2nd Indian Cavalry Division

2nd Indian Cavalry Division
Active 1914 - 1918
Country India
Branch British Indian Army
Type Cavalry
Size Division
Part of Indian Cavalry Corps
Engagements Battle of the Somme
Battle of Bazentin
Battle of Flers-Courcelette
Hindenburg Line
Battle of Cambrai

The 2nd Indian Cavalry Division was a regular division of the British Indian Army during World War I.

Contents

History

The division sailed for France from Bombay on October 16, 1914, under the command of Major General G A Cookson. During the war the division would serve in the trenches as infantry. Due to the difference on troop levels each cavalry brigade, once dismounted, formed a dismounted regiment.

In March 1916 the 2nd Indian Cavalry Division was attached to the British Fourth Army. On July 1, 1916 the Secunderabad Cavalry Brigade moved into a reserve position on the Somme, ready to exploit any breakthrough. The same brigade was sent up again on July 14, to Montauban to support the attack on the Bazentin - Longueval ridge. At 17.30 the leading two regiments were ordered to advance between High Wood and Delville Wood. The British 7th Dragoon Guards and the Indian 20th Deccan Horse galloped forward to a position between the woods, but little could be achieved. At 03.30 on July 15 , they returned to Montauban, having suffered casualties of 74 men and 110 horses. Cavalry units were again brought forward on September 15 to support the attack on Flers-Courcelette , but were not drawn into the fighting and played no further part in the Battle of the Somme except as labour units in reserve. The high number of officer casualties suffered early on had an effect on its later performance. British officers that understood the language, customs, and psychology of their men could not be quickly replaced, and the alien environment of the Western Front had some effect on the soldiers.[1] The 2nd Indian Cavalry Division was renamed the 5th Cavalry Division on 26 November 1916 and attached to the 5th Army.[2]

Order of Battle December 1914

5th (Mhow) Cavalry Brigade

6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons
2nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse)
38th King George's Own Central India Horse
X Battery Royal Horse Artillery

7th (Meerut) Cavalry Brigade

13th Hussars
3rd Skinner's Horse
18th King George's Own Lancers
V Battery Royal Horse Artillery

9th (Secunderabad) Cavalry Brigade

7th (Princess Royal's) Dragoon Guards
20th Deccan Horse
34th Prince Albert Victor's Own Poona Horse
N Battery Royal Horse Artillery

Order of Battle March 1917

3rd (Ambala) Cavalry Brigade

8th Hussars
9th Hodson's Horse
18th King George's Own Lancers
X Battery Royal Horse Artillery
14th Machine Gun Squadron

9th (Secunderabad) Cavalry Brigade

7th (Princess Royal's) Dragoon Guards
20th Deccan Horse
34th Prince Albert Victor's Own Poona Horse
N Battery Royal Horse Artillery
13th Machine Gun Squadron

Canadian Cavalry Brigade

Royal Canadian Dragoons
Lord Strathcona's Horse
Fort Garry Horse
Royal Canadian Horse Artillery Brigade
Canadian Cavalry Brigade Machine Gun Squadron

Order of Battle September 1918

13th Cavalry Brigade (Brigadier General P. J. V. Kelly)
Royal Gloucestershire Hussars
9th Hodson's Horse
18th King George's Own Lancers
14th Cavalry Brigade (Brigadier General G. V. Clarke)
Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry
20th Deccan Horse
34th Prince Albert Victor's Own Poona Horse
15th (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigade (Brigadier General C. R. Harbord)
Jodhpur Lancers
Mysore Lancers
1st Hyderabad Lancer
'B' Battery HAC
Essex Battery RHA with Divisional Ammunition Column. [3]

References

Perry, F.W. (1993). History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions: Indian Army Divisions Pt. 5B. Ray Westlake Books. ISBN 1-871167-23-X

Preston, R. M. P. (1921). The Desert Mounted Corps: An Account of the Cavalry Operations in Palestine and Syria 1917–1918. London: Constable & Co.. OCLC 3900439. 

  1. ^ Haythornthwaite P.J. (1992). The World War One Sourcebook, Arms and Armour Press.
  2. ^ "1914-1918". http://www.1914-1918.net/bat17.htm. 
  3. ^ Preston 1921 pp. 336