The 53rd Infantry Division ()was a

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

formation during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

World War 1

During World War I, the division comprised: *205th Infantry Regiment *224th Infantry Regiment (to August 1916) *228th Infantry Regiment (to August 1916) *236th Infantry Regiment (to July 1918) *319th Infantry Regiment *329th Infantry Regiment (to August 1916) *25th Territorial Infantry Regiment (from August 1918) It was part of the French

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds, The Second, or (The) 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Minute and second of arc, ...

, 5th, 9th, 11th,

13th In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the Musical note, note thirteen scale degrees from the root (chord), root of a chord (music), chord and also the interval (music), interval between the root and the thirteenth. The thirteenth is m ...

, 20th, 33rd, 35th and 40th Corps, during which it participated in the

Battle of Charleroi The Battle of Charleroi () or the Battle of the Sambre, was fought on 21 August 1914, by the French Fifth Army and the German 2nd and 3rd armies, during the Battle of the Frontiers. The French were planning an attack across the Sambre River, when ...

, the Battle of Guise, the

First Battle of the Marne The First Battle of the Marne or known in France as the Miracle on the Marne () was a battle of the First World War fought from the 5th to the 12th September 1914. The German army invaded France with a plan for winning the war in 40 days by oc ...

, the

First Battle of the Aisne The First Battle of the Aisne () was the Allied follow-up offensive against the right wing of the German First Army (led by Alexander von Kluck) and the Second Army (led by Karl von Bülow) as they retreated after the First Battle of the ...

, the

Second Battle of Artois The Second Battle of Artois (, ) from 9 May to 18 June 1915, took place on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during the First World War. A German-held Salient (military), salient from Reims to Amiens had been formed in 1914 which me ...

, the

Second Battle of Champagne The Second Battle of Champagne (, utumn Battle in the First World War was a French offensive against the German army at Champagne that coincided with the Third Battle of Artois in the north and ended with a French defeat. Battle On 25 Sep ...

, the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

, the Battle of the Lys, the Battle of Matz, and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. At various times, it was part of the

French First Army The First Army () was a field army of France that fought during World War I and World War II. It was also active during the Cold War. World War I On mobilization in August 1914, General Auguste Dubail was put in the charge of the First Army, ...

, French Second Army, French Third Army, French Fourth Army, French Fifth Army, French Sixth Army,

French Seventh Army The Seventh Army () was a field army of the French Army during World War I and World War II. World War I Created on 4 April 1915 to defend the front between the Swiss border and Lorraine, the Seventh Army was the successor of the independent Army ...

and French Tenth Army.

World War 2

During the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

in May 1940, the division contained the following units: *208th Infantry Regiment *239th Infantry Regiment *329th Infantry Regiment *66th Reconnaissance Battalion *22nd Artillery Regiment *222nd Artillery Regiment It was a Series B Reserve division containing older

reservist A reservist is a person who is a member of a military reserve force. They are otherwise civilians, and in peacetime have careers outside the military. Reservists usually go for training on an annual basis to refresh their skills. This person ca ...

Commanders

World War I

* Gen. Georges Pierre Louis Perruchon (August 2, 1914 – September 7, 1914) * Gen. Day (September 7, 1914 – October 18, 1914) * Div. Gen. Louis Loyzeau de Grandmaison (October 18, 1914 – January 23, 1915) * Div. Gen.

Henri Mathias Berthelot Henri Mathias Berthelot (7 December 1861 – 29 January 1931) was a French general during World War I. He held an important staff position under Joseph Joffre, the French commander-in-chief, at the First Battle of the Marne, before later commandin ...

(January 23, 1915 – August 3, 1915) * Brig. Gen.

Joseph Alfred Micheler Joseph Alfred Micheler (23 September 1861 Phalsbourg, France – 17 March 1931 Nice, France) was a French general in the First World War. Life Born in Phalsbourg, Moselle from a Lorrainian family which preferred to be French than German when t ...

(August 3, 1915 – March 25, 1916) * Gen. Georges Pierre Louis Lebouc (March 25, 1916 – January 15, 1917) * Div. Gen. Henri André Mesplé (January 15, 1917 – April 5, 1917) * Div. Gen.

Amédée Henri Guillemin Amédée Henri Guillemin (1860–1941) was a French ''Général de Division'' who served in World War I. During the war, he commanded the 121st Infantry Division, the 131st Infantry Division, the 53rd Infantry Division and the 19th Infantry D ...

(April 5, 1917 – February 20, 1919)

World War II

*Gen. Louis Emile Charles Henri Blin (September 11, 1939 – January 6, 1940) *Gen. Jean-Marie Léon Etcheberrigaray (January 6, 1940 – June 25, 1940)

References

Bibliography

* * * . * * * * *. Infantry Division, 53rd Infantry Division, 53rd Infantry divisions of France {{World-War-II-stub