9th Motorized Division

9th Motorized Division
9e division d'infanterie motorisée
Unit insignia
Active	1873 - 1962
Country	France
Branch	French Army
Type	Motorized infantry
Engagements	World War I World War II Algerian War Cold War
Commanders
Commander (May 1940) [1] [2]	Général Henri Didelet [1] [2]

The French 9th Motorized Division originally known as the 9th Infantry Division, was a French Army division active during World War I, World War II and the Algerian War. ^[3]

Battle Of France 1940

The division's structure during the Battle of France in May 1940 was as follows: ^{[2] [1]}

• Infantry
  • 13th Infantry Regiment (13e RI) ^{[1] [2]}
  • 95th Infantry Regiment (95e RI) ^{[1] [2]}
  • 131st Infantry Regiment (131e RI) ^{[1] [2]}

• Artillery
  • 30th Divisional Artillery Regiment (30e RADT) ^{[1] [2]}
  • 230th Heavy Divisional Artillery Regiment (230e RALDT) ^{[1] [2]}

• Reconnaissance
  • 2nd Divisional Reconnaissance Group (2e GRDIm) ^{[1] [2]}
  • 18th Corps Reconnaissance Group (18e GRCA) — attached from the 16th Army Corps (16e CA) ^{[1] [2]}

• Support Units
  • Divisional Signal, Engineer, and Supply companies

The division was an active division which had existed during peacetime. It was a fully motorized infantry division.) ^[1]

Algerian War

The 9th Infantry Division was recreated within the 1st Military Region (Île-de-France, Paris region), with headquarters in Versailles, as part of the Valmy Plan (by calling up the contingent during the Algerian War and recalling the liberated classes). ^[4] It arrived in Algeria in June 1956.

It took part in operations in the Orléansville area, west of Algiers. ^[5] It formed part of the Algiers military division (which became the Algiers army corps in 1958 and then the 23rd Army Corps in 1962). ^[6] It was dissolved on 31 December 1962. ^[5]

The division was part of the Algiers Corps Area in 1960, during the Algerian War. ^[7]

References

1. Sumner, Ian (1998). The French Army 1939-45 (1) The Army of 1939-40 & Vichy France. Men-at-Arms. Osprey Publishing. p. 7.
2. Dildy, Douglas C. (2015). Fall Gelb 1940 (2): Airborne assault on the Low Countries. Campaign. Osprey Publishing. p. 30.
3. Horne, Alistair (1969). To lose a battle; France 1940. Boston, Little, Brown. p. 399.
4. Sicard, Jacques (September 2000). "Les grandes unités d'AFN et leurs insignes, 1954-1962". Militaria Magazine (182): 30–38.
5. Sicard 2000.
6. Thierry Sarmant; Philippe Schillinger; Michel Hardy (2000). Inventory of series H, sub-series 1 H1091-4881: Algeria 1945-1967 (PDF). Vol. I – General introduction. Château de Vincennes: Army Historical Service. pp. 40, 46. ISBN   2-86323-129-4. ISSN   1269-7397..
7. Shrader, Charles R. (1999). "Appendix A: Major French Combat Forces in Algeria in 1960". The First Helicopter War: Logistics and Mobility in Algeria 1954-62. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 237–238.