The 1st Light Mechanized Division () was a

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

formation during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was the first of the

armoured division A division is a large military unit or formation, usually consisting of between 10,000 and 25,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades; in turn, several divisions typically make up a corps. Histor ...

s of the French Cavalry.

Formation

Preparations to create such a unit began in 1931. Slowly the 4th Cavalry Division was mechanised.

Name

In July 1935, the mechanised components, though still not fully equipped, were given a separate identity, while confusingly 4th Cavalry continued to exist, giving the false impression the armoured division was a completely new force. The name of the unit is most often translated as "Light Mechanized Division", but a better translation, both from a linguistic as military point of view, would be "Mechanized Light Division". In French the adjective ''mécanique'' qualifies ''légère'', not the other way around. In French military parlance, light troops were those that engaged in scouting and skirmishing, and the distinction traditionally applied to both cavalry and infantry arms. A mechanized light division was therefore one designed for this role but using modern motorized and armored equipment to perform it. Some motorised infantry divisions without tracked vehicles would also be called "light divisions".

Organisation

Another confusion often caused by the category indication is the mistake to assume that such units were "lightly" equipped: in fact most heavy equipment was concentrated into the motorised units which represented the most powerful in the French Army. The ''1re DLM'' used the

AMR 35 The Automitrailleuse de Reconnaissance Renault Modèle 35 Type ZT (AMR 35 or Renault ZT) was a French light tank developed during the Interbellum and used in the Second World War. It was not intended to reconnoitre and report as its name suggest ...

as a light skirmisher and the Somua S-35 and

Hotchkiss H35 The Hotchkiss H35 or was a French Tanks in France#Inter War, cavalry tank developed prior to World War II. Despite having been designed from 1933 as a rather slow but well-armoured light infantry support tank, the type was initially rejected b ...

as main battle tanks, though the latter vehicle was not really suited for this role as its armament was too weak. The artillery and infantry components were fully motorised; part of the organic infantry was also mechanised, using

half-track A half-track is a civilian or military vehicle with wheels at the front for steering and continuous tracks at the back to propel the vehicle and carry most of the load. A half-track combines the soft-ground traction of a tank with the Car handl ...

s. In organisation a DLM closely resembled the contemporaneous German '' Panzerdivision'' of the ''

Panzerwaffe , later also ( German for " Armoured Force", "Armoured Arm" or "Tank Force". : ombat"arm") refers to a command within the of the German , responsible for the affairs of panzer (tank) and motorized forces shortly before and during the S ...

'', though it would be more "tank-heavy", not so much the ''Leichte Kavalleriedivisionen'' of the German Cavalry, which units in the thirties were only partly mechanised.

World War II

Battle Of France

During the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

in May 1940 the division contained the following units: *1st Light Mechanized Armoured Brigade **4th Cuirassier Armoured Regiment **18th Dragoon Armoured Regiment *2nd Light Mechanized Infantry Brigade ** 4th Mechanized Dragoon Regiment ** 6th Cuirassier Cavalry Reconnaissance Regiment *74th Mechanized Artillery Regiment

References

Light Mechanized Division, 1st {{World-War-II-stub