This was part of a very enjoyable trip to see friends in Brussels, and I actually went to the museum twice. It presently has an outstanding and very modern exhibit on Europe just after the war, which is also worth seeing.
I was there primarily to look at Belgian military costume 1890-1914, but enjoyed all of it.
For more information
WWI Belgian Uniforms. These are from the 1914 pre-khaki time frame, also called "The Maneuver War" to differentiate it from "The Trench War". The pics are primarily to get a feel for color and fabric tones, etc.
Shame the light is so fluorescent.
view from the side showing blanket, etc
Lancer Cavalry in the center.
Carabinier at center.
Generals and such.
Gendarmerie, I think.
Transition uniforms, Guides to right.
New khaki uniforms for 1915.
Trench attackers.
Final Belgian uniform - similar to French, as always, but British cloth and some Brit cut as well, I believe.
Soldier, Askari, from the Congo. Fought the Germans in East Africa in a famous campaign.
German displays below:
I took these mostly to see the equipment.
Interesting canvas body bag with Teutonic cross.
Monument inside the hall to the sacrifice of Belgian Soldiers and Citizens
Guns were mostly unlabeled, unfortunately. Minerva AC in the background - stupid of me not to get a better pic of it!
Lots of interesting mortars.
more mortars
mitrailleuse
Map of the German Incursion, Red, Blue then Green for the Ypres salient.
Part of a large mural - unfortunately the pic is blurry. Really well done.
Battle of Halen [CLICK], where the Belgian army gave German cavalry a seriously bloody nose; so many German cuirassier helmets were collected after it is also known as the "Battle of the Silver Helmets"!
Some great paintings - unfortunately badly labeled and over two meters in the air...
Belgian Uniforms from the pre-WWI time frame, the "Lost Armies" [click] era.
Excellent sketch and paint drawings of some 1910-ish perhaps uniforms? the labels were very faint but the helmets reminded me of the pre-Adrien French experiment [click]
Museum's supplementary guide - I couldn't find one for sale, but may have missed it.
There's lots more to see - hope you can make it there someday!
Of course, my trip ended up at the gift shop, which is also an amazingly extensive military book store. Altho none of the Grognards who work there spoke English, I made do with my French for which they were appreciative and did everything they could to help me find what I was looking for. I did walk away with two books:
Especially pleased about Lierneux's book, as the best price I've found in the US was $160-ish, and I got this in the bookshop for $100 [and am grateful!]. The Funcken WWI book was a new re-print, and about $45, so not a great price but "normal" for new. It is in French, which will force me to work on mine!
Well, loads of inspiration, and that wasn't all the books I got - there were so many in my suitcase that Canadian Customs asked to see my bag due to the books blocking their view!
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