French reserve infantry divisions

Anyone out there know how many French reserve infantry divisions were raised?

 

The following from a book I have entitled, "World War II, The Encyclopedia of Facts and Figures" (Section 3 Orders of Battle, part 2 -The Campaign in Holland, Belgium and France) pgs. 146-147, by John Ellis.

(deals primarily in numerical facts, divisions, regiments, casualties, various sections of the armed forces, etc. An overall description, but after comparing with other sources I think it's fairly accurate, in generalized terms.)

For 1940 -

In GHQ Reserve, Behind First Army Group:

XXI Corps - Divisions, including 1e Arm., 1e Mot., 12e Mot., 15e Mot.
also containing 2e and 3e Arm. Divs., 4e and 43e Inf. Divs., and 1e NA Div.



In GHQ Reserve, behind Second Army Group:

3e Mot. Div., 7e,10e,14e and 36e Inf. Divs., 6e and 7e Col. Inf. Divs.
Still forming were 8e Inf. and 1e Pol. Divs.



In GHQ Reserve, behind Second and Third Army Groups:

VIII Corps - 13e and 27e Inf. Divs., 2e Spahi Brig.
XXII Corps - 23e, 28e and 29e Inf. Divs.
Still forming were 7e NA Inf. Div. and 5e Col. Inf. Div.


Again, the above is very general and, if you're wanting more specific information, then it is incomplete. In individual armies, I find:

7e Armee - 4e Inf. Div. (GHQ Reserve)
1e Armee - 32e Inf. Div. and 1e Arm. Div. (both army reserves)
2e Armee - 71 Inf. Div. (army reserve)
3e Armee - 6e Inf. Div. and 6e Col. Inf. Div. (both army reserves)
4e Armee - 1e Pol. Inf. Div. and 45e Inf. Div. (both army reserves)
8e Armee - 19e Inf. Div. (XIII Corps, GHQ Reserve), and 13e Inf. Div. (VII Corps, GHQ Reserve)

Armee des Alpes - 8e Col. Inf. Div. (GHQ Reserve)
(That one surprises me, I previously didn't know there was a Colonial unit within the Armee des Alpes.)

Note that this does not even cover the regiments, or for that matter the armored and artillery units, and also omits whether they are Class A or B troops.


The above information sourced from Francois Vauvillier's excellect research on French Order of Battle 1939-40. The only problem I have is that I don't know if F. Vauvillier has researched this all by himself, or if he had help from others or drew from other sources. I have a lot of respect for the man, but I sometimes wonder if he is overly protective of his sources (granted, I do this myself for my research), or fails to give credit to others where it is due.

I hope all of this helps a little.