The 1st Light Mechanized Division () was a

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 Force ...

formation 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 opposing ...

. It was the first of the armoured divisions of the

French Cavalry French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

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 The SOMUA S35 was a French cavalry tank of the Second World War. Built from 1936 until 1940 to equip the armoured divisions of the Cavalry, it was for its time a relatively agile medium-weight tank, superior in armour and armament to its French ...

and Hotchkiss H35 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 regular wheels at the front for steering and continuous tracks at the back to propel the vehicle and carry most of the load. The purpose of this combination is to produce a vehicle with the cro ...

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

Panzerwaffe ''Panzerwaffe'', later also ''Panzertruppe'' (German for " Armoured Force", "Armoured Arm" or "Tank Force". ''Waffe'': ombat"arm") refers to a command within the Heer of the German Wehrmacht, responsible for the affairs of panzer (tank) an ...

'', though it would be more "tank-heavy", not so much the ''Leichte Kavalleriedivisionen'' of the

German Cavalry German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, which units in the thirties were only partly mechanised.

World War II

Battle Of France

During the Battle of France in May 1940 the

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

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