Belgium Military Wives Choir: A community built “on the joy of singing”

A military choir can offer a lifeline for women who regularly move from base to base with their partners.

In addition to providing an outlet for their vocal talent, membership also brings emotional support, which is certainly true for the Belgium Military Wives Choir.

Founded in 2014, it is of the largest choirs in the overseas network and boasts more than 30 members.

For Emma Portier Davis, who is responsible for the Belgian choir’s communications, “the purpose of the choirs is to give these women a safe and familiar place.”

With strong connections to the Royal British Legion (RBL), the choir regularly performs at military ceremonies, including the Brussels branch’s Act of Remembrance ceremony in Evere on the outskirts of Brussels on 20 June at 11.30.

The Brussels Town Cemetery is the final resting place for war dead from the UK, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland and South Africa.

For major events such as the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres later this year, the group will join forces with the Brunssum Military Wives Choir. “It is a really lovely example of how choirs come together,” points out Portier Davis.

Some military families move regularly to a new posting, while for others deployments mean long periods of separation. Many members join a new choir when they are posted, enabling them to become part of a familiar community built, she says, “on the joy of singing.”

The choir meets once a week in Brussels for rehearsals and also organises lots of social events. “It can really be a lifeline for women who have had to move around a lot from base to base with their partners. We have some ladies who have been members of as many as five choirs,” explains Portier Davis.

“The choir is enormously comforting for women who have to uproot their families for their partner's job or their own job (in the case of serving military ladies) to move far away and start all over again and again and again,” she adds.

The choir’s anthem Stronger Together starts with the line, "There are times when I need somewhere that I belong, something that I can call my own, like I have always known. Safe, secure and feels like home."

Although they sing from the same repertoire as other Military Wives Choirs, there are some songs which are especially composed for the Belgian group.

A firm favourite of many of its members is The Poppy Red which is a Remembrance song dedicated to the Flanders Fields that were the scene of so many losses in World War One. Says Portier Davis: “There is something really special about singing the Remembrance songs in Belgium of course.”

Otherwise, there are familiar hymns sung by other military choirs such as Abide With Me, pop songs like Rolling in the Deep, and a medley of tunes from Les Miserables and the popular For Good from the musical Wicked.

One of the choir’s recent standout performances was at the 85th anniversary commemoration of Operation Dynamo in May last year, a huge ceremony organised by the Association of the Little Ships of Dunkirk.

“It was a really beautiful event,” recalls Portier Davis. “The ships had travelled over from the UK under the escort of Royal Navy warships.”

One important message from the choir is that it is open to women with any military connection and is not limited to the British forces.

Says Portier Davis: “Being at the heart of the EU and in the home country of Nato and Shape headquarters, there are many women with a military connection from around the world. We currently have ladies from the US, Czech Republic, Belgium and France. We also have two serving military members.”

Sophie Hutchings, one of the choir leads, adds: “Singing our Remembrance songs at key memorial sites around Belgium is such an honour."

Her sentiments are echoed by Kirsty Briggs, who says: "The choirs are such a great place to meet other women whose lives are connected to the military. On top of that, singing is of course excellent for mental health and well-being."