The 6th Cavalry Brigade was a
cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...
brigade of the
British Army. It served in the
Napoleonic Wars (notably at the
Battle of Waterloo), in the
First World War on the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to:
Military frontiers
*Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...
where it was assigned to the
3rd Cavalry Division, and with the
1st Cavalry Division during the
Second World War.
History
Napoleonic Wars
From June 1809,
Wellington organized his cavalry into one, later two, cavalry
divisions (
1st
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
and
2nd
A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI).
Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to:
Mathematics
* 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'')
* Second of arc, an angular measurement unit ...
) for the
Peninsular War.
These performed a purely administrative, rather than tactical, role; the normal tactical headquarters were provided by brigades commanding two, later usually three, regiments.
The cavalry brigades were named for the commanding officer, rather than numbered. For the
Hundred Days Campaign, he numbered his British cavalry brigades in a single sequence, 1st to 7th. The 6th Cavalry Brigade consisted of:
*
10th (Prince of Wales's Own) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Hussars)
*
18th (King's Irish) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Hussars)
*
1st Hussars, King's German Legion
It was commanded by
Major General Sir Hussey Vivian.
The brigade took part in the
Battle of Waterloo. During the battle, the 1st Hussars, KGL suffered just 7 casualties (1 killed, 6 wounded), the 10th Hussars 94 (22 killed, 46 wounded, 26 missing) and the 18th Hussars 102 (12 killed, 73 wounded, 17 missing). This represented a loss rate of about 13%.
First World War
Formation
The brigade was formed on 19 September 1914 at
Ludgershall, Wiltshire for the
3rd Cavalry Division.
It commanded three regular British Army cavalry regiments,
the only ones not stationed in the United Kingdom or India at the outbreak of the war. A
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
signal troop also joined on formation.
[
The ]1st Dragoons
The Royal Dragoons (1st Dragoons) was a heavy cavalry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed in 1661 as the Tangier Horse. It served for three centuries and was in action during the First and the Second World Wars. It was amalg ...
joined the brigade on 19 September and the 10th Hussars
The 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the First World War and Second World War but then amalgamated with the 11th Hussars (Prince ...
on 22 September, both from Potchefstroom
Potchefstroom (, colloquially known as Potch) is an academic city in the North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstroom is on the Mooi Rivier (Afrikaans for "pretty river" ...
, South Africa. The 3rd Dragoon Guards
The 3rd (Prince of Wales's) Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1685 as the Earl of Plymouth's Regiment of Horse. It was renamed as the 3rd Regiment of Dragoon Guards in 1751 and the 3rd (Prince of Wales's) ...
from the Force in Egypt did not join the brigade in Belgium until 4 November.[
The brigade landed at Ostend on 8 October 1914] and deployed to the Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to:
Military frontiers
*Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...
in France and Belgium. C Battery, Royal Horse Artillery
C Battery Royal Horse Artillery are a Close Support Battery of 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery currently based in Albemarle Barracks
Albemarle Barracks was a prisoner-of-war camp for British prisoners during the American Revolutionary Wa ...
(six 13 pounders) joined the division's Royal Horse Artillery Brigade from XIV Brigade, RHA of 7th Division on 19 October and was permanently attached to 6th Cavalry Brigade on the same day.[ On 29 February 1916, a Machine Gun Squadron was formed from the machine gun sections of the brigade's constituent regiments.]
The 3rd Cavalry Division was initially formed with just two cavalry brigades – the 6th and 7th.[ To bring the division up to the standard strength of three brigades, the 8th Cavalry Brigade was formed in Belgium on 20 November 1914.] The 10th Hussars was transferred to the new brigade on formation and was replaced by the 1/1st North Somerset Yeomanry from the 1st South Western Mounted Brigade
The 1st South Western Mounted Brigade was a formation of the Territorial Force of the British Army, organised in 1908. By 1915 its regiments had been posted away so it was broken up; it never saw active service as a brigade. The Headquarters ma ...
in England.[
]
Chronicle
The brigade served with the 3rd Cavalry Division on the Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to:
Military frontiers
*Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...
until the end of the war. In 1914, the division saw action in the defence of Antwerp (9 and 10 October) and the First Battle of Ypres, notably the battles of Langemarck (21–24 October), Gheluvelt (29–31 October) and Nonne Bosschen (11 November). In 1915, it took part in the Second Battle of Ypres (Battle of Frezenberg Ridge, 11–13 May) and the Battle of Loos (26–28 September). 1916 saw no notable actions, but in 1917 the division saw action in the Battle of Arras (First Battle of the Scarpe, 9–12 April).[ At other times, the brigade formed a dismounted unit and served in the trenches (as a regiment under the command of the brigadier).]
1918 saw the return of the war of movement and the division took part in the First Battle of the Somme notably the Battle of St Quentin (21–23 March), Actions of the Somme Crossings (24 and 25 March) and Battle of the Avre (4 and 5 April); the Battle of Amiens and the battles of the Hindenburg Line ( Battle of Cambrai, 8 and 9 October and the Pursuit to the Selle, 9–12 October). Its final action was in the Advance in Flanders (9–11 November).
At the Armistice, units of the division had reached the River Dender at Leuze and Lessines in Belgium, when orders were received that they would cover the advance of the Second Army into Germany. They started the advance on 17 November, divisional headquarters being established at Waterloo
Waterloo most commonly refers to:
* Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat
* Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place.
Waterloo may also refer to:
Other places
Antarctica
*King George Island (S ...
on 21 November. Transport difficulties meant that the only one cavalry division could advance with Second Army so the following winter was spent in Belgium. By 31 March 1919, the division was demobilized.[
]
Order of battle
Second World War
The 6th Cavalry Brigade was a pre-war First Line Territorial Army cavalry brigade reformed in 1920. On the outbreak of the war, it was part of Western Command and commanded the Warwickshire, Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
and Cheshire Yeomanry regiments.[ It joined the 1st Cavalry Division when it was formed on 31 October 1939.]
With the 1st Cavalry Division, the 6th Cavalry Brigade departed the United Kingdom in December 1939, transited across France, and arrived in Palestine on 9 January 1940. It served as a garrison force under British Forces, Palestine and Trans-Jordan.[
On 1 August 1941, the Division was converted into the ]10th Armoured Division
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
[ and the 6th Cavalry Brigade into the 8th Armoured Brigade.][ 8th Armoured Brigade would later take part in the Second Battle of El Alamein and land at ]Gold Beach
Gold, commonly known as Gold Beach, was the code name for one of the five areas of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. Gold, the central of the five areas, was lo ...
on D Day.
Order of battle
Unlike in the First World War, when brigade compositions rarely changed, there was considerable movement of units between the 4th
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision
* Fourth (music), a musical interval
* ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...
, 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 ...
and 6th Cavalry Brigades in the Second World War.
Of the three regiments with the brigade when it was converted to an armoured formation:
*the Royal Scots Greys converted into an Armoured Regiment in 8th Armoured Brigade.
*the Yorkshire Hussars converted into an Armoured Regiment in 9th Armoured Brigade (former 4th Cavalry Brigade). It remained in the Middle East until 1943 when it returned to the UK.
*the Staffordshire Yeomanry converted into an Armoured Regiment in 8th Armoured Brigade. It fought in the Second Battle of El Alamein before returning to England. It landed in Normandy on D Day (6 June 1944) and fought throughout the North West Europe Campaign.
Commanders
The 6th Cavalry Brigade had the following commanders during the First World War:[
The 6th Cavalry Brigade had the following commanders during the Second World War:]
See also
* Order of battle of the Waterloo Campaign
* British Army during World War I
* British Cavalry Corps order of battle 1914
* British cavalry during the First World War
* British Army Order of Battle (September 1939)
In September 1939, the British Army was in process of expanding their anti-aircraft and mobile (including armoured) assets. Among these new changes was the formation of Anti-Aircraft Command which was formed on 1 April 1939, and the 1st Armoured ...
* List of British brigades of the Second World War
Notes
References
Bibliography
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External links
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{{British mobile brigades of the Second World War
6
Military units and formations established in 1815
Military units and formations disestablished in 1815
Military units and formations established in 1914
Military units and formations disestablished in 1919
Military units and formations established in 1920
1920 establishments in the United Kingdom
Military units and formations disestablished in 1941
1815 establishments in the United Kingdom