by Geert De Vos

A nice and original picture of Julius "Juul" or "Jules" Geurts, from Genk, the first EK I winner of all Flemish volunteers. This picture shows him with his just-acquired EK I.

Jules Geurts got this medal as a SS-Sturmmann, on 09/07/1942 as a volunteer in the Freiwilligen Legion Flandern, a year later he would die, heavily wounded after stepping on a mine, while he was going on a "Stosstrupp".

FLEMISH: Award badges of the "Vlaamsch Nationaal Verbond (VNV)" (Flemish National Union)

The Anti-Terrorist Award-

Awarded to those who had been subjected to attack by Terrorist (Resistance). This badge was instituted in 1943 in Gilt class only. The Badge shows an outer circle with the motto "Wie Leven Wil Moet Strijden" (Who Would Live, Must Fight). The Triangle within the circle represents the VNV Emblem. A sword is shown in the center, which represents the Struggle against Bolshevism. The back shows two loop style hinges, which are part of the die struck badge.

The Tollenaere Commemorative Award:

This prestigious award was issued to commemorate the death of the VNV Black Brigades Leader Dr. Reimond Tollenaere who was killed in action at Kopzy, near Leningrad on 22 Jan. 1942. The badge shows the Dutch wolf's hook, a small rectangular box with the motto "TROUW" (Loyalty) and a sword in the background crossing it. The bottom part shows a circular ring with the Flemish motto "AAN R TOLLENAERE KOPZY 1942," indicating the date and place he was killed. VNV Black Brigade members were awarded this badge for loyalty and sacrifice. The badge is cast, hollow on the back and has the same loop style hinges.

This Flemish volunteer of the Langemarck Division, KdM, is wearing the EK II ribbon, the golden Verwundetenabzeichen, the Infanteriesturmabzeichen and the Reimond Tollenaere Honour Medal, also you can see the "Langemarck" cuff title, but what's special is that he isn't wearing yet the new BEVO arm eagle for the Flemish Volunteers !

The VNV Merit Award:

Instituted in June 1944. This award is known as the "Eer en Trouw" (Honor and Loyalty) Badge. It was awarded in Bronze only for special acts of courage at home or at the Eastern Front. The badge was also awarded for those killed in action or by terrorist. It was die struck with the two loop style hinge, and mounted on a commemorate plaque.

The VNV-honor badge:

This badge was presented to men who had made themselves useful to the party, and to those who completed 5, 10 and15 years of loyal service. It was issued in bronze (5 year), silver (10 year) and bronze (15 year), and came along with an “Oorkonde”.

The Dinaso Honor Badge

The front is formed from a large medallion, with a shield in its center and sword pointing upwards crossing horizontally. The sword symbolizes the Flemisch people fighting trough its history , the plough stands for the traditional Agriculture off Flanders, and the gear wheel for the technological development and its industries.

In the medallion come the following words; "Trouw aan Joris Van Severen - Abbeville - 20 Mei 1940 " in Dutch (this can be translated in English as " Loyalty to Joris van Severen -Abbeville - Mai 1940 ).
The reverse off this award is plain and shows the typical Belgian attachment system.

The measurements are as following :
Sword : 51.5 mm
Total width off the badge ( at the largest point off the medallion ) : 32 mm

This badge should be considered very rare , as are all the Flemisch awards from the period 1940 - 1944.

There is no award numbers know until now, the badge exist in Bronze and silver and there can be found minor differences between these. The award was instituted after the murder on 20.04.1940 of the Flemisch Verdinaso organization leader (Mr. Joris van Severen ) at Abbeville ( France ) .

The DINASO was the organization that existed previous to the VERDINASO, or the “Verbond van Dietse Nationaal Solidaristen”, hard to translate in English, but would be something like an organization of which the members believed in the going-together of Flanders and The Netherlands.

The Flemish Factory Guard Insignia and Medals;

The Flemish Factory Guard or “Vlaamsche Fabriekswacht” was set up in 01/05/1941 by Cristian Hendrik Turcksin, who was also its leader. They had a black uniform and were under the command of the Luftwaffe, though this unit was only situated in Flanders and it’s goal was to protect the factories and railroads against attacks by the Belgian Resistance.
On the picture you can see the Flemish Factory Guard badge (top). Also on a second scan one can see the pins, both issues with maker’s marks, that were worn on the civil uniform.

The Flemish Algemeine SS or Algemeene SS Vlaanderen;

This organization was founded and lead by Rene Lagrou until 10 May 1941, when he left for the Eastern Front.
You can see on the scan, left the pin for Protective members of the Algemeene SS Vlaanderen, the BL stands for Beschermend Lid or Protective Member. It was worn on the civil uniform, mostly by women and older man. Next to this pin you can see the pin of the Germaansche SS Vlaanderen, which later was reformed into the Algemeene SS Vlaanderen, this pin was to be worn on the civil uniform, with maker marks on the backside “Zoll Antwerpen”, which means this pin was made in Antwerpen. Also these units had their own cuff titles, 2 were made in different issues. The Vlaanderen-Korps cuff title, which you can see once again, and the SS Vlaanderen. Also the Germanic Leistungsrune was stated on 15/08/43 and also the Flemish members could try to get the Reichssportabzeichen. The opportunity to get this medal was given to the members at Sennheim (Cernay) or at the SS Vorschule Schoten.

\>N.S.J.V. pin;

This pin belonged to members of the youth movement of the VNV.

DeVlag – pin;

This pin was worn by members of the DeVlag. This organization was for the “Anschluss” with the German Reich and had many problems with the VNV and it’s movements, because they wanted to keep their own Flanders.

WALLOON

The Walloon Honor Rexist Badge:

This award was also referred as the Blood Order badge. The bronze badge shown has the Walloon Bergundy Cross with a sword crossing it surrounded by a circle. The French inscription reads: Bravery, Honor and Loyalty. The back shows a "C" style hinge with a thin pin and a serial no. 1558 on the bottom corner of the circle. It was awarded in four types: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Gold w/Diamonds. For members of the Rexist Party who were in military service, the bronze type was awarded. For those who provided services to the Rex Party, a silver type was awarded. The criteria for the Gold is unknown.

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