3rd Cavalry Division | |
---|---|
Active | 1 September 1914 – 31 March 1919 |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | British Army |
Type | Cavalry |
Size | Division |
Part of | Cavalry Corps |
Engagements | World War I |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy |
The 3rd Cavalry Division was a division of the British Army in the First World War. It was formed at Ludgershall, Wiltshire England in September 1914 under the command of Major-General the Hon. Julian Byng. The division moved to Belgium in the first week of October 1914, landing at Ostend, although its third Brigade was only formed there once. [3] During the war the division took part in most of the major actions where cavalry were used as a mounted mobile force, and also many where the troops were dismounted and effectively served as infantry. [3]
On 11 November 1918, units of the division had reached the River Dender at Leuze and Lessines in Belgium, when orders were received that they would cover the advance of the British Second Army into Germany. They started the advance on 17 November, divisional headquarters being established at Waterloo on 21 November. The following year they wintered in Belgium, and the division was officially demobilised by 31 March 1919. [3]
The 3rd Cavalry Division began forming on 1 September 1914 at Ludgershall, Wiltshire. Initially it commanded just two cavalry brigades – the 6th and the 7th – and divisional troops. [1]
The 6th Cavalry Brigade was formed with the 1st Dragoons [4] and the 10th Hussars, [5] both from Potchefstroom, South Africa, and the 3rd Dragoon Guards from the Force in Egypt (though they did not join the brigade until 4 November in Belgium), [4] the only regular British Army cavalry regiments not stationed in the United Kingdom or India at the outbreak of the war. [lower-alpha 1]
The 7th Cavalry Brigade was formed with the three Household Cavalry regiments, [7] the only regular cavalry regiments remaining in the United Kingdom after mobilization of the BEF and its transport to France. [lower-alpha 2] The 1st Life Guards joined from Hyde Park, the 2nd Life Guards from Regent's Park and the Royal Horse Guards from Windsor. Each regiment only consisted of two squadrons as each had provided a squadron to the Household Cavalry Composite Regiment in 4th Cavalry Brigade in August 1914. The detached squadrons did not rejoin their parent regiments until 11 November 1914 in Belgium. [4]
XV Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery (and Brigade Ammunition Column) was formed for the division. In peacetime, K Battery, RHA was at Christchurch and C Battery, RHA at Canterbury. Later, G Battery, RHA (originally at Ipswich) would join in Belgium. Strangely, two RHA brigades formed early in the war were simultaneously designated as XV Brigade, RHA. The other was formed at Leamington, Warwickshire in January 1915 for 29th Division. [8] The 3rd Cavalry Division's brigade was renumbered as IV Brigade, RHA in May 1915. [9]
The 3rd Field Squadron, Royal Engineers was formed on 16 September and the 3rd Signal Squadron, Royal Engineers on 12 September, both at Ludgershall. [1] The division was also provided with two Cavalry Field Ambulances (6th and 7th), two Mobile Veterinary Sections (13th and 14th), and a divisional supply column (four companies of the Army Service Corps). [7]
The division departed Ludgershall on 5 October, embarked at Southampton on 6 October and landed at Ostend on 8 October (7th Brigade at Zeebrugge on 7 October [4] ) and deployed to the Western Front in France and Belgium. [1]
The 3rd Cavalry Division served on the Western Front until the end of the war. In 1914, the division saw action in the defence of Antwerp (9 and 10 October) and the First Battle of Ypres, notably the battles of Langemarck (21–24 October), Gheluvelt (29–31 October) and Nonne Bosschen (11 November).
To bring the division up to the standard strength of three brigades, the 8th Cavalry Brigade was formed in Belgium on 20 November 1914 with the 10th Hussars from 6th Cavalry Brigade and the Royal Horse Guards from 7th Cavalry Brigade. [7] Each brigade was made up to three-regiment strength with yeomanry regiments: 6th Cavalry Brigade with the 1/1st North Somerset Yeomanry from 1st South Western Mounted Brigade, [10] 7th Cavalry Brigade with the 1/1st Leicestershire Yeomanry from North Midland Mounted Brigade, [11] and 8th Cavalry Brigade with the 1/1st Essex Yeomanry from Eastern Mounted Brigade. [12] With the addition of its third brigade, 3rd Cavalry Division also obtained a third Cavalry Field Ambulance (8th, from England on 23 December) and a third Mobile Veterinary Section (20th, from England on 9 March 1915). [7]
In 1915, the division took part in the Second Battle of Ypres (Battle of Frezenberg Ridge, 11–13 May) and the Battle of Loos (26–28 September).[ citation needed ]
On 29 February 1916, Machine Gun Squadrons were added to the cavalry brigades, formed from the machine gun sections of each brigade's constituent regiments. [13]
1916 saw no notable actions, but in 1917 the division saw action in the Battle of Arras (First Battle of the Scarpe, 9–12 April). [1] At other times, the brigades formed dismounted units and served in the trenches as regiments under the command of their brigadiers. [14]
In March 1918, the 4th (formerly 1st Indian) and 5th (formerly 2nd Indian) Cavalry Divisions were broken up in France. The Indian elements were sent to Egypt where they formed part of the new 4th and 5th Cavalry Divisions which played a major part in the successful conclusion of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. The British and Canadian units remained in France [15] and most of them were transferred to the 3rd Cavalry Division causing it to be extensively reorganized. [7]
The Household Cavalry regiments were concentrated in the 7th Cavalry Brigade and the yeomanry regiments in the 8th Cavalry Brigade. The latter left the division on 14 March 1918, the day after the Canadian Cavalry Brigade joined from 5th Cavalry Division. [16] The three Household Cavalry regiments left 7th Cavalry Brigade on 10 March. They were dismounted and converted to machine gunners as No. 1 (1st Life Guards), No. 2 (2nd Life Guards) and No. 3 (Royal Horse Guards) Battalions of the Guards Machine Gun Regiment at Étaples. [4] They were replaced in the brigade on the same day by the 7th Dragoon Guards from 9th (Secunderabad) Cavalry Brigade of the 5th Cavalry Division, [17] the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons from 5th (Mhow) Cavalry Brigade of the 4th Cavalry Division [18] and the 17th Lancers from 2nd (Sialkot) Cavalry Brigade also of the 4th Cavalry Division. [18] On 11 March, all three regiments came on the British War Establishment i.e. changed from a 4-squadron to a 3-squadron organisation. [7]
1918 saw the return of the war of movement and the division took part in the First Battle of the Somme notably the Battle of St Quentin (21–23 March), Actions of the Somme Crossings (24 and 25 March) and Battle of the Avre (4 and 5 April); the Battle of Amiens and the battles of the Hindenburg Line (Battle of Cambrai, 8 and 9 October and the Pursuit to the Selle, 9–12 October). Its final action was in the Advance in Flanders (9–11 November). [2]
At the Armistice, units of the division had reached the River Dender at Leuze and Lessines in Belgium, when orders were received that they would cover the advance of the Second Army into Germany. They started the advance on 17 November, divisional headquarters being established at Waterloo on 21 November. Transport difficulties meant that the only one cavalry division could advance with Second Army so the following winter was spent in Belgium. By 31 March 1919, the division was demobilized. [2]
6th Cavalry Brigade was formed on 19 September 1914 at Ludgershall, Wiltshire and served with the division throughout the war. [1]
Unit | From | To |
---|---|---|
1st (Royal) Dragoons | 19 September 1914 | |
10th (Prince Of Wales’s Own Royal) Hussars | 22 September 1914 | 20 November 1914 |
12 March 1918 | ||
3rd (Prince Of Wales’s) Dragoon Guards | 4 November 1914 | |
1/1st North Somerset Yeomanry | 13 November 1914 | 13 March 1918 |
April 1918 [lower-alpha 3] | ||
C Battery, RHA | 19 October 1914 | |
6th Signal Troop Royal Engineers | 19 September 1914 | |
6th Cavalry Brigade Machine Gun Squadron, MGC | 28 February 1916 |
7th Cavalry Brigade was formed on 1 September 1914 at Ludgershall, Wiltshire and served with the division throughout the war. It was extensively restructured on 10 March 1918. [1]
Unit | From | To |
---|---|---|
1st Life Guards | 1 September 1914 | 10 March 1918 |
2nd Life Guards | 1 September 1914 | 10 March 1918 |
Royal Horse Guards | 1 September 1914 | 21 November 1914 |
7 November 1917 | 10 March 1918 | |
1/1st Leicestershire Yeomanry | 12 November 1914 | 7 November 1917 |
7th (Princess Royal’s) Dragoon Guards | 10 March 1918 | |
6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons | 10 March 1918 | |
17th (Duke Of Cambridge’s Own) Lancers | 10 March 1918 | |
K Battery, RHA | 16 October 1914 | |
7th Signal Troop Royal Engineers | 1 September 1914 | |
7th Cavalry Brigade Machine Gun Squadron, MGC | 28 February 1916 | 14 April 1918 [lower-alpha 4] |
8th Cavalry Brigade Machine Gun Squadron, MGC | 11 March 1918 [lower-alpha 5] |
8th Cavalry Brigade was formed in Belgium on 20 November 1914. It left the division on 14 March 1918, the day after the Canadian Cavalry Brigade joined. [16]
Unit | From | To |
---|---|---|
Royal Horse Guards | 20 November 1914 | 7 November 1917 |
10th (Prince Of Wales’s Own Royal) Hussars | 20 November 1914 | 12 March 1918 |
1/1st Essex Yeomanry | 11 December 1914 | 14 March 1918 |
1/1st Leicestershire Yeomanry | 7 November 1917 | 14 March 1918 |
1/1st North Somerset Yeomanry | 13 March 1918 | 14 March 1918 |
G Battery, RHA | 25 November 1914 | 13 March 1918 |
8th Signal Troop Royal Engineers | 20 November 1914 | |
8th Cavalry Brigade Machine Gun Squadron, MGC | 29 February 1916 | 11 March 1918 [lower-alpha 5] |
The Canadian Cavalry Brigade was attached to the division from 10 April to 17 June 1916 before transferring to the 2nd Indian Cavalry Division. [14] It rejoined the division on 13 March 1918 from 5th Cavalry Division. [7]
The division was supported by the following units: [7]
Unit | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Engineers | 3rd Field Squadron, Royal Engineers | 16 September 1914 | |
Signals | 3rd Signal Squadron, Royal Engineers | 12 September 1914 | |
Medical | 6th Cavalry Field Ambulance | 14 September 1914 | |
7th Cavalry Field Ambulance | 3 October 1914 | ||
8th Cavalry Field Ambulance | 23 December 1914 | 14 March 1918 [lower-alpha 8] | |
7th Canadian Field Ambulance | 13 March 1918 [lower-alpha 9] | ||
No. 12 Sanitary Section | 9 January 1915 [14] | ||
3rd Cavalry Division Field Ambulance Workshop | 14 May 1915 | 1 April 1916 [lower-alpha 10] | |
Veterinary | 13th Mobile Veterinary Section | Formation | |
14th Mobile Veterinary Section | Formation | ||
20th Mobile Veterinary Section | 9 March 1915 | 14 March 1918 [lower-alpha 11] | |
"A" Canadian Mobile Veterinary Section | 13 March 1918 [lower-alpha 12] | ||
Army Service Corps | 81st (Horsed Transport) Company, ASC HQ 3rd Cavalry Divisional ASC | 14 September 1914 | |
576th (Horsed Transport) Company, ASC 3rd Cavalry Divisional Auxiliary (Horse) Company | 23 September 1915 | ||
73rd (Mechanical Transport) Company, ASC 3rd Cavalry Divisional Supply Column | 4 September 1914 | ||
414th (Mechanical Transport) Company, ASC 3rd Cavalry Divisional Supply Column | 16 September 1914 | 10 October 1916 [lower-alpha 13] | |
76th (Mechanical Transport) Company, ASC 3rd Cavalry Divisional Ammunition Park | Formation | 23 December 1917 | |
Others | 7th Light Armoured Car Battery | 30 March 1916 | 18 July 1917 [7] |
773rd Divisional Employment Company | 16 September 1917 [7] |
The 3rd Cavalry Division had the following commanders: [19]
From | Rank | Name |
---|---|---|
29 September 1914 Formation | Major-General | the Hon. J. H. G. Byng [lower-alpha 14] |
19 April 1915 | Brigadier-General | D. G. M. Campbell (acting) |
4 May 1915 | Major-General | the Hon. J. H. G. Byng |
7 May 1915 | Major-General | C. J. Briggs |
12 October 1915 | Brigadier-General | C. B. Bulkeley-Johnson (acting) |
15 October 1915 | Major-General | J. Vaughan |
17 October 1917 | Brigadier-General | A. E. W. Harman (acting) |
8 December 1917 | Major-General | J. Vaughan |
14 March 1918 | Brigadier-General | A. E. W. Harman (acting) |
5 May 1918 | Major-General | A. E. W. Harman |
The Yeomanry Mounted Division was a Territorial Force cavalry division formed at Khan Yunis in Palestine in June 1917 from three yeomanry mounted brigades. It served in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War, mostly as part of the Desert Mounted Corps. In April 1918 six of the regiments were withdrawn from the division and sent to France, being converted from Yeomanry to battalions of the Machine Gun Corps. These were replaced by Indian Army cavalry regiments withdrawn from France, and the division was renamed 1st Mounted Division, the third such division to bear that title. In July the combined division was renamed as the 4th Cavalry Division.
The 1st Cavalry Division was a regular Division of the British Army during the First World War where it fought on the Western Front. During the Second World War it was a first line formation, formed from Yeomanry Regiments. It fought in the Middle East before being converted to the 10th Armoured Division.
The Leicestershire Yeomanry (Prince Albert's Own) was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1794 and again in 1803, which provided cavalry and mounted infantry in the Second Boer War and the First World War and provided two field artillery regiments of the Royal Artillery in the Second World War, before being amalgamated with the Derbyshire Yeomanry to form the Leicestershire and Derbyshire (Prince Albert's Own) Yeomanry in 1957. The regiment's lineage is currently perpetuated by E (Leicestershire and Derbyshire Yeomanry) Squadron of the Royal Yeomanry.
The 4th Cavalry Brigade was a cavalry brigade of the British Army. It served in the Napoleonic Wars, in the First World War on the Western Front where it was initially assigned to The Cavalry Division before spending most of the war with the 2nd Cavalry Division, and with the 1st Cavalry Division during the Second World War.
The 5th Cavalry Brigade was a cavalry brigade of the British Army. It served in the Napoleonic Wars, in the First World War on the Western Front where it was initially independent before being assigned to the 2nd Cavalry Division, and with the 1st Cavalry Division during the Second World War.
The 6th Cavalry Brigade was a cavalry brigade of the British Army. It served in the Napoleonic Wars, in the First World War on the Western Front where it was assigned to the 3rd Cavalry Division, and with the 1st Cavalry Division during the Second World War.
The 2nd Cavalry Division was a division of the regular British Army that saw service in the Peninsular War and in World War I, when it also known as Gough's Command, after its commanding general. It was part of the British Expeditionary Force that served in France in from 1914 to 1918. It was involved in most of the major actions where cavalry were used as a mounted mobile force, and also many where the troops were dismounted and effectively served as infantry.
The 2nd Indian Cavalry Division was a division of the British Indian Army formed at the outbreak of World War I. It served on the Western Front, being renamed as 5th Cavalry Division on 26 November 1916. In March 1918, the 5th Cavalry Division was broken up. The British and Canadian units remained in France and the Indian elements were sent to Egypt to help constitute 2nd Mounted Division.
This is the order of battle for the First Battle of Ypres fought from 19 October to 22 November 1914 as one of the main engagements of the First World War. It was fought between mixed British Expeditionary Force, French eighth army and armies of the German Empire in northern France and Flanders.
The 1st South Midland Mounted Brigade was a yeomanry brigade of the British Army, formed as part of the Territorial Force in 1908.
The London Mounted Brigade was a yeomanry brigade of the British Army, formed as part of the Territorial Force in 1908.
The Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Mounted Brigade was a yeomanry brigade of the British Army, formed as part of the Territorial Force in 1908.
The 3rd Cavalry Brigade was a cavalry brigade of the British Army. It served in the Napoleonic Wars, in the Boer War, and in the First World War on the Western Front where it was initially assigned to The Cavalry Division before spending most of the war with the 2nd Cavalry Division.
The 9th Cavalry Brigade was a cavalry brigade of the British Army in World War I. It was formed in France in 1915 and served on the Western Front as part of the 1st Cavalry Division until the end of the war.
The Yorkshire Mounted Brigade was a formation of Britain's part-time Territorial Force organised in 1908. Mobilised on the outbreak of World War I, its regiments had been posted away by 1915 so it was broken up. It never saw active service.
The 7th Cavalry Brigade was a cavalry brigade of the British Army. It served in the Napoleonic Wars, notably at the Battle of Waterloo. It was reformed in 1914 and served on the Western Front as part of the 3rd Cavalry Division until the end of World War I.
The 8th Cavalry Brigade was a cavalry brigade of the British Army in World War I. It was formed in Belgium in 1914 and served on the Western Front as part of the 3rd Cavalry Division. It left the 3rd Cavalry Division on 14 March 1918.
The First World War British Cavalry Corps was formed 9 October 1914.
The 2nd Mounted Division was a cavalry division that served as part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in Palestine in World War I. It was formed in April 1918 when three brigades already in Palestine were merged with elements of the 2nd Indian Cavalry Division withdrawn from the Western Front. In July 1918, the division was renamed as the 5th Cavalry Division. It remained in Palestine after the end of the war on occupation duties until finally broken up in 1920.
IV Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery was a brigade of the Royal Horse Artillery which existed in the early part of the 20th century. It served with 3rd Cavalry Division throughout World War I but was dissolved shortly thereafter.