Order of Battle
Division Infanterie Motorisée (1940)
(Motorized Infantry Division)



    Unlike its german or british counterparts, the french motorized infantry division of 1940 did not possess all its trucks which still belong to independant transport groups for strategic movements. Apart from the artillery regiments and the reconnaissance unit which were fully motorized, the infantry regiments were organized to be able to be easily transported by trucks and buses but still retained a few horses for heavy weapons.

[DIm]        [Oobs DIm May 1940]        [TOE RIm]        [TOE Motorized Infantry Battalion]        [TOE GRDIm]        [TOE Artillery]        [sources]

Motorized Infantry Division

The motorized infantry division consisted of:
                        - 3 infantry regiments (each of a command company, a weapons company and 3 infantry battalions)
                        - 1 cavalry unit in charge of reconnaissance or GRDI (Groupe de Reconnaissance de Division d'Infanterie)
                        - 1 AT company usually attached to one of the infantry regiment
                        - 1 light motorized field artillery regiment with 1 AT company and 1 AA company in charge of protecting the field guns from ennemy tanks and planes
                        - 1 heavy motorized field artillery regiment
                        - 2 engineer companies
                        - 2 signal companies (1 radio and 1 telegraph)
                        - 2 transport companies (1 horse and 1 motorised)
                        - 1 ammunition company
                        - 1 medical group
                        - various services

3 Groupes de Transport de Personnel (GTP) could be attached to the DIm for strategic movement. Each GTP consisted of:
    - 1 company of special trucks (80 to 100 trucks)
    - 1 company of TTN trucks (Transport Toute Nature: these were trucks that could carry horses) (80 to 100 trucks)
    - 2 company of buses (160 to 200 buses each)


DIms Order of battle on 10th May 1940


1st DIm 3rd DIm 5th DIm 9th DIm 12th DIm 15th DIm 25th DIm
Recon battalion:
- AMD squadron
- AMR squadron
7th GRDIm
Panhard178
P16
6th GRDIm
Panhard178
P16
1st GRDIm
Panhard178
P16
2nd GRDIm
Panhard178
H-39
3rd GRDIm
Panhard178
P16
4th GRDIm
Laffly ?
P16
5th GRDIm
Panhard178
H-35
Infantry Regiments 1st RIm
43rd RIm
110th RIm
51st RIm
67th RIm
91st RIm
8th RIm
39th RIm
129th RIm
13th RIm
95th RIm
131st RIm
8th RZm
106th RIm
150th RIm
4th RIm
27th RIm
134th RIm
38th RIm
92nd RIm
121st RIm
Artillery Regiments 15th RADm
215th RALDm
42nd RADm
242nd RALDm
11th RADm
211th RALDm
30th RADm
230th RALDm
25th RADm
225th RALDm
1st RADm
201st RALDm
16th RADm
216th RALDm
Transports Assigned GTP 129/24
GTP 131/22
GTP 132/24
none ? GTP 18/22
GTP 9/2
? GTP 140/5
GTP 141/49
GTP 147/44
GTP 125/4
GTP 138/15
GTP 144/9

    Apart from the 3rd DIm held in reserve, all the others DIms were assigned to the first Army Group of General Billotte. For the movement into Belgium, apart from XIth Infantry Corps of the IXth Army, all the other Infantry Corps (the two corps of VIIth Army, the three corps of Ist Army and one corps of the IXth Army) had been assigned one DIm:
            - 25th DIm with Ist Motorized Infantry Corps of the VIIth Army
            - 9th DIm with XVIth Infantry Corps of the VIIth Army
            - 1st DIm with IIIrd Motorized Infantry Corps of the Ist Army
            - 15th DIm with IVth Infantry Corps of the Ist Army
            - 12th DIm with Vth Infantry Corps of the Ist Army
            - 5th DIm with IInd Motorized Infantry Corps of the IXth Army


Motorized Infantry Regiment


The motorized infantry regiment consisted of:
        - 1 headquarter with the battalion commander, 3 officers, 1 sergeant, 1 secretary, 3 cyclists, 1 motocyclist and 1 car driver
        - 1 command company with:
                                    - 1 headquarter
                                    - 1 services platoon
                                    - 1 transmission platoon
                                    - 1 combat engineer platoon
                                    - 1 motocylists company with 1 motocyclists platoon (two combat squads and 4 LMGs), 1 motorized MG platoon (4 MGs) and 2 mixed platoons (1 combat squad with 2 LMGs and 1 MG squad with 2 MGs)
        - 1 supply company with 12 Renault U.E tracked vehicles
        - 1 heavy weapon company with
                                    - 1 command platoon with the captain squad and 1 suppply squad
                                    - 2 AT gun platoons with each 3 25 mm AT guns and 3 Renault U.E tracked vehicles
                                    - 2 mortar squads with 4 81 mm mortars
                                    - 1 AA HMG company with 12 20 mm AA 39 Oerlikon guns
        - 3 infantry battalions


Renault U.E tracked vehicle with trailers (Saumur Tank Museum)


Motorized Infantry Battalion
 
 


The motorized infantry battalion consisted of:
        - 1 headquarter with the battalion commander, 3 officers, 1 sergeant, 1 secretary, 3 cyclists, 1 motocyclist and 1 car driver
        - 1 command platoon with:
                                    - 1 transmission squad with 1 ER17 radio for transmission with the regiment, 1 RII receptor for planes listening and 6 ER40 radios to be dispatched in the various companies
                                    - 1 medical squad with 1 doctor, 4 nurses and 16 stretcher-bearers
                                    - 1 supply squad
        - 3 infantry companies with each:
                                    - 1 command platoon with the captain squad and 1 supply squad with the spare armament
                                    - 3 infantry platoons with each 1 command squad (1 commanding officer, 1 non-commissioned officer, 1 VB caporal in charge of rifle grenades action, 1 transmission agent and 1 observer) and 3 infantry squads (1 sergeant and 11 men with 1 LMG, 1 VB launcher and 10 rifles)
                                    - 1 infantry platoon with with each 1 command squad, 2 infantry squads and 1 60 mm mortar squad
        - 1 heavy weapon company with
                                    - 1 command platoon with the captain squad and 1 suppply squad
                                    - 3 MG platoons with each 2 MG squads (2 MMGs per squad)
                                    - 1 heavy weapon platoon with 1 mortar squad (with 2 81 mm mortars) and 1 gun squad (with 2 25 mm AT guns and 2 Renault U.E tracked vehicles)

Therefore, a motorized infantry battalion had 33 LMGs, 45 VB rifle grenade launchers, 12 MMGs, 3 60mm mortars, 2 81mm mortars and 2 25mm AT guns



Groupe de Reconnaissance de Division d'Infanterie motorisée (GRDIm)
Motorized Infantry Division recon Battalion

The GRDIm consisted of 5 squadrons:

           - 1 squadron of AutoMitrailleuses de Découverte (AMD) with 1 command AMD, 4 platoons of 3 AMDs each and 2 AMDs in reserve. (the last AMD was for the regiment commander)

            - 1 squadron of AutoMitrailleuses de Reconnaissance (AMR) with 1 command AMR, 4 platoons of 3 AMRs each and 2 AMRs in reserve.

            - 2 squadrons of motocyclists with 4 combat platoons each. Each combat platoon had a command squad of 6 men and two combat squads of 10 men with 2 LMGs each, transported by 13 side-cars (one for two men). In addition to the 4 combat platoons, the squadron had 1 60mm mortar (4-men  crew on 2 side-cars) and a command platoon of 30 to 40 men with a few vehicules (2 trucks, 4 pick-up and 2 cars).

            - 1 squadron of Mitrailleuses et Engins (support company) with 2 MG platoons and two anti-tank groups. The MG platoon has 4 MMGs. The anti-tank group had 2 25mm AT gun (8-men crew). Note that one of 25mm AT guns was usually replace by a 37mm Infantry gun.

Therefore, a GRDIm had 24 LMGs, 12 MMGs, 2 60mm mortars and 3 to 6 25mm AT guns.



Motorized Artillery

The Régiment d'Artillerie Divisionnaire (field gun artillery regiment was equipped with 3 groups of 12 75mm field guns tracked by Unic P107 BU or Laffly S15T artillery tractors.


Unic P107 BU light artillery tractor (Saumur Tank Museum)

The Régiment d'Artillerie Lourde Divisionnaire (heavy artillery regiment) was equipped with one group of 105mm howitzers tracked by Unic P107 BU or Laffly S15T artillery tractors and one group of 155mm howitzers tracked by SOMUA MCG tractors.


Ammo Laffly MCG heavy artillery tractor (Saumur Tank Museum)

The 47mm AT gun battery was tracked by old Citroën Kégresse P17 tractors replaced by Laffly W15T.


47mm AT gun Laffly W15T tractor (Saumur Tank Museum)



Sources:
    - Belgique et Nord, 1940 - Blitzkrieg à l'Ouest, Yves Buffetaut, Collection hors-série Militaria n°8, Histoire & Collections
    - 1939-40: L'Automobile sous l'uniforme, François Vauvillier, Massin Editeur
    - L'armement de l'infanterie française 1918-1940, Stéphane Ferrard, Collection armes et uniformes
    - The French Army 1939-45 (I), Ian Sumner, François Vauvillier and Mike Chappell, Men-at-arms series n°315, Osprey

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