First of all if you have not bought the book, get off your couch and do it! This is completely different than Zuber. As we continue our look at the German invasion of Belgium in 1914 we come across a completely misunderstood anomaly known as Garde Civique.
Belgian men from ages twenty-one to forty-five years who were not inducted into
the army were to be organized into the Garde Civique (National Guard), which was not
subordinate to the War Minister but to the Minister of the Interior. This meant the Garde
Civique mission and command arrangements were not at all clear. There were two
organizations: an “active” and a “nonactive” Garde Civique. In towns with populations
over ten thousand, the Garde Civique was active, which is to say it had a limited degree
of leadership training. Actives wore full uniforms (which individual members were
obliged to purchase) and drilled regularly. The nonactive Garde was expected to perform
police functions during emergencies and only when activated by the King. It was to play
no military role. In a move that was stranger than fiction, before the invasion, the Belgian
government called up about one hundred thousand nonactives but failed to mobilize the
forty-six thousand active Garde members. The nonactive Garde Civique was inundated
with applications during the first days of the war. New recruits, who normally wore a
short blue tunic, were required as of August 5, 1914 to add an arm-band and cockade
with the national colors and to bear their weapons openly. Three days later, a blue shirt
was required as well. Some members guarded bridges, railroad lines, and other sites of
strategic importance in the opening days of the war.
The role of the active Garde Civique varied considerably, with a few units
actually participating in the fighting. More typically, Garde members dug
trenches and set up and then dismantled barricades. Whatever they were up to, active
Garde members were required to wear their uniforms. Most Garde detachments were
disarmed and disbanded by August 18, 1914. This has nothing to do
with the Belgian Gendarmerie.
So look at the picture. These nonactive guys could certainly be mistaken for civilians. That of course feeds into the German view of a civilian bogeyman behind every bush.