FLY-TOX operation (4/4): Now and then, a red flag…
At the beginning of September 1944, as the Allied armies made rapid progress through Belgium, an inspector from the Banque de la Société Générale de Belgique moved up the lines of American tanks aboard a van. His objective: to travel to the liberated areas to communicate instructions drafted by the Belgian government in London. The country’s financial stability was at stake.
Key events timeline
3 septembre
Liberation of Brussels
4 septembre
Announcement by Camille Gutt on the BBC of the first economic measures to be taken for the country
5 septembre
The text of the six legislative decrees is published in the Moniteur, with the first copies being sent to Brussels. The Bank promptly prepares the circular to be distributed to its branches
Mission accomplished!
The return to Brussels went smoothly: “We were driving on the left to overtake the column that occupied the road; we were always preceded by motorcyclists, which made several people believe that our car was carrying a personality”. On the way, Mahieu took the time to personally inform the managers of the Leuze, Ath and Enghien branches, asking them to notify the neighbouring branches. “We were back in Brussels at around 4 pm, our clothes covered in dust and smelling of petrol from several miles away. It was in this state that we were asked to report on our trip to the bank’s board of directors.”
A bank “on the ball”
All in all, the expedition was a success. Everywhere, the people that Mahieu met appreciated “the interest of the central administration with regard to their head offices and branches and the speed with which contact was resumed”. The inspector also found that the Allies had advanced so quickly that there was little material damage to the regional headquarters and branches. On the political front, he observed that the British and American armies were greeted with joy everywhere. What was the risk of Belgium falling into communism? “We saw a red flag from time to time, but they were rare and most of the time people wore them alongside flags from allied countries.”
On the road to monetary consolidation
For one month, financial transactions were virtually frozen in Belgium thanks to the help of the banks. On 8 October 1944, when 90% of the country had been liberated, Minister Gutt carried out a drastic monetary consolidation operation to bring the money in circulation as close as possible to what it was at the start of the war. The balance, some 100 billion francs, was frozen and the bulk of this sum was converted into government bonds. The ‘Belgian economic miracle’ – a term for the rapid growth in the national economy immediately after the war – could begin.
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