruled that the proposed amendments had addressed all the recommendations the Government had made following the House vote in January.

Coming on top slap in the fact to Flemish autonomy represented by the destruction of the Iron Tower in Diksmuide, this rapid and high-handed decision by the Belgian judiciary does not seem to bode well for linguistic minorities in body politic.

6 April
A delegation of ten Representatives have met with the Prime Minister to try and force a revote on the Customs Union issue, but the Prime Minister made it clear that the judicial review was fair and free from political interference. For him it would be worse to pervert the course of the court system than to have senate make a reasoned vote on the new proposals. He doubted whether the new proposals would not be accepted by the Representatives anyway, and that the attempts to delay the bill were a shameful attempt to stall progress on the basis of a handful of opponents.

19 April
The Senate voted today on the Customs Union Bill.
The results were:
Yes: 60
No: 39
Abstain/Spoilt: 2
The Leader of the Senate took the results to the Prime Minister and it seems certain that the Cabinet will sign the Customs Union into law.

26 April
The Belgian Government formally applies to join the Customs Union. The Minister of Finance travelled to The Hague to deliver the document personally. Both finance ministers held a brief press call afterwards.

27 April
The Minister of Defence Andre Flahaut announced today that a deal has been made with the British Government for the supply of Gloster Meteor 4 jet-powered fighters for the Aeronautique Militaire. The undisclosed number of airframes will be built under licence by a Belgian company; the engines will be purchased directly from Rolls-Royce. The planned first delivery will take place during 1947.

28 April
Some Walloon papers have published critical editorials regarding the application to join the Customs Union. Other Flemish editors have written supportive statements to help support the government line.

1 May
At the Cockerill Yard in Antwerp the second Zinnia Class fishery protection vessel, Godetia, left her slipway today to take to the water for the first time.
Meanwhile her sistership has been responsible for saving ten English fishermen after their boat capsized in heavy seas. The men were returned to Whitby safely.

15 May
The hull of the tanker Tresignes slipped down the ways at Zeebrugge after the Mayoress christened the ship with the usual bottle of champagne.

Quoted

the Mayoress christened the ship with the usual bottle of champagne.

... that sounds like a reusable bottle of champagne to me.

11 June
The City of Ghent has held an exhibition attempting to market itself as the ideal location for the planned Central UKN Treasury. No official government plans on where the Treasury will be located has yet been made.

28 June
At the Renard factory at Deurne, the company’s latest creation, the R.45 twin-engined transport aircraft, was rolled out for its first flight. Company chief test pilot Jens Duvalier and two other members of the testing team took the large aircraft aloft shortly after lunch for a thirty-five minute handling trial. Everything went according the plan. Designed for civil cargo transporting it is thought that SABENA will order some and there is rumoured interest from the Air Force too, to replace the aging SABCA S.48 fleet of staff transports.


R.45 Wind Tunnel Model

1 July
At the Cockerill Yard in Antwerp the massive grey hull of the replenishment ship Ekster thundered down the slipway after a brief ceremony attended by the Prime Minister and his wife.
The ship has been built to Dutch plans and will enable much more effective support of fleet operations beyond the shores of Belgium.
Politically though, the thought of operations in the East Indies or around the Dutch empire does raise some problematic questions.

30 July
A new charter airline has been founded today, Société d'Etude et de Transports Aériens (SETA). The airline is currently seeking to acquire a fleet of aircraft and hopes to begin revenue flights within a few months.

12 August
The Belgian Red Cross has pledged 500,000 Francs of aid for Ubangi Shari consisting of food and medical supplies and they have chartered a ship to transport the goods within the next month.

19 August
The Belgian Government made a formal statement today ruling out any overt military support for the Netherlands in Ubangi Shari although some have pointed out that Belgian armament companies continue to fulfil orders for guns and armoured vehicles for the Dutch and Kongo.

4 September
The heavy cruiser King Albert has left Antwerp today bound for a tour of South America to show the flag and conduct a training cruise.
The first stop will be Suriname where co-operation exercises will be held with local Dutch naval forces.

17 September
The news that the German Ministry of Defence has announced plans to form reserve panzer brigades in each of its military districts has been met with criticism today in the Belgian press. One Belgian Labour Party representative said the plans amounted to "confirmation of Germany's long-standing military aggression. Why should Germany want to station more tanks and men in its military districts bordering our nation when its politicians continually proclaim a new age of European peace?"
The Defence Minister Andre Flahaut confirmed that his Ministry had no plans to alter defence policies and added "Belgium will not be provoked into taking measures to distract us from our current defence plans and policies."

26 September
A new youth magazine has appeared on the shelves of newsagents and bookstores across Belgium and the Netherlands today. 'Tintin' or 'Kuifje' in Dutch, is a ten page magazine featuring the adventures of Hergé's creation, Tintin and is billed as "The magazine for the youth from 7 to 77". 40,000 copies have been released in French and 20,000 in Dutch.
Raymond Leblanc and his partners started a small publishing house last year and decided to create an illustrated youth magazine featuring Tintin. Business partner André Sinave secured an agreement from Hergé. The magazines features works by Hergé, Jacobs, Paul Cuvelier and Jacques Laudy as artists, with their mutual friend Jacques Van Melkebeke serving as editor. The Dutch edition has a separate editor-in-chief, Karel Van Milleghem, who devised the advertising slogan.
The magazine is a direct competitor to Spirou magazine, a weekly Franco-Belgian comics magazine published by the Dupuis company and Robbedoes, its Dutch language version.

September 26, 1946... most important event in Belgian history...

... cause I grew up reading that magazine for years.

Quoted

17 September
The news that the German Ministry of Defence has announced plans to form reserve panzer brigades in each of its military districts has been met with criticism today in the Belgian press. One Belgian Labour Party representative said the plans amounted to "confirmation of Germany's long-standing military aggression. Why should Germany want to station more tanks and men in its military districts bordering our nation when its politicians continually proclaim a new age of European peace?"
The Defence Minister Andre Flahaut confirmed that his Ministry had no plans to alter defence policies and added "Belgium will not be provoked into taking measures to distract us from our current defence plans and policies."

<Sighs>

Belgian paranoia raises its ugly head again... or is it an election year? ?(

Considering what the Evil Hun did in Belgium in the recent past, I can't blame them. Pretty hard to forget for those back then and are still around.

Quoted from "Rooijen10"

Considering what the Evil Hun did in Belgium in the recent past, I can't blame them. Pretty hard to forget for those back then and are still around.

You see, this is a problem with trying to tie real-world history with Wesworld-history. My understanding of Wesworld history was that the Dutch took effective control of Belgium *out* of German hands to avoid the death and destruction described in that particular Wiki article. Kaiser Kirk was never very clear - at least when I was around - on how the mechanics of that actually played out. But as far as I am concerned, you cannot have it both ways.

Its an element of Belgian life, certainly Belgium fears Franco-German power.
It's odd but there we are, also we need to justify all those fortresses some how!

Quoted from "Hood"

Its an element of Belgian life, certainly Belgium fears Franco-German power.
It's odd but there we are, also we need to justify all those fortresses some how!

Oh, so now you're bringing France into the picture too? ;) Next thing you know you'll be trash-talking Perfidious Albion. :P

19 September
The heavy cruiser King Albert has arrived in Paramaribo, Suriname.
The Captain, Capitaine de vaisseau Adrien Lecointe, and his officers had a celebratory meal ashore hosted by Admiraal of the Suriname and Kongo Fleets (Atlantic Fleet)Vice-Admiraal Lodewijk van Kinsbergen.

21 September
After fixing a few defects arising from her voyage, the King Albert deployed with the Dutch light cruisers CL-13 Celebes and CL-14 Papua of the 2nd Cruiser Division and the seaplane tender AVP-2 Venus for four days of exercises.

26 September
The heavy cruiser King Albert left Paramaribo, Suriname today bound for Natal in Brazil.

30 September
The heavy cruiser King Albert arrived in Natal, Brazil this afternoon.