Légion Belge (resistance)

Secret Army Armée Secrète Geheim Leger
Participant in the Belgian Resistance (World War II)
Uniformed members of the Secret Army with a Canadian soldier in Bruges in September 1944
Active	August 1940–October 1944
Ideology	Right wing Royalist
Leaders	Charles Claser Jules Bastin Jules Pire
Area of operations	Belgium
Strength	54,000 men (1944)
Originated as	Belgian Legion Reconstructed Belgian Army Army of Belgium

The Secret Army (French: Armée Secrète or AS, Dutch: Geheim Leger, GL) was a major group within the Belgian Resistance formed during the German occupation of Belgium during World War II. As well as being one of the largest groups within the Resistance, the Secret Army was also one of the groups which enjoyed the closest relations with the Belgian government in exile in London.

The origin of the Secret Army can be traced back to shortly after the Belgian surrender after the German invasion of 10–28 May 1940. A number of career officers from the defeated Belgian Army joined together to create the first small resistance organisations, such as the "Belgian Legion" (Légion Belge or Belgisch Legioen) and "Reconstructed Belgian Army" (Armée Belge Reconstituée or Heropgericht Belgisch Leger). The members involved were generally right-wing authoritarians in their political views and strongly identified with King Leopold III, expressing hostility towards Belgian politicians and communists as well as the German occupiers. In the spring of 1941, the Reconstructed Belgian Army and Belgian Legion merged, keeping the Belgian Legion name, under the leadership of Charles Claser, Robert Lentz and Jules Bastin. The organisation had units across the country, with as many as 50,000 members, and its own local organisation.

The group's leaders attempted to forge contacts with the Belgian government in London and with the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and MI9. In 1942, Claser travelled to London in person to bring the organisation into contact with both the Belgian and British authorities. The Belgian government, however, distrusted the intentions of the Belgian Legion. Although expanding rapidly, the Belgian Legion was beset by internal political disputes. Arrests of leading resistance members also destabilised the movement. By the liberation, Claser, Lentz and Bastin had all been arrested.