French 1er Chasseurs Regiment in Indochina 1946

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chiangshan
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French 1er Chasseurs Regiment in Indochina 1946

#1

Post by chiangshan » 14 May 2015, 08:31

I'm collecting information about 1er Chasseurs in 1946. Hope someones can help me with OOB and TOE problems.

From http://cavaliers.blindes.free.fr/rgt...asseursh4.html 1er Chasseurs had 6 squadrons when re-created on 15th Mar 1945. On 1st Aug 1946, it lost 3 squadrons to 5e Cuirasiers and received 1 squadron from 9r Dragons.

From http://indochine54.free.fr/cefeo/orgs.html#top, at 15th February 1946

1er Chasseurs: 2 squadrons (6 platoons) with 2x13 Humber Scout Cars and 2x16 Coventry Armoured Cars.

9e Dragons (or GUAL-BEO): Vickers HMG and 81mm mortars (put on vehicles?)

5e Cuirasiers: 4 squadrons with 4x13 Humbers and 4x16 Coventry.

From Arme Blindee et Cavaliers en Indochine 1945-1955, after arrived in Tonkin (late 1946), 1er Chasseurs received several vehicles from 2e DB group. In late 1947, 1er Chasseurs had 20 M8 Greyhounds, 25 halftracks, 15 Bren carriers, 6 M5 Stuarts and 14 M8 HMCs. No sign of Humber and Coventry.

So I have soem questions:

1. What was the exact OOB of 1er Chasseurs before Aug 1946? Did it had 6 squadrons or 6 platoons?

2. Did 1er Chasseurs eqquiped with Coventry armoured cars? If yes, did they bring any to Tonkin?

3. Did any change in OOB and eqquipment happened with 1er Chasseurs from Sep 1946 to late 1947 period?

Any other informations about 1er Chasseurs would be also useful for me.

Thank you.

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Loïc
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Re: 1er Régiment de Chasseurs à cheval Indochina 1946

#2

Post by Loïc » 20 May 2017, 22:33

hello

the 1er Régiment de Chasseurs à cheval had 4 squadrons in 1945

but only the 2nd squadron and half of the 3rd arrived early january 1946 in Saïgon, it was not an armored unit, the Horsed Chasseurs disappointed to be used as infantrymen in Taï Ninh sector
early march 1946 the 2 squadrons and the command squadron received the Coventry and the Humber
sent to Cholon, Thu Dau Mot sector

the 31st july 1946 3 squadrons including the command squadron embarked for Tonkin leaving the british vehicles for US vehicles of the 2e DB
with a newly 1st squadron raised from 9e Dragons disbanded taking the US light tanks of the 501e RCC while the 2nd squadron had the US armoured cars previously with the 1er RMSM
served in Hanoi Lang Son Bac Ninh, reoccupying Ha Dong, Nam Dinh

in 1947 third reorganization
3 mixed squadrons each with 2 mixed amoured cars platoons and 2 transported platoons
1st tank squadron 6 platoons with 2 tanks, 2 half-tracks and 1 howitzer (platoons detached from Lang Son to Nam Dinh)

5th mixed squadron raised fall 1947 (from 4e Dragons)

after 1948 the 1er RCC changed again a lot with two others reorganizations, the yellowing-vietnamization (70% of the strenght at the end) the news M-24, the regiment having 10 squadrons plus 2 command squadrons including amphibious unit and a march battalion where served de Lattre de Tassigny's son who was killed

Regards
Loïc


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chiangshan
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Re: French 1er Chasseurs Regiment in Indochina 1946

#3

Post by chiangshan » 03 Jun 2017, 12:46

Hello Loïc,

Thank you for the reply. If you don't mind, I'd like to ask some other questions about its equipments at the time the war broke out (Dec 1946).

1. Other than vehicles left by 2e DB, did 1er Chasseurs get any from other units, or from France? Did they give any vehicle to other units (RICM for example)?

2. Which vehicles were used by the transported infantry? Did they use M3 halftracks or just trucks?

3. Did they have any type of artillery, AA or mortar? In some books about the fight in Hanoi (which 1er Chasseurs joined) I see the 75mm M1897s mounted on halftracks were mentioned.

Thank you again for your help.

Regards.

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