The Highland Mounted Brigade was a formation 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 ...

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 ...

, organised in 1908. After service in the Gallipoli Campaign and in the defence of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, it was absorbed into the

2nd Dismounted Brigade D2, D02, D.II, D II or D-2 may refer to: Places * Dublin 2, a Dublin, Ireland postcode * D2 motorway (Czech Republic) * D2 road (Croatia), a state route in Croatia * D2 motorway (Slovakia) * Mount Dulang-dulang, the second highest mountain of ...

in February 1916.

Formation

Under the terms of the Territorial and Reserve Forces Act 1907 (7 Edw.7, c.9), the brigade was formed in 1908 as part of the

. It consisted of three

yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Army Reserve, descended from volunteer cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units serve in a variety of different military roles. History Origins In the 1790s, f ...

regiments, a horse artillery

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

and ammunition column, a transport and supply column and a field ambulance. As the name suggests, the units were drawn from the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland S ...

World War I

The brigade was embodied on 4 August 1914 and placed under First Army of Central Force. It moved to the

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...

area and then to

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

in November 1914. In April 1915, the brigade moved to

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

until August 1915 when it was dismounted.

Gallipoli

On 8 September 1915, the brigade boarded RMS Andania at Devonport and sailed for

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

arriving on 18 September. On 26 September it landed at Gallipoli where it joined

2nd Mounted Division The 2nd Mounted Division was a yeomanry ( Territorial Army cavalry) division that served in the First World War. At the outbreak of war it was assigned to defence of the Norfolk coast. In March 1915 it formed a 2nd Line duplicate of itself, ...

. The brigade remained at

Suvla View of Suvla from Battleship Hill Suvla () is a bay on the Aegean coast of the Gallipoli peninsula in European Turkey, south of the Gulf of Saros. On 6 August 1915, it was the site for the Landing at Suvla Bay by the British IX Corps as pa ...

until evacuated on the night of 19/20 December 1915. It left 2nd Mounted Division on 22 December. It was transported to Alexandria via

Imbros Imbros or İmroz Adası, officially Gökçeada (lit. ''Heavenly Island'') since 29 July 1970,Alexis Alexandris, "The Identity Issue of The Minorities in Greece And Turkey", in Hirschon, Renée (ed.), ''Crossing the Aegean: An Appraisal of the 1 ...

(20-24 December) and

Mudros Moudros ( el, Μούδρος) is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lemnos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lemnos, of which it is a municipal unit. It covers the entire eas ...

(24-26 December), arriving on 28 December and went to Sidi Bishr Camp.

Egypt

In late December 1915, the brigade returned to

. It served on Suez Canal defences and as part of the

Western Frontier Force The Western Frontier Force was raised from British Empire troops during the Senussi Campaign from November 1915 to February 1917, under the command of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF). Orders for the formation of the force were issued on ...

. In February 1916, Highland Mounted Brigade was absorbed into the

(along with the

2nd South Western Mounted Brigade The 2nd South Western Mounted Brigade was a formation of the Territorial Force of the British Army, organised in 1908. After service in the Gallipoli Campaign and in the defence of Egypt, it was absorbed into the 2nd Dismounted Brigade in Febru ...

). 2nd Dismounted Brigade was later renamed as 229th Brigade in the

74th (Yeomanry) Division The 74th (Yeomanry) Division was a Territorial Force infantry division formed in Palestine in early 1917 from three dismounted yeomanry brigades. It served in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War, mostly as part of XX Corps. ...

Commanders

The Highland Mounted Brigade had the following commanders:

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{cite book , last = Westlake , first = Ray , year = 1996 , title = British Regiments at Gallipoli , publisher = Leo Cooper , location = Barnsley , isbn = 0-85052-511-X H11 Military units and formations established in 1908 Military units and formations disestablished in 1916