Carlo Huyghé Explained

Charles "Carlo" Huyghé
Office:	Chef de cabinet of Joseph Yav
President:	Moïse Tshombe
Birth Name:	Charles Corneille Gabriel Huyghé
Birth Date:	11 March 1923
Birth Place:	Etterbeek, Belgium
Death Date:	^[1]
Death Place:	South Africa

Charles Corneille Gabriel 'Carlo' Huyghé (11 March 1923 27 December 2016) was a Belgian national who served in the Belgium Army (1939-1940), the Belgian Armed Resistance (1941-1943), the Royal Air Force (1943-1945) and the Belgium Colonial Army (Belgian Congo) (1945-1962).^[2] During his time in the Belgian Congo he worked at the cabinet of the independent Katangese Secretary of State of National Defense Joseph Yav. His role in the assassination of Congo's first Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba is still the subject of debate.

Early life and career

Huyghé was born to a Walloon father and a Flemish mother. His father served as a senior officer in the Belgian army stationed in Koblenz, Germany in compliance with the Versailles treaty regulations.

Growing up in Germany, Huyghé became fluent in the language and formed close friendships with Germans. However, during World War II, as a young officer in the Belgian army, he was taken prisoner by the advancing German forces during the Blitzkrieg in Belgium and France. This led to his capture and detention as a POW in a camp near Koblenz.

Due to his proficiency in German, Huyghé was granted certain privileges that allowed him some freedom of movement. He seized the opportunity to escape and sought refuge with an old German family friend. Aware of the risks of harboring a POW under Nazi rule, the family provided him with money and suggested that he board a train bound for Belgium and attempt to escape from there.

In the early hours of the morning, Huyghé boarded a train at the Koblenz station, believing it was headed for Liege in Belgium. He waited in a compartment for other passengers to board, only to realize that it was a troop train transporting an SS Battalion to Liege. Two SS Officers joined him in his compartment during the journey. Using his fluency in German and claiming to be a migrant worker, Huyghé won the officers' favor, who shared their rations and Schnapps with him. The standard train and papers searches that would have exposed him as an escapee from a POW camp were not conducted on an SS troop train, and Huyghé safely reached Liege.

Following his arrival in Liege, Huyghé joined the Belgian resistance and fought against the German occupation for the next few years. Eventually, he escaped to Britain and joined the RAF, serving as a tail gunner on Lancaster bombers.^[3]

Career

Huyghé moved to the Belgian Congo in 1945, where he worked for the Belgian colonial administration for almost twenty years.^[4] In March 1960, he was called to install a special unit for intervention at the European volunteers' corps. At the time of Katanga's declaration of independence by Moïse Tshombe in July 1960, Katangese Interior Minister Godefroid Munongo's Chef de cabinet Victor Tignée appointed Huyghé as his deputy Chef de cabinet. In October 1960, the Secretariats were created, which enlarged the government. Hugyhé became the deputy Chef de cabinet of Secretary of State of National Defense Joseph Yav, family member of Tshombe. He was involved in the procurement of weaponry for Katanga.^[5] According to a United Nations report in the wake of the arrests of thirty mercenaries apprehended in Kabalo on 7 April 1961, Huyghé led a recruitment office for mercenaries for Katanga in Johannesburg, South Africa, together with Roderick Russell Cargill.^[6] In August 1961, Huyghé received an expulsion order and left for Paris, but became Chef de cabinet of Yav, replacing colonel Grandjean, in November. He stayed in Katanga until the end of 1962.^[7]

Involvement in Lumumba's murder

According to the United Nations Commission of Investigation into the deaths of Patrice Lumumba, Maurice Mpolo, and Joseph Okito, a "great deal of suspicion is cast" on Huyghé, "as being the actual perpetrator of Mr. Lumumba's murder", with Captain Julien Gat accessory to the crime.^[8]

Later life

Huyghé moved to South Africa after the end of the Katangese secession in 1963. He lived in Craighall on the outskirts of Johannesburg. He played an important role in the Western community in the country, occupying several positions in the social life of Johannesburg, such as President of the Union of Francophone Belgians Abroad and President of the Belgian Business Association.

Honours

• Belgium

Knight of the Order of Leopold (2002)

• Belgium

Officer of the Order of Leopold (2009)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Gilbert Dupont . 2017-03-17 . Exclusif: mort du "suspect 1" de l'affaire Lumumba . 2021-09-05.
2. Web site: Boden . Andy . 2016-12-27 . Moth Charles Huyghe answered the Sunset Call . 2023-04-24 . M.O.T.H . en-ZA.
3. Web site: Isiqalo Battlefield Tours - The picture shows Colonel Charles Huyghe who died in December last year aged 93. I met him with his Goddaughter in the early 2000s on a number of occasions, but on one of these, he shared his fascinating experiences of the Second World War. Born in Etterbeek, Belgium, in 1923, his father as a senior officer in the Belgium army,was posted to Koblenz in Germany as an area Commander as part of the Versailles treaty regulations. In Charles's early years in Germany, he not only learnt the language, but the family had many German friends. Fast forward to 1940, and the young officer of the Belgium army is captured during the Getman Blitzkrieg into Belgium and France, and Charles becomes a POW in a camp outside Koblenz. He related that after a short period as a prisoner, his knowledge of German gave him certain privileges of freedom and allowed him to make good an escape. He immediately went to the old family friends in Koblenz for refuge. Understandably, they were terrified of the recriminations that would befall the family by the Nazis if caught harboring a POW. They gave him some money and suggested that he should slip onto a Belgian bound train and take his chances on escape. In the early hours of the morning, Charles slipped onto a train in the Koblenz station marked for Liege in Belgium. He waited in a compartment for travelers to arrive. To his horror, the train turned to be a troop train transporting an SS Battalion to Liege. To make matters worse, two SS Officers moved into his compartment. It was to be his saving grace. With his knowledge of German and armed with a story of being a migrant worker, the two officers took a liking to Charles and shared their rations (and Schnapps) with him on the journey home. Obviously, any train and papers searches fell outside the realms of an SS troop train and the young man made it safely to Liege with his two new German friends wishing him well. Charles spent the next few years fighting with the Belgian resistance and then escaped to Britain where he joined the RAF and saw out the rest of the war as a tail gunner on Lancaster bombers. What an amazing story, it seemed like a movie script and was told like the adventures of a schoolboy. RIP Facebook . 2023-04-24 . www.facebook.com . en.
4. Web site: 1999-01-08 . Hier in Zuid-Afrika zijn we allemaal Belgen! Punt uit! . 2021-09-06 . De Morgen.
5. Web site: Review investigation of the information available to the intelligence services regarding the death of Dag Hammarskjöld.. 2021-09-11. Standing Intelligence Agencies Review Committee. 13.
6. Web site: Report to the Secretary-General From His Acting Special Representative in the Congo Concerning the Interrogation of 30 Mercenaries Apprehended in Kabalo on 7 April 1961. 13 April 1961.
7. Web site: Enquête sur la mort de Patrice Lumumba: Témoignages. 2021-09-01. Brassinne. Jacques. Jacques Brassinne de La Buissière. 25.1.
8. Web site: Report of the Commission of Investigation established under the terms of General Assembly resolution 1601 (XV) of 15 April 1961. 11 November 1961.