 After the defeat in 1940 , significant numbers of Belgian soldiers and civilians escaped to Britain who , along with Belgian pre @-@ war émigrés in Britain and Canada , formed the Belgian forces in exile . The Belgian government , including ministers from Catholic , Socialist and Liberal parties under Hubert Pierlot , evacuated to London alongside other governments from occupied countries ( including the Netherlands and Luxembourg ) where it remained until the liberation of Belgium in 1944 . 
