Division Leclerc: The Leclerc Column and Free French 2nd Armored Division, 1940–1946

Osprey Elite #226

by Merlin Robinson, Thomas Seignon, Raffaele Ruggeri (Illustrator)

'General Leclerc' was the nom de guerre adopted by the Gaullist officer Philippe de Hautcloque, to protect his family in occupied France. He became France's foremost fighting commander, and his armored division (the '2e DB') its most famous formation. Starting as a small scratch force of mostly African troops organised and led by Leclerc in French Equatorial Africa, it achieved early success raiding Italian and German positions in co-operation with Britain's Long Range Desert Group. Following the Allied victory in North Africa it was expanded and reorganised as a US Army-style armoured division, with American tanks and other armoured vehicles. Shipped to the UK, in spring 1944, it was assigned to Patton's US Third Army, landing in time for the Normandy breakout and being given the honour of liberating Paris in August 1944. Combining a thorough analysis of their combat and organisation with detailed colour plates of their uniforms and equipment, this is the fascinating story of Free France's most effective fighting force.

Genres: Military Fiction, History

118 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 27, 2018

Reviews

[Shrike58 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This particular number in this Osprey series is rather different, in that it's as much a military life of Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, as it is a history of the unit he created and led. Apart from organizational details and combat history, you will also get a good examination of the the organizational politics of the unit, and the stresses of combining those men who stayed loyal to Petain and those who took up the Cross of Lorraine. Frankly, one might like to see Osprey publish more histories of divisional-sized units in this format.

[John Somers · Rating 5 out of 5]

18/20.

[E. Kahn · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's Osprey. I don't know what I was expecting.

Charity star for covering a relatively obscure and interesting topic.

[Hussein Al-Khafagy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An outstanding logistical, organizational and historical account of such an outstanding unit within an otherwise overlooked army. The authors perfectly traced the Division and its actions since its creation towards the victory and afterwards. The illustrations and photos add quite a value to the book as well.
I wish that other such books come out and shed the light on other French units and divisions.