View source for 1st Light Mechanized Division (France)

{{Other uses|1st Division (disambiguation){{!}}1st Division}}

[[Image:AMR35 parade.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A group of 13.2 mm-armed [[AMR 35]]s, belonging to 4e RDP, 1re DLM; the vehicle in front, No. 87347, is the second produced and shows the large rosettes typical of this unit from 1938]]

The '''1st Light Mechanized Division''' ({{Langx|fr|1ère division légère mécanique, 1ère DLM}}) was a [[French Army]] formation during [[World War II]]. It was the first of the [[armoured division]]s of the [[Cavalry Corps (France)|French Cavalry]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://enpointe.perso.infonie.fr/dlm.html|title=dlm|last=Commans|first=Stephane|website=enpointe.perso.infonie.fr|access-date=2018-04-03}}</ref>

==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]] as a light skirmisher and the [[Somua S-35]] 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 [[AMC Schneider P 16|half-track]]s. In organisation a DLM closely resembled the contemporaneous German ''[[Panzer division|Panzerdivision]]'' of the ''[[Panzerwaffe]]'', 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]] in May 1940 the [[Division (military)|division]] contained the following units:<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The Organization and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II: Volume VI Italy and France Including the Neutral Countries of San Marino, Vatican City (Holy See), Andorra, and Monaco|pages=480}}</ref>

*1st Light Mechanized Armoured Brigade<ref name=":0" />
**4th Cuirassier Armoured Regiment
**18th Dragoon Armoured Regiment
*2nd Light Mechanized Infantry Brigade<ref name=":0" />
**[[4th Dragoon Regiment (France)|4th Mechanized Dragoon Regiment]]
**[[6th Cuirassier Regiment (France)|6th Cuirassier Cavalry Reconnaissance Regiment]]
*74th Mechanized Artillery Regiment

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{French Army Divisions}}
[[Category:French World War II divisions|Light Mechanized Division, 1st]]


{{World-War-II-stub}}