Order of Battle of a typical Vichy French Military Division
Military unit
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 . 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. The whole Army of Vichy France, except for the Garde , was demobilized on 27 November 1942 after Case Anton .
Organisation
The table below shows the order of battle that a Military Division aspired to. In addition, each Military Division had a Bureau of Anti-National Activities [fr ] , 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
3x Infantry regiments (each of an identical composition)
(or 3x Demi-brigades of Chasseurs à Pied , each with 3 battalions)
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
(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
I group
II group
III group
Engineer battalion
2 companies
a half-company bridging train
Signals group,[Note 5] also known as a battalion
Transport group,[Note 5] also known as company
Guard regiment
Moreover, there existed four cavalry regiments of the general reserve.
Equipment
This Armistice banned anti-tank and gas protection equipment, while minimizing mechanization . 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 . The previously used VB rifle grenade was over time replaced with the Lance Grenades de 50 mm modèle 37 . Artillery was only allowed to have 75mm calibre guns.
Military Divisions
References
Notes
^ Theoretically, there would be 3x 50mm 1937-pattern grenade launcher and 6x MAS-38 and Thompson submachine guns per platoon.
^ The Panhard's anti-tank gun was replaced with a second 7.5mm machine gun.
^ Each battery had four Canon de 75 modèle 1897 .
^ One battery was tractor-drawn, the other two were horse-drawn.
^ a b The term 'group' is used for support units, though equivalent to that of a company.
^ 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 .
^ 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...
^ 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.
^ 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...
^ 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 .
^ 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 .