2nd Armored Division (France)
The French 2nd Armored Division (French: 2e Division Blindée, 2e DB), commanded by General Leclerc, fought during the final phases of World War II in the Western Front.
The division was formed around a core of units that had fought at Kufra in 1941 under Leclerc; later renamed the 2nd Light Division, in August 1943, it was organized under the US light armored division organization.
The division's 14,454 personnel included men from the 2nd Light Division, escapees from metropolitan France, about 3,600 Moroccans and Algerians, and about 350 Spanish Republicans (other sources: about 2 000, official records of 2e DB : less than 300 Spanish).
The division embarked in April 1944 and shipped to various ports in Great Britain. On 29 July 1944, bound for France, the division embarked at Southampton. During combat in 1944, the division liberated Paris, defeated a Panzer brigade during the armored clashes in Lorraine, forced the Saverne Gap, and liberated Strasbourg. After taking part in the Battle of the Colmar Pocket, the division was moved west and assaulted the German-held Atlantic port of Royan, before recrossing France in April 1945 and participating in the final fighting in southern Germany. Inactivated after the war, the 2nd Division was again activated in the 1970s and served through 1999.
Read more about 2nd Armored Division (France): Post–World War II
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