Monument to Belgian Soldiers
The Monument to Belgian Soldiers was erected in memory of 25 men from the Piron Brigade who died in the Thorn area after liberating the white town on 25 September 1944. On 9 September 1982, the monument was unveiled in the presence of a battalion related to the Piron Brigade from Leopoldsburg.
Piron brigade
Like the Dutch Princess Irene Brigade, the Piron Brigade had been recruited and trained in England for combat on the European mainland. The men came from Belgium and Luxembourg and were attached to the 8th British Army. On 25 September 1944, they liberated Thorn without significant opposition. But that soon changed. Whereas the Germans were continuously bringing in reinforcements, the Belgians were struggling with an acute shortage of manpower while, under orders from the British, they had to guard and protect a comparatively too large area against German patrols that kept turning up behind the lines. Morale suffered so much that some 40 soldiers refused to march towards the front on 4 October. It took commander Jean-Baptiste Piron a lot of persuasion to get the men back in line. He waived disciplinary action for refusing to serve. A total of 25 Piron brigade men died during the battle at the Thorn front.