Belgian volunteers continued to join the Free Belgian forces throughout the war, most crossing through occupied and Vichy France, as well as Francoist Spain. Because the French refused to provide any form of visa to Belgians of military age, many of those arriving in England tended to be old and to have already had long military careers.[1] This created a problem for the Free Belgian forces, which was therefore generally "top heavy", with a greater ratio of (older) officers to other ranks.[6]