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. Unlike cavalry, mounted infantry dismounted to fight on foot. The original dragoons were essentially mounted infantry. According to the ''Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Editio ...

, light horse and

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 ...

division. The division was formed in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, and along with the Anzac Mounted Division formed part of Desert Column,

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 ...

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 ...

. The division was originally made up of the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

3rd Light Horse Brigade The 3rd Light Horse Brigade was a mounted infantry brigade of the First Australian Imperial Force, Australian Imperial Force (AIF), which served in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. The brigade was initially formed as a part-time Austra ...

, (formerly Anzac Mounted Division) the reconstituted

4th Light Horse Brigade The 4th Light Horse Brigade was a mounted infantry brigade of the First Australian Imperial Force, Australian Imperial Force (AIF) serving in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. The brigade was initially formed as a part-time Australian Ar ...

, and two

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

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 remount ...

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 remounte ...

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, World War I. During the inter-war years, a number of regiments were raised as part of A ...

brigades, two British

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 ...

brigades, and a British

horse artillery Horse artillery was a type of light, fast-moving, and fast-firing field artillery that consisted of light cannons or howitzers attached to light but sturdy two-wheeled carriages called caissons or limbers, with the individual crewmen riding on h ...

brigade (four batteries). These units were: * The

was formed in Australia in October 1914 with the

8th Eighth is ordinal form of the number eight. Eighth may refer to: * One eighth, , a fraction, one of eight equal parts of a whole * Eighth note (quaver), a musical note played for half the value of a quarter note (crotchet) * Octave, an interval b ...

, 9th, and 10th Light Horse Regiments and was posted to Egypt in March 1915. It was dismounted and served in

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

from May to December attached to the

New Zealand and Australian Division The New Zealand and Australian Division was a composite army Division (military), division raised for service in the First World War under the command of Major General Alexander Godley. Consisting of several Mounted infantry, mounted and standard ...

(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 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

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 ...

in 1908 as the 1st South Midland Mounted Brigade with three

regiments: the Warwickshire Yeomanry, the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars and the Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars. Shortly after the outbreak of war, it was assigned to the 2nd Mounted Division 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 during August 1915, it formed a battalion sized unit1st South Midland Regimentin 1st Composite Mounted Brigade. It returned to Egypt in December where it was reformed and remounted. The 2nd Mounted Division was broken up in January 1916 and it served as Corps Troops from 21 January 1916 (numbered as 5th Mounted Brigade from April). It joined the division on formation. * The

was likewise formed as part of the Territorial Force in 1908 as the 2nd South Midland Mounted Brigade with three yeomanry regiments: the Royal Buckinghamshire Hussars, the Berkshire Yeomanry and the Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars. On 19 September 1914, the Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars was posted to the BEF, joining the 4th Cavalry Brigade in France. The Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry joined in the same month to replace them. The brigade's early service was identical to the 5th Mounted Brigade until January 1916 when it joined the Western Frontier Force. It joined the division on formation. * XIX Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery (T.F.) was formed for the division in January 1917 with four British Territorial Force horse artillery batteries: the 1/1st Berkshire and 1/1st Nottinghamshire Batteries of the

Royal Horse Artillery The Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) was formed in 1793 as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery (commonly termed Royal Artillery) to provide horse artillery support to the cavalry units of the British Army. Although the cavalry link rem ...

, and 1/A and 1/B Batteries of the

Honourable Artillery Company The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) is a reserve regiment in the British Army. Incorporated by royal charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII, it is the oldest regiment in the British Army and is considered the second-oldest military unit in the w ...

. All four batteries had originally gone out to Egypt with the 2nd Mounted Division in April 1915, but did not proceed to Gallipoli with the division. Instead, they variously served on the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

Defences, as part of the Western Frontier Force in the Senussi Campaign, or in

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

where 1/B Battery HAC and 1/1st Berkshire RHA fought a sharp action at Sheikh Othman that removed the Turkish threat to Aden for the rest of the war. They rejoined 2nd Mounted Division on its return from Gallipoli in December 1915, however, the dismemberment of the division began almost immediately as units were posted to the Western Frontier Force, Suez Canal Defences or to various other commands. Initially, each battery was equipped with four Ehrhardt 15-pounder guns but were re-equipped with more modern 18 pounders (four per battery) in time for the

First Battle of Gaza The First Battle of Gaza was fought on 26 March 1917 during the first attempt by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF), which was a British Empire military formation, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from th ...

(2627 March 1917). In practice, the batteries were tactically attached to the mounted brigades, for example, 1/1st Nottinghamshire RHA to the 3rd Light Horse Brigade and 1/A Battery HAC to the 4th Light Horse Brigade. The division was also provided with support units, mostly assigned or attached directly to the brigades, but including an engineer squadron, a signals squadron, and

train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

Service history

The division joined the Desert Column alongside the ANZAC Mounted Division. During the

, the division (as the ''Imperial Mounted Division'') provided protection from counter-attack on the eastern flank while the main infantry assault was underway. The brigades became the rearguard during the withdrawal from Gaza after the attack was called off.

Battles

The division served in the

Sinai and Palestine Campaign The Sinai and Palestine campaign was part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I, taking place between January 1915 and October 1918. The British Empire, the French Third Republic, and the Kingdom of Italy fought alongside the Arab Revol ...

from formation through to the end of 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 ...

including *

(26 and 27 March 1917) *

Second Battle of Gaza The Second Battle of Gaza was fought on 17–19 April 1917, following the defeat of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) at the First Battle of Gaza in March, during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War. Gaza was defended b ...

(1719 April) * Third Battle of Gaza ** Battle of Beersheba (31 October) ** El Maghar (13 and 14 November) *Defence against counter-attacks before

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

(27 November30 December) * Second Trans-Jordan Raid (30 April4 May 1918) *The Final Offensive ** Battle of Samakh (25 September) ** Capture of Damascus (1 October)

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