Military Division
Division Militaire
DM
Active1940-42
Country Vichy France
BranchArmistice Army
TypeInfantry
SizeDivision
EngagementsWorld War II

The Military Division (French: Division Militaire, abbreviated to DM) was a Vichy French infantry formation in 1940-1942, during World War II. The divisions were numbered according to the military regions.[1] The Vichy French Military Division had a near-identical organisation as the French Infantry Divisions of 1939-1940, but with the restrictions of the Armistice of 22 June 1940 imposed them.[1] The whole Army of Vichy France, except for the Garde, was demobilized on 27 November 1942 after Case Anton.[1]

Organisation

The table below shows the order of battle that a Military Division aspired to.[1] In addition, each Military Division had a Bureau of Anti-National Activities, which had the purpose of countering politically subversive actions, especially those by Communists, but also those of the supporters of Charles de Gaulle.[2]

Unit
Division headquarters[3]
3x Infantry regiments (each of an identical composition)

(or 3x Demi-brigades of Chasseurs à Pied, each with 3 battalions)[3]

I battalion 4 mixed rifle and MG companies:[Note 1]
II battalion 4 mixed rifle and MG companies (as above)
III battalion 4 mixed rifle and MG companies (as above)
Cavalry regiment[3]

(either Cuirassier/Dragoon or Chasseur/Hussar)

A single Cuirassier or Dragoon regiment

(divided into reconnaissance groups)

 A single Chasseurs à cheval or Hussar regiment
  • 4 mounted sabre squadrons
  • 1 heavy weapons squadron (12x Hotchkiss MGs, 4x 81mm mortars)
Artillery regiment[3]
I group
II group
  • 3 batteries
III group
  • 4 batteries
Engineer battalion[1]
  • 2 companies
  • a half-company bridging train
Signals group,[1][Note 5] also known as a battalion[3]
Transport group,[1][Note 5] also known as company[3]
Guard regiment[1][3]

Moreover, there existed four cavalry regiments of the general reserve.[3]

Equipment

This Armistice banned anti-tank and gas protection equipment, while minimizing mechanization.[1] However, the reduction of the French army meant that its remains could be entirely equipped with the newest and best equipment available, e.g. MAS-36 rifle, MAS-38 and Thompson submachine guns.[1] The previously used VB rifle grenade was over time replaced with the Lance Grenades de 50 mm modèle 37.[1] Artillery was only allowed to have 75mm calibre guns.[1]

Military Divisions

Table of Military Divisions within the Vichy Army and their main component units[4]
Military divisions Location of divisional headquarters Infantry units Cavalry regiment Artillery regiment
7th Military Division[4] Bourg-en-Bresse[4][5] 5th Dragoon Regiment[4] 61st Artillery Regiment[4]
9th Military Division[4] Châteauroux[4] 8th Cuirassier Regiment[4] 72nd Artillery Regiment[4]
12th Military Division[4] Limoges[4][6] 6th Cuirassier Regiment[4] 35th Artillery Regiment[4]
13th Military Division[4] Clermont-Ferrand[4][7] 8th Dragoon Regiment[4] 4th Artillery Regiment[4]
14th Military Division[4] Lyon[4] 11th Cuirassier Regiment[4] 2nd Artillery Regiment[4]
15th Military Division[4] Marseille[4][8] 12th Cuirassier Regiment[4] 10th Colonial Artillery Regiment[4]
16th Military Division[4] Montpellier[4][9]
  • 8th Infantry Regiment[4]
  • 51st Infantry Regiment[4]
  • 2nd Colonial Infantry Regiment[4]
 3rd Dragoon Regiment[4] 15th Artillery Regiment[4]
17th Military Division[4] Toulouse[4] 2nd Dragoon Regiment[4] 24th Artillery Regiment[4]

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Theoretically, there would be 3x 50mm 1937-pattern grenade launcher and 6x MAS-38 and Thompson submachine guns per platoon.
  2. ↑ The Panhard's anti-tank gun was replaced with a second 7.5mm machine gun.
  3. ↑ Each battery had four Canon de 75 modèle 1897.
  4. ↑ One battery was tractor-drawn, the other two were horse-drawn.
  5. 1 2 The term 'group' is used for support units, though equivalent to that of a company.

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Vauvillier & Sumner 1998, p. 38-39.
  2. ↑ Peschanski, Laurent; Douzou, Denis (1996). "La Résistance française face à l'hypothèque Vichy". Annali della Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli (in French). 1995 (31): 27–28. OCLC 695234273.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Sereau 1961, p. 41.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 Vauvillier & Sumner 1998, p. 38.
  5. ↑ Convert, Pascal (2020-05-22). Daniel Cordier, son secrétariat, ses radios: Essai critique sur Alias Caracalla (in French). Librinova. ISBN 979-10-262-5532-1. ...la 7ème Division Militaire de Bourg-en-Bresse...
  6. ↑ Bail, Sylvain Le (2003). Le G.M.R. du Périgord (in French). Le Chene Vert. p. 128. ISBN 978-2-914805-01-8. Le préfet régional de Limoges consultera le général Jeannel, commandant la 12ème division militaire.
  7. ↑ Carlier, Marc (2006). Les ralliements à la France libre: Niger-Est, 1940-1942 (in French). Mémoires d'hommes. ISBN 978-2-84367-033-6. ... la 13ème division militaire, siégeant à Clermont-Ferrand...
  8. ↑ Waksman, Pierre (1981). Etat des fonds privés: dépots, donations, successions, achats (in French). Ministère de la défense, Etat major de l'Armée de terre, Service historique. p. 52. ISBN 978-2-86323-046-6.
  9. ↑ Rappolt, Axel (2007). Leclerc et l'Indochine 1945-1947 (in French). Atelier national de reproduction des thèses. p. 133. ISBN 978-2-7295-6350-9. ...la 16ème division militaire de Montpellier...

Sources

  • Sereau, Raymond (1961). L'armée de l'armistice (1940-1942) (in French). Nouvelles Editions Latines.
  • Vauvillier, François; Sumner, Ian (1998). The French Army 1939-45. Men-at-Arms. Vol. I. United Kingdom: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 9781855326668.
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