The 4th Mounted Division was a short-lived Yeomanry Division of the British Army active during World War I. It was formed on 20 March 1916, converted to 2nd Cyclist Division in July 1916 and broken up on 16 November 1916. It remained in England on Home Defence duties throughout its existence.

History

4th Mounted Division

The 4th Mounted Division was formed on 20 March 1916 from three 2nd Line mounted brigades ( 2/1st Eastern, 2/1st South Eastern and 2/1st South Western) and the new 2/1st Southern Mounted Brigade. The

Headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

was at Colchester and

Brigadier-General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

( Major-General from 26 May) Lord Lovat was appointed to command. The brigades were stationed at Wivenhoe, Canterbury, Kelvedon and Manningtree; they were numbered as

13th In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octave pl ...

14th 14 (fourteen) is a natural number following 13 (number), 13 and preceding 15 (number), 15. In relation to the word "four" (4), 14 is spelled "fourteen". In mathematics * 14 is a composite number. * 14 is a square pyramidal number. * 14 is a s ...

15th 15 (fifteen) is the natural number following 14 (number), 14 and preceding 16 (number), 16. Mathematics 15 is: * A composite number, and the sixth semiprime; its proper divisors being , and . * A deficient number, a smooth number, a lucky ...

and

16th Mounted Brigade The 4th Mounted Division was a short-lived Yeomanry Division of the British Army active during World War I. It was formed on 20 March 1916, converted to 2nd Cyclist Division in July 1916 and broken up on 16 November 1916. It remained in England ...

s, respectively, on 31 March. Being formed relatively late, it did not appear to suffer the same organizational problems (lack of equipment and personnel) as other 2nd Line divisions, for example the 1st and

2/2nd Mounted Division The 3rd Mounted Division was a Yeomanry Division of the British Army active during World War I. It was formed on 6 March 1915 as the 2/2nd Mounted Division, a replacement/depot formation for the 2nd Mounted Division which was being sent abroad ...

2nd Cyclist Division

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: the rest were dismounted, handed over their horses to the remount depots and were issued with bicycles. The 4th Mounted Division was reorganized as the 2nd Cyclist Division, now commanding the

5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...

, 6th,

7th 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion ...

and

8th Cyclist Brigade The 19th Mounted Brigade previously known as the 2/1st Scottish Horse Mounted Brigade was a 2nd Line yeomanry brigade of the British Army during the First World War. In July 1916 it was converted to a cyclist formation as 12th Cyclist Brigade an ...

s. On reorganisation,

14th Mounted Brigade The 4th Mounted Division was a short-lived Yeomanry Division of the British Army active during World War I. It was formed on 20 March 1916, converted to 2nd Cyclist Division in July 1916 and broken up on 16 November 1916. It remained in England ...

with 2/1st Hertfordshire, 2/1st Queen's Own West Kent and 2/1st Essex Yeomanrywas posted to the new 1st Mounted Division (

3rd Mounted Division The 3rd Mounted Division was a Yeomanry Division (military), Division of the British Army active during World War I. It was formed on 6 March 1915 as the 2/2nd Mounted Division, a replacement/depot formation for the 2nd Mounted Division which wa ...

redesignated) where it formed the new 3rd Mounted Brigade and remained mounted. In exchange, the

10th Mounted Brigade The 3rd Mounted Division was a Yeomanry Division of the British Army active during World War I. It was formed on 6 March 1915 as the 2/2nd Mounted Division, a replacement/depot formation for the 2nd Mounted Division which was being sent abroad ...

(2/1st South Midland) joined as the 8th Cyclist Brigade. The Headquarters remained at Colchester and the brigades at Wivenhoe, Kelvedon, Manningtree and West Malling. It was assigned to the Southern Army, Home Defence Troops, and Lord Lovat remained in command. The Headquarters moved to Ipswich in September 1916 and the brigade were now at Wivenhoe, Wingham,

Woodbridge Woodbridge may refer to: Places Australia *Woodbridge, Western Australia formerly called ''West Midland'' *Woodbridge, Tasmania Canada *Woodbridge, Ontario England *Woodbridge, Suffolk, the location of ** Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency ...

and Ipswich. A further reorganization in November 1916 saw the 2nd Cyclist Division broken up. The cyclist brigades were dispersed and the yeomanry regiments were amalgamated in pairs to form ''Yeomanry Cyclist Regiments'' in new cyclist brigades. The division had remained in England on Home Defence duties throughout its brief existence.

Orders of battle

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * {{British Army Divisions 4 4 Military units and formations established in 1916 Military units and formations disestablished in 1916 1916 establishments in the United Kingdom