The1st Light Mechanized Division (French:1ère division légère mécanique, 1ère DLM) was aFrench Army formation duringWorld War II. It was the first of thearmoured divisions of theFrench Cavalry.[1]
Preparations to create such a unit began in 1931. Slowly the 4th Cavalry Division was mechanised.
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 adjectivemécanique qualifieslégère, 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".
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. The1re DLM used theAMR 35 as a light skirmisher and theSomua S-35 andHotchkiss 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, usinghalf-tracks. The 4th Dragoon Regiment and the division's combat engineers were equipped with the six-wheeledVDP Lorraine 28 all-terrain transport vehicle.[2] In organisation a DLM closely resembled the contemporaneous GermanPanzerdivision of thePanzerwaffe, though it would be more "tank-heavy", not so much theLeichte Kavalleriedivisionen of theGerman Cavalry, which units in the thirties were only partly mechanised.
During theBattle of France in May 1940 thedivision contained the following units:[3]