Border Cyclists with Basque Berets

Similar to the Belgian Chasseurs Ardennais who wore/wear Basque berets (in loden-green), there used to be another regiment in the Belgian military that wore Basque berets: the Border Cyclists.

The soldiers and officers of these units wore dark navy large diameter berets with a bicycle wheel as their regimental badge.

The Regiment of Border Cyclists was founded in the second half of the 1930’s as light, mobile units for the forward positions near the border. The original vision to attract professional soldiers and thus ensure better operability was never realized – the regiment consisted mainly of drafted soldiers.

During the mobilization pre-WWII, regiments received a number of T13 armored cars. The Border Cyclists then got their own training battalion with both new recruits and exempted reservists, later on to be attached to the Regiment of Chasseurs Ardennais.