Orders, Decorations and Medals

A fine group of twenty-three Orders and Medals awarded to Lieutenant-General Maurice Hector Robert Delvoie, Belgian Army

Belgium, Order of Leopold I, Grand Officer’s breast star with swords, silver, gold and enamel; Order of the Crown, Grand Officer’s breast star, silver, silver-gilt and enamel, slight enamel damage; Order of Leopold I, Officer’s breast badge with swords, base gilt metal and enamel, lacking obverse centre, with rosette and ‘A’ palm on ribbon; Order of the Crown, Officer’s breast badge, silver-gilt and enamel, with rosette and ‘A’ palm on ribbon; Order of Leopold II, Officer’s breast badge, base gilt metal and enamel, with rosette and crossed swords on ribbon; Croix de Guerre 1914-18, ‘A’ cypher on reverse, with three ‘A’ palms on ribbon; Yser Cross 1914; Croix du Feu; Victory Medal 1914-18; War Commemorative Medal 1914-18, with four bars; War Commemorative Medal 1940-45; U.N. Medal, on UNMOGIP ribbon; Belgium, Military Cross, silver-gilt and enamel; Centenary Medal 1930, silver - the twelve medals linked together for display; France, Colonial, Order of the Black Star of Benin, Grand Cross set of insignia, sash badge, silver-gilt and enamel; breast star, silver, silver-gilt and enamel, with full sash; France, Third Republic, Legion of Honour, Commander’s neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel, enamel loss and damage to centres and wreath, with neck cravat; Czechoslovakia, Order of the White Lion, Grand Officer’s set of insignia, Civil Division, by Karnet Kysely, Prague, neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel, with neck cravat; breast star, silver and enamel; U.S.A., Medal of Freedom, with silver palm; France, War Commemorative Medal 1939-45, no clasp; Croix de Guerre 1939, with bronze palm; G.B., 1939-45 Star; France ad Germany Star; Defence and War Medals - the seven medals linked together for display; Commemorative Cross, gilt, inscribed, ‘Général Delvoie, Palais du Gouvernement Nancy 8 Juillet 1945’; together with a set of 22 miniature dress medals, mounted on two bars, similar to the above (with the addition of the Belgian Evader’s Cross); with Belgium, Commemorative Medal 1870-71; Commemorative Medal 1865-1905; together with a mounted set of five miniature dress medals attributed to the General’s wife: Belgium, Order of the Crown, Chevalier, silver and enamel; G.B., 1939-45 Star; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals, generally good very fine except where stated (56) £2500-3000

Medal of Freedom with Silver Palm, citation: ‘Major General Maurice Delvoie, Belgian Army, for exceptionally meritorious achievement which aided the United States in the prosecution of the war against the enemy in Continental Europe, while serving as Belgian Military Attache to the French Government at London and Paris, from July 1943 to April 1946. Major General Delvoie performed his duties in an outstandingly excellent manner. In addition to his normal duties he was extremely active as a liaison officer between Allied Forces dealing with matters pertaining to the repatriation of Belgian prisoners. Furthermore he was of great assistance in co-ordinating the instruction of Belgian officers with that given Americans at United States Officer-Training Center at Fontainebleau. Major General Delvoie’s great tact, diplomacy, and superior devotion to the allied cause contributed materially to the maintenance of close Belgo-American relations, reflecting high credit upon him and the Allied Armed Forces’

Maurice Hector Robert Delvoie was born in Antwerp on 21 March 1885. He entered the Belgian Army Cadets School in 1901, becoming a 2nd Lieutenant in the Belgian Infantry in 1904. In 1905 he joined the 3rd Lancers, becoming a Lieutenant in 1912. As a Lieutenant in the cavalry he entered the Great War from the onset and remained at the front for the duration of the conflict, serving in both the cavalry and artillery. At the end of the war Delvoie held the rank of Acting Major, being promoted to that rank in 1922, Lieutenant-Colonel in 1930 and Colonel in 1935. In 1938, Delvoie was posted to the Belgian Embassy in Paris as Military Attache. During 1939-40 he served as the head of the Belgian military mission to the inter-allied commander, being promoted to Major-General in 1939. Following the fall of France, Delvoie escaped to Britain and joined the Belgian Government-in-Exile. He was appointed as an advisor to the Belgian Minister of Defence and also served as Belgian Military Attache and Liaison Officer to General de Gaulle, 1941-44.

Amongst his wartime services was to set up and operate an escape route through Spain and Portugal (code name Benoót) Approximately 200 allied personnel were evacuated through this route. Following the allied invasion and the liberation of the Low Countries, Delvoie returned to Belgium and took charge of the repatriation of Belgian prisoners-of-war and refugees. After the war Delvoie served as Belgian military advisor to the Paris Peace Conference of 1946. Less than a year later he was appointed to head the Belgian delegation to the United Nations Commission for Greece - following the civil war in that country. Delvoie formally retired from the Belgian Army in 1946, with the honorary rank of Lieutenant-General. Was later the Force Commander for UNMOGIP (United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan). Later emigrating to Canada, Lieutenant-General Delvoie died in Montreal on 12 April 1971.

With a photograph album containing photographs dating from 1912 to 1946 - mostly of a military nature; a riband bar, and a letter from a member of Delvoie’s family; together with copied research, including service record and the article, ‘From the Trenches of the First World War to UN Peacekeeping: A Recipient of the Medal of Freedom: Lieutenant-General Maurice Delvoie’, by Christopher McCreery.