Manneken Pis given new uniform in tribute to Welsh soldiers who liberated Brussels

Luke James, Brussels

Brussels’ famous Manneken Pis has more than a thousand costumes from countries around the world, but few have as much historical significance as his outfit from Wales.

On this day in 1945, the statue was dressed in the ceremonial uniform of the Welsh Guards as part of celebration to mark the liberation of the Belgian capital from Nazi control by the regiment exactly a year earlier.

Every year on September 3 since then, the ‘first citizen of Brussels’ has been adorned in the same red tunic, black trousers and bear skin hat given as a “gift of gratitude, pride and lasting friendship from Wales to Brussels.”

Now, eighty years on, a new uniform has been donated to the ‘garderobe’ of the Manneken Pis to renew the ties between what the South Wales Evening Post described at the moment of the liberation as “two small nations who have always had much in common.”

Today the new uniform, which was painstakingly hand made by the regiment’s tailors over four months, was handed over at a ceremony in Brussels’ medieval town hall before musicians of the Welsh Guards took part in a procession to the Manneken Pis for its unveiling.

“Today marks the 81st anniversary of the liberation of Brussels by the Welsh Guards,” said Guy Bartle-Jones, a Lieutenant Colonel of the Welsh Guards, at the event. “It is fitting therefore that on this occasion we repeat the presentation by one of our forebears just over 80 years ago.

“It is a great privilege for the regiment to repeat that event today. Above all this unique event represents the enduring bond of friendship between Wales and Belgium.”

Warrant officer Ivor Roberts

The original uniform was only the 33rd costume in the ‘garderobe’ of the Manneken Pis when it was presented to the city’s authorities by warrant officer Ivor Roberts in 1945.

Since then, the number of costumes donated to the city has grown to between 20 to 30 a year and the Welsh Guards dress is costume 1184.

Receiving the costume, Geoffroy Coomans, a member of the Brussels parliament, said it was a reminder of the courage shown by Welsh soldiers who were first to arrive in Brussels on September 3 1945 after completing an almost 100-mile advance during a single day – despite facing repeated German resistance and having had little rest since liberating Arras in northern France just two days earlier.

“On this 3rd of September we remember with gratitude those who 81 years ago contributed to liberating Brussels from the Nazis,” said Coomans. “Among them Welsh soldiers, the Welsh Guards, their courage and their sacrifice which will remain engraved in our collective memory.

“Today through this symbolic gesture, the donation of this ceremonial uniform we seal once again the friendship between Brussels and the Welsh Guards. This gift will remain a living reminder of your regiment’s role in our history and the ties that unites our nations.”

Nazi occupation

The arrival of the Welsh Guards at 7pm on September 3 1945 brought to an end four years, three months and sixteen days of Nazi occupation of Belgium, during which time around 25,000 Belgian Jews and 16,000 other political prisoners were deported to concentration camps, at least 300,000 Belgians were condemned to forced labour, and almost 1000 Belgians were executed.

The speed with which the Welsh Guards reached Brussels caught the remaining German forces by surprise, with the gestapo and their collaborators still in the process of burning their records at the Palais de Justice.

They faced resistance near Brussels’ royal palace and ended the day with 700 prisoners, but the official history of the Welsh Guards says though resistance “came mostly from the eager Belgian crowds.”

“One was left wondering which was worse – to be kissed, hugged and screamed at by hysterical women whilst trying to give out orders over the wireless and to control the direction of your tank; or to be free of the crowd and shot at by Germans who did not shoot straight,” wrote Lieutenant Colonel Windsor Lewis in his diary.

‘Moving moment’

The South Wales Evening Post reported that it was a “moving moment for two small nations who have always had much in common” and added: “Belgium will never forget Wales.”

That has proved to be the case over the last eighty years and the Welsh Guards hope that the new uniform will ensure that this shared history is remembered in Brussels’ own, very particular, way for decades to come.

Gareth Lawrence, president of the Brussels Welsh Society who attended today’s event, said: “It’s wonderful to see Wales being celebrated in this quirky and uniquely Brussels ceremony that means so much to the people of this city. It’s also a poignant reminder of the role the Welsh Guards played in liberating the city from the horrors of war.”