The 8th 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 A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It was formed in Belgium in 1914 and served on the Western Front as part of the 3rd Cavalry Division. It left the 3rd Cavalry Division on 14 March 1918.

World War I

Formation

The 3rd Cavalry Division began forming at

Ludgershall, Wiltshire Ludgershall ( , with a hard g) is a town and civil parish north east of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. It is on the A342 road between Devizes and Andover. The parish includes Faberstown which is contiguous with Ludgershall, and the hamlet o ...

in September 1914 with just two cavalry brigades (the 6th and the

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 ...

). To bring the division up to the standard strength of three brigades, the 8th Cavalry Brigade was formed in Belgium on 20 November 1914. With the addition of its third brigade, 3rd Cavalry Division obtained a third Cavalry Field Ambulance (8th, from England on 23 December) and a third Mobile Veterinary Section (20th, from England on 9 March 1915). The Brigade was initially formed with the 10th Royal Hussars from 6th Cavalry Brigade and the Royal Horse Guards from 7th Cavalry Brigade on 20 November. The third regiment, the 1/1st Essex Yeomanry, did not join from the

Eastern Mounted Brigade The Eastern Mounted Brigade was a formation of the Territorial Force of the British Army, organised in 1908. After serving dismounted in the Gallipoli Campaign, it was absorbed into the 3rd Dismounted Brigade in Egypt in February 1916. Format ...

in England until 11 December. A signal troop joined on formation and

G Battery, Royal Horse Artillery G Parachute Battery (Mercer's Troop) Royal Horse Artillery is a close support battery of 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, part of the Royal Horse Artillery of the British Army, currently based in Merville Barracks in Colchester. ...

(six

13 pounder The Ordnance QF 13-pounder ( quick-firing) field gun was the standard equipment of the British and Canadian Royal Horse Artillery at the outbreak of World War I. History The QF 13-pounder was developed as a response to combat experience gained ...

s) joined from V Brigade, RHA of 8th Infantry Division on 25 November. On 29 February 1916, a Machine Gun Squadron was formed from the machine gun sections of the brigade's constituent regiments.

Chronicle

The brigade served with the 3rd Cavalry Division on the Western Front until March 1918. It joined the division too late to take part in any of the 1914 actions, but in 1915 the division saw action in the

Second Battle of Ypres During the First World War, the Second Battle of Ypres was fought from for control of the tactically important high ground to the east and south of the Flemish town of Ypres in western Belgium. The First Battle of Ypres had been fought the pr ...

(Battle of Frezenberg Ridge, 11–13 May) and the

Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used poison gas and the first mass engagement of New Army units. Th ...

(26–28 September). 1916 saw no notable actions, but in 1917 the division took part 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). In March 1918, the 4th (formerly 1st Indian) and 5th (formerly 2nd Indian) Cavalry Divisions were broken up in France. The Indian elements were sent to Egypt where they formed part of the new 4th and 5th Cavalry Divisions which played a major part in the successful conclusion of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. The British and Canadian units remained in France and most of them were transferred to the 3rd Cavalry Division causing it to be extensively reorganized. The yeomanry regiments were concentrated in the 8th Cavalry Brigade; it left the 3rd Cavalry Division on 14 March 1918, the day after the

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 u ...

joined from 5th Cavalry Division. It appears to have been dissolved at this point as the constituent regiments (the

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

and

North Somerset Yeomanry The North Somerset Yeomanry was a part-time cavalry regiment of the British Army from 1798 to 1967. It maintained order in Somerset in the days before organised police forces, and supplied volunteers to fight in the Second Boer War. It served on ...

) were slated to be converted to

cyclist Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

units, G Battery, RHA was posted to XVII Brigade, RHA, and 8th MG Squadron joined 7th Cavalry Brigade.

Units

Commanders

The 8th Cavalry Brigade had the following commanders:

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

* *{{cite web, url=http://www.warpath.orbat.com/cav/3_cav_div.htm , title=3rd Cavalry Division on ''The Regimental Warpath 1914 - 1918'' by PB Chappell , access-date=2013-08-04 , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080527195827/http://www.warpath.orbat.com/cav/3_cav_div.htm , archive-date=27 May 2008 , df=dmy Cavalry brigades of the British Army Military units and formations established in 1914 Military units and formations disestablished in 1918