The 3rd Armoured Division (french: 3^e Division Cuirassée, 3^e DCR) is a unit of the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...

formed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

that took part in the May-June 1940

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

History

Formed 20 March 1940 at

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

. Campaigns: Battle of the

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

, Meuse Front, Battle of the

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345.Montbard Montbard () is a commune and subprefecture of the Côte-d'Or department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Montbard is a small industrial town on the river Brenne. The ''Forges de Buffon'', ironworks established by Buffon ...

northwest of

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

. Division captured 17–18 June. Subordination: XXI Corps of 2nd Army until 23 May, then various including 4th Army and XVIII Corps of 2nd Army.

Composition

In May 1940: * 41st Tank Battalion ( B1 ''bis'' tanks) * 49th Tank Battalion (B1 ''bis'' tanks) * 42nd Tank Battalion ( H39 tanks) * 45th Tank Battalion (H39 tanks) * 16th Motorized Rifle Battalion (''bataillon de

chasseurs ''Chasseur'' ( , ), a French term for "hunter", is the designation given to certain regiments of French and Belgian light infantry () or light cavalry () to denote troops trained for rapid action. History This branch of the French Army ori ...

portés'') * 319th Artillery Regiment

References

Bibliography

* (GUF) Service Historique de l'Armée de Terre. ''Guerre 1939–1945 Les

Grandes Unités Françaises Grandes Unités Françaises (full title: ''Guerre 1939-1945 Les Grandes Unités Françaises'') is a monumental six-volume (the fifth volume is actually composed of four separate works) World War II order of battle and military unit history referenc ...

''. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1967. {{DEFAULTSORT:3e Division cuirassee French World War II divisions Armored divisions of France Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations disestablished in 1940