The 3rd Armored Division was an armored unit of the French Army

French Army

The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...

. The division was active during World War II.

The 3rd Armored Division was formed in Tunisia

Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...

 in June 1943 and moved into Morocco

French Morocco

French Protectorate of Morocco was a French protectorate in Morocco, established by the Treaty of Fez. French Morocco did not include the north of the country, which was a Spanish protectorate...

 for its first mission. The division didn’t receive its armor until December 1943 and then gradually lost personnel and equipment to the 1st

1st Armored Division (France)

The 1st Armored Division was an armored unit of the French Army. The division fought during World War II as a part of the First French Army and was active during the Cold War...

 and 5th

5th Armored Division (France)

The 5th Armored Division was an armored division of the French Army that fought in World War II and the Algerian War. It was also active in Germany during the Cold War.-World War II:...

 Armored Divisions. The division was dissolved in August 1944.

The division was reformed on 1 May 1945 as the Maquis division, taking part in the final offensive in Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 and dissolved again on 18 April 1946.

The division was reformed in 1951, taking the heritage of the 3rd Algerian Infantry Division

3rd Algerian Infantry Division

The 3rd Algerian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the French Army during the last half of the Second World War. The 3e DIA had one of the most successful combat records of any French Army division during the Second World War. It paid a high price for this distinction, suffering more...

, and served throughout the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

.

C'est une grande unité of around 15,000 men covering the south of Germany (Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...

) and being made up of three brigades:

• the 5th Mechanised Brigade at Tübingen
  Tübingen
  Tübingen is a traditional university town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, on a ridge between the Neckar and Ammer rivers.-Geography:...
  
  ,
• la 12th brigade mécanisée at Offenbourg,
• la 13th brigade motorisée at Konstanz
  Konstanz
  Konstanz is a university city with approximately 80,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south-west corner of Germany, bordering Switzerland. The city houses the University of Konstanz.-Location:...
  
  .

It became the 3rd Armored Division in 1978, son poste de commandement restant à Fribourg. Trois régiments d'infanterie, deux régiments de chars, deux régiments d'artillerie, un régiment du génie et un régiment de commandement et de soutien la composent.

It served for a number of years as part of the II Corps

II Corps (France)

The 2nd Army Corps was first formed before World War I. During World War II it fought in the Campaign for France in 1940 and during the 1944-45 campaigns in southern France, the Vosges Mountains, Alsace, and southwestern Germany...

, French Forces in Germany (:fr:Forces françaises en Allemagne). It was finally disbanded by being redesignated the 3rd Mechanised Brigade

3rd Mechanised Brigade (France)

The 3rd Mechanised Brigade is a mechanised unit of the French Army.It maintains the traditions of the World War II 3rd Algerian Infantry Division which were later carried on by the 3rd Armored Division.- Composition :...

in 1999.

Organisation during World War II

• 11th Chasseur Regiment
• 4th Cuirassier Regiment
• 6th Cuirassier Regiment
• 11th Cuirassier Regiment
• 13th Dragoon Regiment
• 1st Demi-brigade
• 16th Chasseur Battalion
• 8th Chasseur Battalion
• 30th Chasseur Battalion
• 16th Artillery Regiment
• 103rd Medical Battalion
• 13th GERDB