The 2nd Mounted Division was a

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

division that served as part of the

Egyptian Expeditionary Force The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) was a military formation of the British Empire, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and the Force in Egypt (1914–1915), at the ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

World War I 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 ...

. It was formed in April 1918 when three brigades already in Palestine were merged with elements of the

2nd Indian Cavalry Division 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 Divisio ...

withdrawn from the Western Front.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.

Formation

2nd Mounted Division

In March 1918, the

was broken up in France. The Canadian (

Canadian Cavalry Brigade The Canadian Cavalry Brigade was raised in December 1914, under its first commanding officer Brigadier-General J.E.B. Seely. It was originally composed of two Canadian and one British regiments and an attached artillery battery. The Canadian un ...

) and British units (notably

7th Dragoon Guards The 7th (The Princess Royal's) Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1688 as Lord Cavendish's Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as the 8th Horse in 1694 and the 7th (The Princess Royal's) Dragoon Guards for ...

8th Hussars The 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1693. It saw service for three centuries including the First and Second World Wars. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in force ...

and N and X Batteries RHA) remained in France and the Indian elements were sent to Egypt. By an

GHQ Order of 12 April 1918, the mounted troops of the EEF were reorganised when the Indian Army units arrived in

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

. On 24 April 1918, the 2nd Mounted Division was formed on the Indian Establishment. This new formation should not be confused with the original

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, th ...

that saw action in the Gallipoli Campaign, though the 5th and 7th Mounted Brigades served in both. *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 remount ...

was transferred from the

Australian Mounted Division The Australian Mounted Division originally formed as the Imperial Mounted Division in January 1917, was a mounted infantry, light horse and yeomanry division. The division was formed in Egypt, and along with the Anzac Mounted Division formed p ...

and merged with elements of the

3rd (Ambala) Cavalry Brigade The Ambala Cavalry Brigade was a cavalry brigade of the British Indian Army formed in 1904 as a result of the Kitchener Reforms. It was mobilized as 3rd (Ambala) Cavalry Brigade at the outbreak of the First World War as part of the 1st India ...

*the

7th Mounted Brigade The Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Mounted Brigade (later numbered as the 7th 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 be ...

(which had been acting in an independent role) was merged with elements of the

9th (Secunderabad) Cavalry Brigade The Secunderabad Cavalry Brigade was a cavalry brigade of the British Indian Army formed in 1907 as a result of the Kitchener Reforms. It was mobilized as 9th (Secunderabad) Cavalry Brigade at the outbreak of the First World War and departed f ...

*the

Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade The 15th (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigade was a brigade-sized formation that served alongside British Empire forces in the Sinai and Palestine campaign, during World War I. Originally called the Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade it was formed ...

(which had been on service in Egypt and Palestine since 1914) joined as the division's third brigade *two of the Yeomanry Regiments were merged ( 1/1st Warwickshire Yeomanry of the 5th Mounted Brigade and the 1/1st South Nottinghamshire Hussars of 7th Mounted Brigade) to form B Battalion,

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a Regiment, corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in the World War I, First World War. Th ...

; it was posted to France, arriving in June. The 1/1st Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars became the XX Corps Cavalry Regiment. They were replaced by Indian Cavalry Regiments from France. *the Field Ambulances and Mobile Veterinary Sections merged with their Indian counterparts. *the Essex Battery, RHA and ammunition column joined with 7th Mounted Brigade. *Other divisional elements were raised for the new division.

5th Cavalry Division

On 22 July 1918, the 2nd Mounted Division was renumbered as the 5th Cavalry Division and the brigades as the

13th In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the Musical note, note thirteen scale degrees from the root (chord), root of a chord (music), chord and also the interval (music), interval between the root and the thirteenth. The thirteenth is m ...

, 14th and 15th (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigades. The sub units (Signal Troops, Combined Cavalry Field Ambulances and Mobile Veterinary Sections) were renumbered on the same date.

Battles

The 2nd Mounted / 5th Cavalry Division served with the

Desert Mounted Corps The Desert Mounted Corps was an army corps of the British Army during the First World War, of three mounted divisions renamed in August 1917 by General Edmund Allenby, from Desert Column. These divisions which served in the Sinai and Palestine ...

for the rest of the war, taking part in the Second Transjordan Raid (30 April to 4 May 1918, 15th I.S. Brigade only), Affair of Abu Tellul (14 July), and the Final Offensive including the Battle of Megiddo (1925 September), Capture of Haifa (23 September, 15th I.S. Brigade only) and

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

(1 October), Affair of Haritan (26 October, 15th I.S. Brigade only) and Occupation of Aleppo (26 October). The division remained in Palestine on occupation duties after the end of the war. However, demobilization began immediately and most of the British war time units had left by the middle of 1919. 14th Cavalry Brigade was broken up in September 1919, and the 15th (I.S.) Cavalry Brigade in January 1920. The division (and 13th Cavalry Brigade) was finally broken up in April 1920.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:C5 British Indian Army divisions Indian World War I divisions Military units and formations established in 1918 Military units and formations disestablished in 1920 British cavalry divisions 1918 establishments in British-administered Palestine