1st Free French Division


The 1st Free French Division was one of the principal units of the Free French Forces during World War II, renowned for having fought the Battle of Bir Hakeim.
Consisting of troops from mainland France and from the then French colonial empire, the division was formed by the first units to rally to de Gaulle after the fall of France. Together with the 3rd Algerian Infantry Division, it was the most decorated French division of the Second World War.

Creation and different nominations

1940

The 1re DFL officially formed on February 1, 1943 and was dissolved on August 15, 1945. However, for the veterans of this unit, the history of the division began in the summer of 1940.
In London, on June 30, 1940, amongst the troops that fought in Norway, 900 men of the 13th Demi-Brigade of Foreign Legion, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Raoul Magrin-Vernerey, and 60 Chasseurs Alpins made the choice to resume combat. Elements of a tank company, sappers, artillerymen and sailors chose the same: they would later constitute the 1er Régiment de Fusiliers Marins, 1er RFM.
In the Middle East, 350 men of a battalion stationed in Cyprus, led by Captain Jean Lorotte de Banes passed to British Egypt. With 120 men of Captain Raphaël Folliot, who left French Lebanon on June 27, they formed the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion, 1er BIM. They were joined by legionnaires of the 6th Foreign Infantry Regiment, sailors of the French Naval Squadron Force X, and a squadron of Moroccan Spahis of the 1st Spahi Regiment, commanded by Captain Paul Jourdier.
In Africa, part of the 31st battery of the 6th Marine Artillery Regiment, stationed at Bobo-Dioulasso, commanded by Captain Jean-Claude Laurent-Champrosay, passed from the French Upper Volta to the British Cameroons, forming the 1st Colonial Artillery Regiment.
Under the designation of Free French Expeditionary Corps, the troops formed in London disembarked at Freetown in Sierra Leone and participated in the unsuccessful Battle of Dakar, before being directed, on October 1940, to Douala in the French Cameroons. In November 1940, the unit participated in the Battle of Gabon, before going to Durban in South Africa.

1941

Designated as the Free French Orient Brigade and commanded by Colonel Magrin-Vernerey, the brigade left Durban and disembarked at Suakin to take part in the East African Campaign. The brigade was reinforced by the Pacific Battalion and by troops of the French Equatorial Africa, the latter going from Brazzaville to Bangui, N'Djamena, before finally arriving at Khartoum and Suakin. The brigade participated in the Battle of Keren.
Under the designation of 1st Light Free French Division and under the command of General Paul Legentilhomme, the division joined the Syria–Lebanon Campaign in June 1941, where they fought against fellow Frenchmen, aligned with Vichy. The division entered into Damascus on June 21, 1941, then continued to Homs, Aleppo, Beirut and arrived at Cairo, where the division was dissolved.
The division is reconstituted under the form of two Free French brigades:
The 1e BFL distinguished itself at the Battle of Bir Hakeim from May 26 to June 11, 1942, then in the Second Battle of El Alamein from October–November 1942.
The two brigades and the Free French Flying Column formed the French Forces of the Western Desert, part of the British Eighth Army.

1943

These two brigades, are united on February 1, 1943 in the 1st Free French Division, 1re DFL, commanded by General Edgard de Larminat and participate in the Tunisian Campaign.
In June 1943, various troops of the Army of Africa joined the ranks of the division. Accordingly, the division was sent to the desert of Libya during two and a half months, at the request of Henri Giraud. The 2e DFL of General Leclerc would follow the same procedure.
After the reunification of the two French forces, on August 1, 1943, the division was officially designated as 1st Motorized Infantry Division due to its integration in the French Expeditionary Corps in Italy. In 1944, the 1st Motorized Infantry Division became the 1st Marching Infantry Division. Nevertheless, the unit remained known as the 1re DFL.

1944

Commanded by General Diego Brosset and now part of the French Expeditionary Corps, the division participated in the Italian Campaign since April 1944.
With First Army, the division disembarked in Provence on August 15, 1944 and participated in the Battle of Toulon, then went up the Rhône after having sent a couple of reconnaissance squadrons to Montpellier. Lyon was reached in September 3.
In autumn 1944, the French Forces of the Interior joined the First Army, replacing the 6000 Africans of the division in what was referred during that period as blanchiment.
General Brosset accidentally died on November 20, 1944 and was succeeded by General Pierre Garbay.

1945

The division made its way to the Vosges where it faced Operation Nordwind, the last major German offensive on the Western Front. Afterwards it joined the battles for the Colmar Pocket. On March 1945, the division participated in the Battle of Authion. It then took Tende and La Brigue. When it was about to march on Turin the German Army in Italy surrendered on May 2, 1945.

Composition

Combat units

Infantry

1re Brigade
The division was cited 4 times at the orders of the armed forces and the principal forming regiments were awarded the French Fourragere for 2 citations at the orders of the armed forces.
Forty-eight cemeteries, are the resting places of the more than 3600 members of the division. Eight of the division's units were made Compagnons de la Libération. Four members of the division represent the combatants in uniform resting at the Mémorial de la France combattante at au Mont Valérien, Nous sommes ici pour témoigner devant l'Histoire que de 1939 à 1945 ses fils ont lutté pour que la France vive libre:
The division endured the loss of 3619 killed in action with 67% killed in the period of April 1944 to May 1945.