The 1st Free French Division () was one of the principal units of the Free French Forces (FFL) 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: Free French Expeditionary Corps. 1941: Free French Orient Brigade. May 1941: 1st Light Free French Division. 20 August 1941: dissolution following the campaign of Syria. 24 September 1941: regrouping of the Free French units of the Middle East into the 1st and 2nd Light Free French Divisions (divisions with two brigades each). December 1941: the 1st Light Free French Division, reworked into the 1st Free French Brigade Group to adapt itself to the British military organization, deploys to the Western Desert. 1942: regrouping of the two independent Free French brigades of the Moyent-Orient (Middle East) into the French Forces of the Western Desert, following the departure of the 2nd Independent Free French Brigade from the Levant on April. February 1943: recreated under the designation of 1st Free French Division - 1e DFL (division with three brigades 1re, 2e and 4e BFL). August 1943: renamed 1st Motorized Infantry Division (1re DMI), but continued to be called 1re DFL. 15 August 1945: dissolution.
World War II
1940
The 1re DFL officially formed on 1 February 1943 and was dissolved on 15 August 1945. However, for the veterans of this unit, the history of the division began in the summer of 1940.
In London, on 30 June 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 27 June, they formed the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion, 1er BIM. They were joined by legionnaires of the 6th Foreign Infantry Regiment (6e REI), 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 (1er Régiment d'artillerie coloniale, 1er RAC).
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, in 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 21 June 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 1st Independent Free French Brigade, 1e BFL, commanded by General Koenig The 2nd Independent Free French Brigade, 2e BFL, commanded by General Cazaud A 3rd Independent Free French Brigade remained in French Lebanon and Syria until the end of the war to ensure the protection of these two countries.
1942
The 1e BFL distinguished itself at the Battle of Bir Hakeim from 26 May – 11 June 1942, then in the Second Battle of El Alamein from October–November 1942.