Lieutenant Walter Klein

Walter Klein's first military experience was during his national service in 1934, when he served with the 8th (Dutch) Artillery Regiment. After his national service, he went on to study to become a master of agricultural science and shortly afterwards, he left for Dutch Guiana (Suriname), where he worked as a coffee planter. When war broke out, Walter managed to reach Canada, where he joined other Belgians. This group would eventually form the core of the Belgian SAS Squadron. Among them were Leo Van Cauwelaert and Walter's life-long friend, Jos Ghys. Walter was not only a very bright person (he spoke 5 languages including Dutch, French, English, German and Javanese) but he was also a very cool headed and brave comrade-in-arms. He took part in operations 'Chaucer' and 'Caliban'. As the war progressed he quickly rose through the ranks and eventually served as the unit's Intelligence Officer. During the campaigns in Holland and Germany, he was commissioned (to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant on 18 April 1945). After the war, he was one of the first instructors in Westmalle, but unfortunately, he was forced to leave the service after suffering from malaria. He then returned to Surinam to continue his work as a planter. Eventually, he returned to Holland and settled in Soest, where he passed away in 1991.

Lt. Ghys (L) and Lt. Klein (R) in France.

Lieutenant Raymond Van der Heyden ("Captain Hazel")

In 1940, Lieutenant Van der Heyden, who had just graduated from the Royal Military Academy, escaped from Belgium and managed to reach Great Britain. Once there he joined the free Belgian forces as a volunteer. At the beginning of 1942, he was posted to the second group of 20 volunteers who received preliminary parachute training (A Company of the 2nd Battalion). In April 1942, he left for the parachute-training centre at Ringway, where he received his wings on the 2nd of May 1942. On the 8th of May, he volunteered to join the Parachute Company at Malvern, where a platoon is placed under his command. During his time there, he met a young lady called Dorothy, who is also on active service and the two are married shortly afterwards.

Van der Heyden frequently stayed at the airborne experimental establishment in Sherburn-in-Helmet, where he specialized in experimental ways of parachuting (a course which was not without serious risks). He followed a substantial number of courses to perfect his jumping skills. His platoon composed of mostly Belgian escapees and which he commanded together with Sergeant Van Gastel, was one of the most ardent platoons in the unit. At the time of the unit's transfer to the SAS Brigade in Scotland, Lt Van der Heyden commands A Troop of the Belgian SAS Squadron. He impressed everyone while studying tactical problems at the HQ of the SAS Brigade. In August 1944, he parachuted into France to reinforce Lt. Guys team (during operation "Haft"), accompanied by Sergeant-Major Devignez and 14 men. They arrive a little left however to be of real use. Returning to England he was to be parachuted on the 6th of September 1944 at Bronronne near Spa to reinforce the "Bergbang" group. The aircraft having lost its bearing due to the German night fighters instead drops him east of Monschau in Germany. It takes him 3 nights to reach Belgium, during which he has to cross the Siegfried Line. He manages to do this and finally arrives in Solwaster, where coincidentally at dawn on the 9th of September another group of Belgian parachutists drop from the sky. They quickly inflict a number of ambushes on the Germans North of Sart which prompts the enemy to leave the area in a hurry and head east. For this operation, Van Der Heyden is awarded the Military Cross.

Lieutenant Raymond Van der Heyden

After returning to England, Van der Heyden helps with the conversion of the Squadron into a Reconnaissance Unit (equipped with special armored jeeps). During the icy month of December 1944 (the period during which the Battle of the Bulge was raging), A Troop takes part in patrols around Bure. During these patrols, the jeep carrying Lt. Paul Renkin, Pvt. Count Claude de Villermont and Pvt. Emile Lorph is hit and all 3 men are killed. This was a tragic loss for the unit. After another series of reconnaissance patrols northeast of Antwerp, Van der Heyden arrived at Tervuren. There he headed the local recruitment drive to assist with the conversion of the unit into a Regiment of Reconnaissance and Assault troops. During the liberation of the Northeastern part of Holland, he again commanded A Squadron. However, having been badly injured during an assault on Beerta, he was evacuated and hospitalized. After his return to the unit in the summer of 1945, he played a major role in the expansion of the Belgian SAS. In May 1946, after lots of hard work he devoted himself to the foundation of the Schaffen Parachute Centre. By the17th of October 1947, more than 1000 jumps had taken place at the training centre.

Following a spell at the Royal Military Academy (where he obtained the certificate of General Staff Officer), he joined the (Belgian) Parachute Regiment, which he will eventually command. In addition to his numerous assignments in Africa, the by then Lieutenant-General Van der Heyden renders invaluable services to the army and becomes military envoy in Washington, USA. Raymond Van der Heyden, who passed away on the 14th of October 1991 was not only an excellent human being but a man with an enormous sense of devotion to duty. He had great integrity and set high standards not only for the men under his command but also to himself. He also showed under all circumstances an enormous sense of durability and bloody mindedness. It is thanks to men like Van der Heyden that the Belgian SAS Squadron merited the following eulogy from Brigadier McLeod who said 'I am very proud to have had the privilege of including the admirable 'Belgian Squadron' in my Brigade; I never had any difficulty with them: they were well-disciplined, well-trained and by far the easiest of my five different units to command'.

Lieutenant Dr Jean Limbosch

Dr Jean Limbosch was a man gifted with the highest sense of honor and loyalty and was one of the pillars of the wartime SAS Squadron. During the 1940 campaign he served as a Medical Officer in the Belgian Army and when the cease-fire was proclaimed refused to accept defeat. At great risk he somehow managed to reach Dunkirk and crossed over to England. Once there he immediately put himself at the disposal of the exiled Belgian Government in London. He was entrusted with the medical side of the recruiting office and reviewed candidates for the Belgian Forces in the United Kingdom. In this capacity, he flew to the United States (led by Mr. Wodon, the government representative) in early 1942, to stimulate the enlistment of Belgians residing in North America. Back in Great Britain he discarded the quiet life of a job in a ministerial office in London in order to volunteer as Medical Officer for the newly created Parachute Company. Here he would meet his cousin Freddy (Lt. Freddy Limbosch) and his old friend Gilbert Kirschen. With the help of Sergeant-Major Emonts-Pohl, he founded a first-class medical service for the Company, later duly admired by the rest of the SAS Brigade. Because of this, a lot of cases, which involved only a minor surgical operation could be carried out in the unit's infirmary, which meant that the patients did not have to be brought to a hospital. He also established a series of tests, which were meant to measure the extent of tiredness after heavy physical efforts. In addition, he submitted himself to the strenuous parachute training and even volunteered to take the exhausting course at the Hardwick Airborne Training Centre.

Dr Limbosch examines Trooper Ravet

Dr Limbosch also determined the best method of using emergency rations, which he tested by means of a 3-day experiment during which only emergency rations could be used. In addition, he also determined the contents of the small medical kit, which every Belgian SAS man carried into battle. During the same period, his wife managed to escape from occupied Belgium with her two small children and via Switzerland and the South of France, she reached Gibraltar and then finally England. In 1944, Dr Limbosch was parachuted into the Ardennes (operation Noah), where he was enormously helpful in caring for wounded members of the unit and members of the secret army, the so-called 'Maquis'. When the unit settled in Tervuren, he organized the recruiting office for the hundreds of local candidates eager to serve in what was to become the Belgian SAS Regiment. Unfortunately in December 1944, he was struck by a severe stomach ulcer and had to undergo a major operation, which compelled him overnight to cancel his duties as the unit Medical Officer.

After his hospitalization and the major operation, he returned to his duties. At the end of the hostilities he contacted the military authorities with regards to his status as a reserve officer (highlighting his time as an airborne surgeon). Unfortunately, despite his vast experience he was informed that his wartime services could not guarantee his status as a reserve officer (which was undoubtedly very disappointing for him). After many years of a severe painful illness, Dr Jean Limbosch passed away on the 16th of March 1990.

Captain Gilbert Sadi-Kirschen ("Captain Fabian King")

Together with the likes of Captain Blondeel, Lieutenants Radino, Limbosch, Debefve and Van der Heyden, the then Lieutenant Kirschen who passed away in 1991 was one of the founding members of the Belgian SAS Squadron. He led his men by means of his persuasive charisma, his cheerful authority, his ability to obtain their co-operation by motivation and by integrating them into an enthusiastic team. To the men in his unit, he was not only a comrade-in-arms and an enlightened leader, but also a dear friend and to many of them, a brother. Born in Brussels on the 7th of April 1916, Gilbert Kirschen was the son of Sadi Kirschen, a lawyer who defended Edith Cavell and many other Belgian patriots before the Germany military tribunals. When war broke out, Kirschen, a young lawyer in Brussels, joined the 6th Artillery Regiment and took part in the 18-day campaign as an adjutant (officer-candidate). He was furious that by day he had permission to open fire at the enemy, but at night he had to cease firing in order to enable the allies on the right flank of the Belgian Army to retreat. At the time of the Belgian army's surrender, Kirschen's battery had used up all its ammunition. He was taken prisoner but managed to escape from the truck, which was taking him eastwards to a prisoner of war camp. He obtained some civilian clothes and reached his home in Brussels. Shortly afterwards, he left Belgium and traveled to France, hoping to reach England at the end of his journey. After months of failed attempts, he succeeded in stowing away on a French ship in Marseille that was bound for Algeria. Unfortunately, he was arrested upon his arrival there and spent 2 months in prison. Finally, thanks to the Belgian Consul, he obtained an exit visa at the end of 1941 and managed to reach England at the beginning of 1942. His trip took him through Tangier, Lisbon and Gibraltar. In England he meets up with his friend Freddy Limbosch, who persuades him to join A Company of the 2nd Battalion, which had been turned into a Parachute Unit and was to become the Belgian Independent Parachute Company in May 1942.

Even though he was better suited for the intellectual side of the service and not for the physical side, he took part in two years of tough training with determination. Very intelligent, tenacious and with a great sense of humor, he made an ideal team with Freddy Limbosch. Because of his experience as an Artillery Officer, he was given the task of setting up a mortar platoon, mainly composed of inhabitants of Brussels just like him. When the unit became part of the SAS Brigade, Kirschen felt right at home for he exemplified the SAS idea that 'If sweat saves blood, brains save sweat and blood!'. His intelligence served him well in the perilous missions to follow, which included operations Bunyan and Benson in France and then North of Arnhem. With the Dutch mission his team was supposed to stay for 8 days but got stranded for 6 months and managed to escape unscathed (operation Fabian). His book 'Six amis viendront ce soir', which was first published in 1946 illustrates very well how his flair, composure, caution and intellectual adaptability contributed to the success of his team in Holland. It also highlights how much he deserved his Distinguished Service Order.

Captain Kirschen

The citation for his DSO reads 'I (Field Marshal B.L. Montgomery) consider that this young officer has surpassed everything that could have been expected of him and has shown a devotion to duty which merits immediate recognition. His initiative in times of crisis and his dogged persistence throughout four months of continuous strain are proof of a most unusual courage and fortitude. There can be few examples of more continuous devotion to duty in conditions of extreme danger and strain'. During the operations of the Belgian SAS in April and May 1945 in the northeast of Holland and in Germany, acting as the spearhead of the armored divisions, Kirschen took command of the mortar platoon. After the war, he started working as a lawyer again and was held in high esteem by his colleagues, who made sure that he reached the top functions of the Bar. He served as President of the Brussels' bar and as Doyen of the National Order of Belgian Lawyers. As a reserve officer, he took part in numerous missions, which includes trips to the Congo. Born out of a family of intellectuals, a brilliant lawyer, a remarkable officer, Gilbert Sadi Kirschen served his country and the allied cause with bravery, resolve and self-sacrifice. He was a persevering leader and an exemplary citizen. He was a gentleman, a trusted friend and a noble foe. As such, he shall be remembered intensely by surviving Belgian SAS members and in the annals of the unit’s history.

The following extract is from the book "They Grey Goose of Arnhem" By Leo Heaps. It tells of the mission Captain Kirschen and 3 other Belgian SAS men undertook in late 1944. Interestingly, Captain Wallace McClung Donnelly (Phantom Regiment) who served as Signals Officer to the Belgian SAS in late 1944 knew Leo Heaps well and met him several times in Canada after the war.

'The Leader of the four men falling through the moon filled sky called himself, for security reasons, Captain Fabian King. In his records at headquarters of the Special Air Service, at Moor Park near London, his real name was listed as Gilbert Sadi-Kirschen and his nationality, Belgian. Once he had been a lawyer in Brussels. The others were also Belgians. Corporal Jules Regner, a one time Circus Acrobat, had been trained as a wireless operator. He escaped from a prisoner of war camp in Germany in 1940 and made his way to England by way of Russia. This would be his third mission with Kirschen behind enemy lines. Often the Dutch Resistance leaders would watch in amazement as Regner swung like a monkey on the rafters of a barn setting up the radio antennae. The other members of Kirschen’s team were Rene Pietquin, a tough former miner, and Jean Moyse, a quiet, small corporal from Brussels.

Kirschen was convinced that the long, wearisome road of war that began for him with the humiliating capitulation of the Belgian army in 1940 would soon end on a Dutch meadow on the September in 1944. His briefing had prepared him for the rapid overrun by the advancing Allied Second Army coming up from the south. The mission was expected to last for five days. He eagerly waited for the time when he could continue his law practice in Brussels. Four years before Kirschen had escaped from France after imprisonment by the Vichy government in Marseille. Through Spain and Portugal he had slowly made his way to England where he joined that small elite band called the Special Air Service. On this mission Kirschen had two objectives. He hoped to discover the bases for the new German V-2 rockets being launched against London and also to supply intelligence for the Allied airborne landing in Holland in the operation known as Market Garden. Kirschen had arrived forty-eight hours before the airborne invasion would begin. He hoped the Dutch resistance men were better organized than his French contacts on his last mission to the Ardennes.

The British pilot deposited Kirschen and his men in the middle of the correct meadow with all 24 containers intact. The wireless set and generator suffered no damage. The drop was perfect and unopposed. The reception committee was on the field to meet them with the correct flash light code. A car with driver was waiting on a small wooded lane near the drop zone. Several Dutchmen quickly and efficiently gathered up the containers of equipment and buried the silken parachutes so that in a few minutes no trace of them existed. Kirschen was astounded at the unhurried efficiency of the Dutch, a pleasant contrast to the disorganized speed and delays he had experienced when he was dispatched on the mission. Only on the truck that took him to the airport at Keevil did he have time to explain the job to his team. Once at the airport the poor weather and timing of the Allied advance caused a frantic delay of three days. Cancellation seemed a real possibility. The liberation of Belgium and the hope of soon returning home gave the mission a desperate sense of urgency. It could not last very long.

Kirschen took up residence at the farm of Wuf Langerwey, outside the village of Glindhorst. In the middle of a large meadow there were three shabby, unpainted chicken coops surrounded by overgrown grass. From the outside the three buildings looked exactly alike. However, Kirschen’s chicken coop contained three comfortable rooms paneled with white acoustic boards. One room had a large bed with a feather filled mattress and quilt. A stove and sofa were in the living room and electricity and running water provided the Belgians with luxury they never before experienced behind enemy lines.

As soon as the fateful Operation Market Garden got underway the messages and intelligence flowed daily from Kirschen’s chicken coop to Lieutenant-Colonel Ian Collins office in the golf club at Moor park Airborne HQ near London. Later Kirschen and his men were able to help organize the evacuation and escape of many British paratroopers who had been trapped in Arnhem and the surrounding area. This episode would go on to become legend in the history of the Belgian SAS.