Belgium

Foreign statesman 1885–1977 ○ Natural causes

A royal military adviser who tested wartime warnings with caution

After examining the Mechelen documents, he treated the warning as a basis for defence without dismissing the possibility of attack.

Raoul Van Overstraeten was a Belgian general who served in both world wars and also wrote on military history and operations. As King Leopold III’s military adviser from 1938 to 1940, he examined the German attack plan recovered after the Mechelen incident and helped turn the warning into practical defensive measures. His caution meant testing the intelligence without dismissing the possibility of a German attack. After the war, he used royal and military records to write about Belgium’s wartime policy.

Foreign statesman 1885–1977 ○ Natural causes

A royal military adviser who tested wartime warnings with caution

After examining the Mechelen documents, he treated the warning as a basis for defence without dismissing the possibility of attack.

Raoul Van Overstraeten was a Belgian general who served in both world wars and also wrote on military history and operations. As King Leopold III’s military adviser from 1938 to 1940, he examined the German attack plan recovered after the Mechelen incident and helped turn the warning into practical defensive measures. His caution meant testing the intelligence without dismissing the possibility of a German attack. After the war, he used royal and military records to write about Belgium’s wartime policy.