The Cavalry Corps (french: Corps de Cavalerie) was a French mechanized

army corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

established in 1939 and inactivated in 1940 after the

defeat of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second World ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. Commanded by General

René Prioux René Jacques Adolphe Prioux (11 April 1879 – 16 June 1953) was a general of the French Army who served in both world wars. A cavalry officer of great talent, Prioux rapidly rose through the officer ranks and commanded the Cavalry Corps of the ...

, the Cavalry Corps advanced into

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

in May 1940 and imposed significant delay on the advance of the German XVI (motorized) Corps. Cut off by German forces from the bulk of the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...

, the corps was evacuated to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and then shipped back to France in late May and early June 1940. Further combat resulted in significant losses of armored vehicles and a steady deterioration of the corps' combat power. The Cavalry Corps ceased fighting as the

Second Armistice at Compiègne The Armistice of 22 June 1940 was signed at 18:36 near Compiègne, France, by officials of Nazi Germany and the Third French Republic. It did not come into effect until after midnight on 25 June. Signatories for Germany included Wilhelm Keitel, ...

took effect, and the corps was demobilized on July 11, 1940.

Formation and Phony War

Formed on August 27, 1939 in Saint-Quentin, the Cavalry Corps did not see action until May 11, 1940 in the vicinity of

Tongres Tongeren (; french: Tongres ; german: Tongern ; li, Tóngere ) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg, in the southeastern corner of the Flemish region of Belgium. Tongeren is the oldest town in Belgium, as the onl ...

. The corps had various units assigned during the period of the

Phony War The Phoney War (french: Drôle de guerre; german: Sitzkrieg) was an eight-month period at the start of World War II, during which there was only one limited military land operation on the Western Front, when French troops invaded Germa ...

, but by the time of the German invasion in May 1940, the corps commanded the 2nd and 3rd Light Mechanized Divisions (french: Division Légère Mécanique) (DLM), as well as some small reconnaissance and artillery units.

Combat

The Cavalry Corps saw action in three distinct phasesAs defined in GUF. of the fighting in 1940. These were the Battle of the Dyle (10 to 18 May), the Battle of the North (19 May to 9 June), and the Retreat of the Left Wing (10 to 25 June). In general, these phases respectively refer to the fighting in Belgium in May, the fighting in northern France in early June, and the long retreat of the

into the south of France during mid to late June. The Cavalry Corps in particular was noted for its solid performance during the Battles of

Hannut Hannut (; wa, Haneu; nl, Hannuit, ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Hannut had a total population of 14,291. The total area is 86.53 km² which gives a population dens ...

and

Gembloux Gembloux (; wa, Djiblou; nl, Gembloers, ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 21,964 inhabitants. The total area is 95.86 km², yielding a population den ...

during the fighting in Belgium. At the same time that poorly trained French reservists were being defeated at Sedan, the Cavalry Corps met the German XVI (motorized) Corps of two

Panzer This article deals with the tanks (german: panzer) serving in the German Army (''Deutsches Heer'') throughout history, such as the World War I tanks of the Imperial German Army, the interwar and World War II tanks of the Nazi German German Ar ...

divisions on equal terms at Hannut and in the Gembloux Gap. From May 31 until June 10, 1940, the men of the corps were evacuated to

and then returned to France via the ports of

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus ** Brest Region ** Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest ** Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Bre ...

and

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 ...

. At the end of the retreat of the French forces, the Cavalry Corps was made up of the 1st DLM and 3rd DLM. The 1st DLM regrouped at

Ribérac Ribérac (; oc, Rabairac) is a Communes of France, commune in the Dordogne Departments of France, department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. The commune is situated by the Dronne River. History In response to the 848 Normans, Norm ...

and the 3rd DLM assembled at

Saint-Aquilin Saint-Aquilin (; Limousin: ''Sent Agulin'') is a commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Dordogne department The following is a list of the 503 communes of the ...

, both in the region of the river

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is named ...

. The Cavalry Corps was demobilized on July 11, 1940.

Commanders

* 09/02/1939 – 05/25/1940 Lieutenant-General

* 05/25/1940 – 07/11/1940 Major-General Langlois

Notes and sources

{{reflist * (GUF) ''Guerre 1939 - 1945. Les

Grandes Unités Françaises Grandes Unités Françaises (full title: ''Guerre 1939-1945 Les Grandes Unités Françaises'') is a monumental six-volume (the fifth volume is actually composed of four separate works) World War II order of battle and military unit history referenc ...

''. Volume 1. Armée de Terre, Service Historique. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1967.
www.axishistory.com - the Cavalry Corps in 1940

External links

C Military units and formations established in 1939 Corps of France Cavalry units and formations of France