1st Moroccan Division (1939)
World War II military unit
The 1st Moroccan Division (French: 1re division marocaine (1939), 1reD.M) created on 27 October 1939, was an infantry division of the Army of Africa (French: Armée d'Afrique) which participated in the Battle of France (May–June 1940) during World War II.
The 1st Moroccan Division participated with distinction in the Battle of Gembloux on 15 May 1940 and subsequently during the defense of Lille at the end of May 1940.
Creation and dissolution
Created on 27 October 1939. Formed of serving regiments from French Morocco, the division was assigned to the north-eastern front, upon arrival in metropolitan France
Dissolution in 1940
World War II (1939–1940)
Formed in Meknès on 2 September 1939, the division was sent to Oran on 24 October. It disembarked at Marseille and from there travelled from Bayonne to Luchon and from Toulouse to La Rochelle before making its way by rail on 14 November to the zone de Fresnes-en-Woevre, Vigneulles-les-Hattonchâtel and Sponville.
Front de Lorraine
On 17 December the 1st Moroccan Division relieved the 1e D.I.N.A in the sector of Eizange (Third Army (France)), with a command post at Bertrange. On 23 January 1940 the division was in turn relieved by the 20e D.I and regrouped in the zone of Uckange, Moyeuvre, Roncourt, while making its way by land on 3 February towards Vitry-le-François et Châlons. The division then did garrison duty for two months. On 1 April the division was transferred to the zone of de Bavai, du Quesnoy, de Maubegne with a command post at Berlaimont, forming part of the (1st Army, 5th Army Corps; 5e C.A). On 4 April the division relieved the 82e D.I.A in the sector of Hainaut, de Wargnies-le-Petit at la Sambre.
Bataille de la Dyle
On 10 May 1940 the division advanced by night towards Mons, Havre and Sars-la-Bruyère.
“1st Moroccan Division (1939)” enters the record as world War II military unit. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Moroccan, Division and World can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“1st Moroccan Division (1939)” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Moroccan, Division and World provides the most credible route into that argument.
Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 4, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q16008998. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1939 and 1940.
Later summaries often reconcile disputed chronology or motive more neatly than the contemporary record permits. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.
- Event chronology
- Institutional context
- Locating named record creators
Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “1st Moroccan Division (1939)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow 1st Moroccan Division (1939) primary sources, 1st Moroccan Division (1939) archive and Moroccan research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “1st Moroccan Division (1939)”?
- Who created the surviving record, and for what administrative purpose?
- What chronology connects this entry to wider political or social change?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “1st Moroccan Division (1939)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.