Public Force
The "Force Publique" (or "Public Force") was a combined police and military force of the Belgian Congo. It had a peacetime strength of 18,000, making it one of the largest standing colonial armies in Africa at the time. During World War II, it was re-enforced, numbering 40,000, and constituted the bulk of the Free Belgian forces. Like other colonial armies of the time, the "Force Publique" was racially segregated; it was commanded by 280 white officers and NCOs but other ranks were exclusively native Congolese. The "Force Publique" had never been allowed the more modern equipment given to the Belgian army before the war, and consequently had to use outdated equipment and weapons, like the Stokes mortar and the Saint Chamond 70 mm howitzer.