Founded in 1940 by Aimé Dandoy, the MNB/BNB was strongly associated with the center-right Bloc Catholique Belge party and closely aligned with the Belgian government-in-exile. The MNB/BNB involved itself in a wide array of resistance activities, both civil and military. At the height of its operations, it maintained and extensive intelligence network which passed on information to London and ran the Belgian portion of the Comet Line which helped to exfiltrate downed Allied airman. In addition, the MNB/BNB printed the clandestine newspaper Le Voix des Belges and its members hid Jews and other threatened people and conducted acts of sabotage.
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| Plaque in memory of Aimé Dandoy |
Like the AS/GL, the MNB/BNB divided the country into Zones which roughly corresponded to the Belgian provinces. Each zone was subdivided into sectors, and each sector command controlled several local “brigade” commands. Unfortunately, a precise reconstruction of the MNB/BNB’s entire organization is not possible.
In February 1944, the MNB/BNB was compromised, and mass arrests crippled its national leadership. Though it was not dissolved, the organization largely collapsed and was incapable of further coordinated action. In Limburg Province the local MNB/BNB commands were absorbed by the AS/GL. By September, MNB/BNB activities were mostly restricted to the western portions of Hainaut and Flanders where the organization maintained close ties to the FFI. Though only a shadow of its former self, MNB/BNB members were among the first resistance fighters to greet the Allies.
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