The Australian Mounted Division originally formed as the Imperial Mounted Division in January 1917, was a

mounted infantry Mounted infantry were infantry who rode horses instead of marching. The original dragoons were essentially mounted infantry. According to the 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', "Mounted rifles are half cavalry, mounted infantry merely speciall ...

, light horse and

yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army Reserve, descended from volunteer cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of different military roles. History Origins In the 1790s, f ...

division. The division was formed in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

, and along with the Anzac Mounted Division formed part of

Desert Column The Desert Column was a First World War British Empire army corps which operated in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign from 22 December 1916.There is no war diary for Desert Column for December. See The Column was commanded by Lieutenant General ...

Egyptian Expeditionary Force The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) was a British Empire military formation, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and the Force in Egypt (1914–15), at the beginning o ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. The division was originally made up of the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

n 3rd Light Horse Brigade, (formerly Anzac Mounted Division) the reconstituted

4th Light Horse Brigade The 4th Light Horse Brigade was a mounted infantry brigade of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) serving in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. The brigade was initially formed as a part-time militia formation in the early 1900s in Vict ...

, and two British yeomanry brigades; the

5th Mounted Brigade The 1st South Midland Mounted Brigade (later numbered as the 5th Mounted Brigade) was a yeomanry brigade of the British Army, formed as part of the Territorial Force in 1908. It served dismounted in the Gallipoli Campaign before being remo ...

and

6th Mounted Brigade The 2nd South Midland Mounted Brigade (later numbered as the 6th Mounted Brigade) was a yeomanry brigade of the British Army, formed as part of the Territorial Force in 1908. It served dismounted in the Gallipoli Campaign before being remount ...

History

Formation

The Imperial Mounted Division was formed in Egypt in 1917 by bringing together two

Australian Light Horse Australian Light Horse were mounted troops with characteristics of both cavalry and mounted infantry, who served in the Second Boer War and World War I. During the inter-war years, a number of regiments were raised as part of Australia's part-t ...

brigades, two British

Yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army Reserve, descended from volunteer cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of different military roles. History Origins In the 1790s, f ...

brigades, and a British

horse artillery Horse artillery was a type of light, fast-moving, and fast-firing artillery which provided highly mobile fire support, especially to cavalry units. Horse artillery units existed in armies in Europe, the Americas, and Asia, from the early 17th to ...

brigade (four

batteries Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

). These units were: * The 3rd Light Horse Brigade was formed in Australia in October 1914 with the 8th, 9th, and 10th Light Horse Regiments and was posted to Egypt in March 1915. It was dismounted and served in

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles s ...

from May to December attached to the

New Zealand and Australian Division The New Zealand and Australian Division was a composite army division raised for service in the First World War under the command of Major General Alexander Godley. Consisting of several mounted and standard infantry brigades from both New Zea ...

(notably the Battle of Sari Bair). It joined the ANZAC Mounted Division when it was formed in March 1916 and saw action with it at the battles of

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

and Magdhaba. It joined the division on formation in January 1917; it was replaced in the ANZAC Mounted Division by the British

22nd Mounted Brigade The North Midland Mounted Brigade (later numbered as the 22nd Mounted Brigade) was a yeomanry brigade of the British Army, formed as part of the Territorial Force in 1908. It served in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in the First World War. ...

. * The

was formed in Australia in February 1915 with the 11th, 12th, and 13th Light Horse Regiments and was posted to Egypt in July 1915. The brigade was broken up: the 11th Light Horse Regiment was dismounted and served in Gallipoli as reinforcements to other regiments; the 12th Light Horse Regiment was dismounted and attached to the 3rd Light Horse Brigade in Gallipoli (AugustDecember 1915) and 2nd Light Horse Brigade in Egypt (April 1915January 1917); and the 13th Light Horse Regiment remained mounted and joined the 2nd Australian Division. The brigade was reformed in January 1917with the 4th Light Horse Regiment in place of the 13th and joined the division on formation. * The

was formed as part of the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry ...

in 1908 as the

1st South Midland Mounted Brigade First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

with three

regiments: the

Warwickshire Yeomanry The Warwickshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1794, which served as cavalry and machine gunners in the First World War and as a cavalry and an armoured regiment in the Second World War, before being amalg ...

, the

Royal Gloucestershire Hussars The Royal Gloucestershire Hussars was a volunteer yeomanry regiment which, in the 20th century, became part of the British Army Reserve. It traced its origins to the First or Cheltenham Troop of Gloucestershire Gentleman and Yeomanry raised ...

and the

Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars The Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army. First raised in 1794, it participated in the Second Boer War and World War I as horsed cavalry before being converted to an anti-tank regiment of the Royal Artil ...

. Shortly after the outbreak of war, it was assigned to the

2nd Mounted Division The 2nd Mounted Division was a yeomanry ( Territorial Army cavalry) division that served in the First World War. At the outbreak of war it was assigned to defence of the Norfolk coast. In March 1915 it formed a 2nd Line duplicate of itself, ...

and moved to Egypt in April 1915. It was dismounted in August 1915 and took part in the Gallipoli Campaign as 1st Mounted Brigade, notably the Battle of Scimitar Hill. Due to losses and

wastage {{Short pages monitor

Orders of battle

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

First AIF Order of Battle 1914–1918: Australian Mounted Division
{{Australian Light Horse Divisions of Australia in World War I Cavalry divisions Military units and formations established in 1917 Military units and formations disestablished in 1919