Armand Huyghé
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Chevalier Armand Huyghé de Mahenge |
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Huyghé (centre-left) meeting French general Henri Mordacq in Frankfurt in 1920
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| Birth name | Armand Christophe Huyghé |
| Born |
11 July 1871 Leuven, Belgium |
| Died | 2 March 1944 (aged 72) Buchenwald concentration camp, Germany |
| Allegiance | |
| Service/branch |
Belgian army Force Publique |
| Years of service | 1891–1919 |
| Commands held | Belgian army of occupation in Germany |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards |
Order of the African Star Order of Leopold Order of Aviz Order of the Crown of Italy Order of the Crown |
Armand Christophe Huyghé (11 July 1871 – 2 March 1944), later knighted Armand Huyghé de Mahenge, was a Belgian career soldier. He is best known for his service in the Belgian Congo during World War I, where he succeeded Charles Tombeur as commander of the Belgian forces in the East African Campaign in 1917. He commanded the Belgian contingent during the Allied occupation of the Rhineland after the war. During World War II, he was involved in the resistance and, after being captured by the Germans, was deported to Buchenwald concentration camp where he died in 1944.
Huyghé, born in Leuven, studied at the Royal Military Academy and entered the Belgian Army in 1891, serving in the 8th Regiment of the Line, as a junior officer. In 1893, he transferred to the Force Publique, the colonial militia, in the then-Congo Free State which at the time was under the direct personal control of King Leopold II but returned to Belgium soon after, suffering from illness.
At the outbreak of World War I, Huyghé served in the Belgian Army during the German invasion of Belgium, fighting at the Battles of Liège, Antwerp and the Yser in 1914. In 1915, with the front stabilised at the Yser, Huyghé returned to the Belgian Congo to serve in the Force Publique in the East African Campaign. He initially served under Colonel Molitor in the North Brigade (Brigade Nord) during the operations on the frontier of German Ruanda-Urundi and fought at the Battle of Tabora in 1916. Replacing Charles Tombeur as commander of the Force Publique on campaign in February 1917, he commanded the Belgian forces at the important Battle of Mahenge in October 1917.
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