Belgium Military Wives Choir : A “Lifeline” For Women

Photo: Members of the Belgium Military Wives Choir perform during a remembrance ceremony, using music to foster community, support military families, and honour fallen service personnel.

For Military Families Far From Home, A Choir Becomes A Place To Belong

Belgium Military Wives Choir supports women connected to military life through music, friendship, and community, helping members cope with relocations, deployments, and separation while performing at remembrance events.

There’s more to life in the military than you might think.

One of the less well publicised aspects of a career in the armed forces is the constant moving around it may involve.

That is where a military choir really can come into its own…a lifeline for women who have had to move around a lot from base to base with their partners.

It is, of course, a wonderful outlet for those with a bent for singing. But there’s so much more to membership of a military choir and the emotional support it provides is one often-overlooked and underestimated dimension.

“The choir can be really a lifeline for women who have had to move around a lot from base to base with their partners.”
— Emma Portier Davis

The Belgium Military Wives Choir was set up over ten years ago, in 2014, and is one of the largest choirs in the overseas network, with more than 30 members.

Emma Portier Davis, who is responsible for publicity for the Belgium choir, sums it up by saying, “The purpose of the choirs is to give these women a safe and familiar place.”

• Belgium Military Wives Choir was founded in 2014.
• One of the largest overseas Military Wives Choirs with over 30 members.
• Provides emotional support for women affected by military relocations and deployments.
• Performs at major remembrance ceremonies across Belgium.
• Scheduled to sing at the Act of Remembrance in Evere on June 20.
• Regular participant in Royal British Legion commemorations.
• Sang at the Menin Gate Last Post Ceremony in Ypres.
• Welcomes women with military connections from multiple countries.
• Part of a network of over 1,800 women across 70 choirs.
• Promotes wellbeing, friendship, and mental health through singing.
• Operates without auditions and welcomes members of all singing abilities.
• Offers a Virtual Choir for women unable to attend local rehearsals.

Several members of the choir are members of the Royal British Legion and the choir performs throughout the year, including a big upcoming date for the Brussels branch of the RBL:  the Act of Remembrance ceremony in Evere on the outskirts of Brussels on 20 June.

This is the RBL’s Allied commemoration at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery (Brussels Town Cemetery).

The cemetery is the final resting place for war dead from the UK, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland and South Africa. The event starts at 11.30am and includes music from the choir.

The choir also sing later in the year at the RBL’s Remembrance Sunday service at Heverlee.

Last year, they sang at the Menin Gate at Ypres during the Last Post ceremony and will go back there again to sing on October 10.

For this event, it has joined forces with the Brunssum Military Wives Choir, “a really lovely example,” says Emma, “of how choirs come together.”

Aside from some magical music, one of the most interesting elements of the choir is its “social” role

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, says Emma, “on the joy of singing.”

Emma explains further, “We meet once a week in Brussels for rehearsals and we also organise lots of social events. The choir can be really 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.

“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.

“The purpose of the choirs is to give these women a safe and familiar place. Our anthem ‘Stronger Together’ starts out 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.”

The choir sings from the same repertoire as all the other Military Wives Choirs in the network but there are some songs which are especially composed for them.

A firm favourite of many of its choir members is ‘The Poppy Red’ which is a Remembrance song and includes the lyrics: 

“In Flanders Fields, to rise anew!

We caught the torch you threw.

And holding high, we keep the Faith

With all who died.”

 There are also a series of songs which are arranged for its network and these include hymns such as ‘Abide With Me’ and pop songs like ‘Rolling in the Deep’and show tunes such as a medley of the main songs from Les Miserables and ‘For Good’ which comes from the musical Wicked.

They also sometimes sing songs from other sources, for example, the choir sang Fleetwood Mac’s Everywhere at a recent concert.

The choir sings every year at the Royal British Legion’s Remembrance Service on the Sunday before Armistice and, as this month, at the RBL Act of Remembrance service in Evere.

It also performed 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 Emma, adding, “The ships had travelled over from the UK under the escort of Royal Navy warships.”

 She adds, “One of our members was lucky enough last year to join with members from other choirs across the network to sing at the Poppies to Paddington ceremony at Paddington station; Queen Camilla attended this service. We are often invited to join events held around the UK with other choirs.” 

As well as military wives, any woman with a military connection is welcome to join the choir. It has a former military mum, for example. It’s not limited to the British military either.

Says Emma, “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.”

 She says, “There is something really special about singing the Remembrance songs in Belgium of course.”

 Further comment comes from Sophie Hutchings, one of the choir leads, who told this site, “It’s a real privilege to be part of Belgium Military Wives Choir. Singing our Remembrance songs at key memorial sites around Belgium is such an honour.”

 Her sentiments are endorsed by Kirsty Briggs, who said: “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.”

 The Military Wives Choirs is, generally, a community of over 1,800 women in 70 choirs across the UK and internationally.

It exists to support women who have a military connection and its membership is open to any woman with a military connection including wives, partners, fiancées or co-habiting partners of a serving member of the UK Armed Forces (including Reservists), plus serving UK Armed Forces personnel (including Reservists).

It is also open to UK Armed Forces veterans (including Reservists) and immediate family members (mother, sister or daughter) of currently serving UK Armed Forces personnel (including Reservists).

Wives, partners, fiancées or co-habiting partners of a serving non-UK Armed Forces personnel on a UK posting are also welcome to join.

It also has a “Virtual Choir” for members who are unable to attend a local choir regularly due to distance, mobility or other life circumstances. 

A spokesman said, “Our network supports each other and forms life-changing friendships that lead to new and uplifting experiences through singing.”

“Singing in a choir has been proven to increase wellbeing and improve mental and physical health. With no auditions and no pressure to perform, the Military Wives Choirs gives its members the opportunity to spend time with women that truly understand the challenges associated with military life.”