3rd Algerian Infantry Division

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3e Division d'Infanterie Algérienne
Active	1 May 1943 - 15 Apr 1946
Country	France
Allegiance	French Army
Type	Infantry Division
Engagements	Italian Campaign Southern France Vosges Mountains Gambsheim Bridgehead Bienwald Baden
Commanders
Notable commanders	Joseph de Goislard de Monsabert Augustin Guillaume

The 3rd Algerian Infantry Division (French: 3e Division d'Infanterie Algérienne, 3e DIA) was an infantry division of the French Army during the last half of the Second World War.

The division was formed on May 1, 1943 and the division was structured and equipped in a manner similar to, although not identical to, U.S. infantry divisions of the period. The primary combat units of the division as initially organized were the 3rd and 7th Algerian Tirailleur Regiments, and the 4th Tunisian Tirailleur Regiment.^[1] In early 1945, the 7th Algerian Tirailleurs returned to north Africa and its place was taken by the 49th Infantry Regiment.^[2]

The 3e DIA fought in the Italian Campaign, the campaign in Southern France, the Vosges Mountains, and Alsace during 1943 - 1944 before spearheading the advance of the French II Corps into Germany and entering Stuttgart on April 22, 1945.

Part of the French occupation army in Germany, the 3e DIA was inactivated and used to form a mixed infantry and armor division in April 1946.^[3] The division's honors and traditions were carried on first by the 3rd Armored Division and then the 3rd Mechanized Brigade.

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] Article Sources

• Grandes Unités Françaises, Volumes IV and V-1, French Army Historical Service, Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1970 and 1972.
• Le Réarmament et la Réorganisation de l'Armée de Terre Française (1943 - 1946), J. Vernet, French Army Historical Service, Château de Vincennes, 1980.