The 20th Mounted Brigade previously known as the 2/1st Lowland Mounted Brigade was a 2nd Line

yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units and sub-units in the British Army Reserve which are descended from volunteer cavalry regiments that now serve in a variety of different roles. History Origins In the 1790s, following the ...

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In July 1916 it was converted to a

cyclist Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

formation as 13th Cyclist Brigade and in November 1916 was redesignated as 9th Cyclist Brigade. It was still in existence, in Ireland, at the end of the war.

Mounted Brigade

In accordance with the

Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 The Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 ( 7 Edw. 7. c. 9) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the auxiliary forces of the British Army by transferring existing Volunteer and Yeomanry units into a new Territor ...

(7 Edw.7, c.9) which brought 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 ...

into being, the TF was intended to be a home defence force for service during wartime and members could not be compelled to serve outside the country. However, on the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, many members volunteered for Imperial Service. Therefore, TF units were split in August and September 1914 into 1st Line (liable for overseas service) and 2nd Line (home service for those unable or unwilling to serve overseas) units. Later, a 3rd Line was formed to act as a reserve, providing trained replacements for the 1st and 2nd Line regiments. Similarly, by 1915 most 2nd Line yeomanry regiments were formed into 2nd Line mounted brigades with the same title and composition as the pre-war 1st Line formations. Two other 2nd Line brigades ( 2/1st Southern Mounted Brigade and

2/1st Western Mounted Brigade The W21 was a hydrogen bomb design for the US military. It would have used the physics package of the TX-21 bomb. The TX-21 was a weaponized version of the "Shrimp" device tested in the Bravo shot of Operation Castle. A TX-21C was tested as the ...

) without 1st Line antecedents were also formed. 2/1st Lowland Mounted Brigade was a mirror formation of the 1st Line Lowland Mounted Brigade. It was raised in Scotland and had under command the 2/1st Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry, the 2/1st Lanarkshire Yeomanry, and the 2/1st Lothians and Border Horse. By March 1916, the brigade was at

Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the Anglo–Scottish border, English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and ...

East Lothian East Lothian (; ; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In ...

. On 31 March 1916, the remaining Mounted Brigades were ordered to be numbered in a single sequence and the brigade became 21st Mounted Brigade, still at Dunbar under

Scottish Command Scottish Command or Army Headquarters Scotland (from 1972) is a Command (military formation), command of the British Army. History Early history Great Britain was divided into military districts on the outbreak of Anglo-French War (1793–180 ...

Cyclist Brigade

In July 1916 there was a major reorganization of 2nd Line yeomanry units in the United Kingdom. All but 12 regiments were converted to

cyclists Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world for pur ...

and as a consequence the brigade was converted to 13th Cyclist Brigade. Further reorganization in October and November 1916 saw the brigade redesignated as 9th Cyclist Brigade in November, still at Dunbar. In July 1917, 2/1st Lothians and Border Horse moved to Haddington. About May 1918 the Brigade moved to Ireland. 2/1st Ayrshire was stationed at

Omagh Omagh (; from , meaning 'the virgin plain') is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers River Drumragh, Drumragh and Camowen River, Camowen meet to form the River Strule, Strule. Northern Ireland's c ...

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

, the 2/1st Lanarkshire at

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

, and the 2/1st Lothians and Border Horse at Londonderry and

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 14,086 at the 2011 censu ...

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen is the ...

. There were no further changes before the end of the war.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * {{cite book , last = Rinaldi , first = Richard A , year = 2008 , title = Order of Battle of the British Army 1914 , publisher = Ravi Rikhye , isbn = 978-0-97760728-0 Cyclist units and formations of the British Army Mounted Brigades of the British Army Military units and formations disestablished in 1914 Military units and formations disestablished in 1918

Mounted Brigade

Cyclist Brigade

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography