5th Dragoon Regiment The 5th Dragoon Regiment ( " 5 Régiment de Dragons " or " 5 RD " ) was a cavalry unit in the French Army , created under the Ancien Régime in 1656 and dissolved in 2003 . This regiment has a double heritage . History . As part of Napoleon ' s " Grande Armée " it fought at Wertingen , Auterlitz in 1805 , Nasielsk in 1806 , Eylau , and the Battle of Friedland in 1807 . In 1815 , during the Waterloo campaign of the Hundred Days , the regiment was at the Battle of Ligny and the Battle of Waterloo World War I . On July 31 , 1914 , the regiment was assigned to the Sordet cavalry corps brigades the 21st Dragoon at the 5th Division of General Lastour . In August , it participated in the raid on Belgium which led to the siege of Liège , then Neufchâteau , Fleurus and Orbais , and then was back in France in Maubeuge on August 21 . From August 23 to September 4 , the regiment covered the retreat of the French Army after the defeat at the Battle of Charleroi . The regiment was near Versailles on September 5 . In the First Battle of the Marne , September 5 to 14 , the 5th Dragoon was engaged in Betz , Nanteuil , Margny , Rosière and Senlis . Following these successes , the regiment received the honour of adding " L ' Ourcq 1914 " on its banner . In the " Race to the Sea " from September 14 , the 5th Dragoons crossed the Somme in Péronne , fighting in the First Battle of Arras , Picardy , in Lens on October 4 , an attack by foot in Riez - Bailleul where it pushed the enemy back several kilometres . On November 11 , it arrived near Ypres , where it dug in the trenches . In February 1915 , the regiment embarked for Champagne , then in March for the Vosges , where it has the honour of inscribing " Vosges 1915 " on its banner . In May , the 5th Dragoon is in Amiens , in June in Artois where it goes back to serving in the trenches . 1916 : The regiment still serves in the trenches , in groups of 200 men . Colonel Massiat replace Colonel Dauve at the commandment of the regiment . 1917 : On March 19 , the 5th Dragoon reaches Noyon , where it is employed in discovery missions in the surroundings of Chauny - Tergnier and then , by foot , goes back in the trenches in the Coucy sector . On August 15 , Lieutenant - Colonel Bucant succeeds to Colonel Massiat . 1918 : Until the end of May , the regiment remains inactive , stationed for rest . On March 18 , a new change in the corps commandment brings Lieutement - Colonel Letexerant at the head of the 5th Dragoon . On May 28 , the regiment brings itself towards Meaux , after a long horse march . The 5th Dragoon sets foot in Mareuil and occupies Montigny . On June 2 , it attacks the enemy by foot in Marizy and Passy - en - Valois . This surprise attack , without artillery preparation , stops the progression of German troops . In July , in Villesaint , the Germans , who had taken over Dermans and Château - Tierry and has crossed the Marne are driven back , after several counter - attacks , by - foot members of the 5th Dragoon . On July 17 , the regiment participates in the recapture of Œuilly and to the enemy ' s rejection on the Marne . The Second Battle of the Marne is won and the banner now bears the name of that victory : " La Marne 1918 " . The Germans are retreating and the 5th Dragoon is informed of the victory a few kilometres before Nancy on November 11 , 1918 . The 5th Dragoon Regiment participated in the final offensive , entering the Palatinate on December 6 and was stationed in Pirmasens from December to January 1919 , then in Landau in February , then Nierstein Oppenhiem on the Rhine in July 1919 . In September , the regiment settles in Worms , then Düsseldorf . It was not until 1925 that the 5th Dragoon returned to France , first in Auxonne and the in Gray , where it wasdisbanded on October 28 , 1928 . In November 1929 the regimental banner was entrusted to the 5 Battaillon de dragons portés , a unit that had just been created , on March 9 , 1929 , replacing the 6 groupe de Chasseurs Cyclistes . World War II . In 1939 the " 5 bataillon de dragons portés " was transformed into the " 5th Dragoon Regiment " . As part of the 1st Cavalry Division it embarked for Aisne on August 27 . Following a reorganization in 1940 it passed in the 11th B . L . M . of the Arras General in February . On May 10 , it is in Revin , crossed over the Meuse in Dinan and foght in Belgium until May 15 , where it participated in the beautiful feat of arms of Morville which allowed the banner to bear the inscription " Meuse 1940 " . Significantly diminished , the remaining elements pulled back and took position from Hirson , after which they regrouped in Le Nouvion on May 16 . On May 17 , they settle as support in Oisy . On May 18 , what remained of the regiment , 10 officers and 130 brigadiers and dragoons carrying about 5 cartridges each , withdraw in Bohain . While moving , they were intercepted by German tanks . After this last combat with no ammunition left , they remaining elements were taken prisoner . The survivors and the regimentary batch withdraw in la Souterraine , where the regiment is disbanded . The banner was taken from the Germans and hidden in the castle of Meyrieu , where it remained until the Libération . Following the model of the armistice army , the regiment was reformed in Mâcon in August 1940 . On November 8 , 1942 , following the Anglo - American invasion of French North Africa , the regiment was sent to Toulon to participate in costal defence , which lasted 10 days . Under Case Anton , the Germans occupied Vichy France and the regiment was disarmed at Macon on September 27 . The Resistance . Most of the demobilized fight in clandestinely . Many of them , arrested by the Gestapo are tortured , massacred or die in deportation . Their sacrifice allows for the inscription " Résistance Bourgogne 1944 " on their banner . The 5th in resistance participation to the liberation of Mâcon , Chalon - sur - Saône and Autun . In September 1944 , reconstituted in G . R . D . , it holds the sector of the Beaufortin in the Alps and fights in the Unbaye . On April 22 and 23 , 1944 , it takes the La Roche - la - Croix and Saint - Ours forts and participates in the capture of the Col de Larche . On Easter Monday of 1945 in Chambéry , General de Gaulle gives the banner back to the regiment . The 5th Dragoon is transformed into two squadrons of Hotchkiss tanks and two of de - reconnaissance on Bren Carriers . In July 1994 , the land army reorganization put the regiment into the 27th Mountain Infantry Division . It became the armored regiment of the division with its headquarters in Grenoble . Filiation . Double heritage : Corps chiefs . Colonel Generals ( from 1668 ) Banner . " It bears , sewed in golden letters in its layers , the following inscriptions : Decorations . " Its tie is decorated " : Badges . Heraldry . The first badge was designed in 1929 by Captain Lemaire . It represented an " azure star kept in a giant ivory number 5 - the badge being entirely enamelled and unframed " . The last badge to be used was created in 1965 . It features the model helmet from 1874 , with which the Dragoons went to the front in 1914 . The mane was exaggeratedly widened in order to accommodate the crowned monogram of king Louis XIV , framing the number 5 . The inscription on the edging reminds us that the regiment was created in 1668 to be attached to the responsibility of the Colonel General of the Dragoon s created the same year for the benefit of the famous Duke of Lauzun .