War Diaries Talk

3rd dismounted brigade

  • erik.schaubroeckscarlet.be by erik.schaubroeckscarlet.be

    In The long, long trail it says that this brigade was only formed in March 1918 and the diary mentions that brigade now, in January 1916? http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/3rd-cavalry-division/

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  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    I looked at your link and noticed that it refers to 3rd Dismounted Division being formed in March 1918, rather than a brigade. So maybe this is not a formal brigade, or maybe it is something that The Long, Long Trail is not aware of or chose not to include.

    There was another 3rd Dismounted Brigade, formed from Yeomanry regiments, that was located around the Suez Canal. http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/dismounted-brigades-of-yeomanry/

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  • erik.schaubroeckscarlet.be by erik.schaubroeckscarlet.be

    You're probably right, but The long, long trail also mentions that the 3rd Dismounted Division was organised into 3 dismounted Brigades, that's why I wondered if there was a link wiht the brigade that now was mentioned.

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  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    So it does. I missed that bit. I don't know if the two brigades are the same or not.

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  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    At various times, the cavalry division formed dismounted brigades which fought as infantry under their brigadiers. I would guess this was a temporary formation which predated the more formal dismounted division.

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  • David_Underdown by David_Underdown moderator

    It gets tricky as cavalry regiments were smaller than infantry battalions to start with, and when fighting dismounted usually had to leave quarter of their men to look after their horses. The end result was that a dismounted brigade of cavalry only had the same fighting strength as an infantry battalion, and you had to dismount a whole cavalry division for the equivalent of an infantry brigade. Most of the cavalry units did spend a proportion of their time dismounted, fighting in the trenches as infantry. The British cavalry were unusual in that they were armed with the same rifle as the infantry (most cavalry were armed with carbines which were not as accurate and tended to be lower powered). Experience in the Boer War had taught the British that dismounted action was very important, although a rearguard action within the cavalry meant that the lance had been restored as a weapon not long before the war, having briefly been retired. Cavalry regiments often had a higher proportion of 1st and 2nd class shots (you had to obtain particular scores on your yearly musketry tests to qualify) than infantry battalions on the outbreak of war.

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  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    Thanks, David. I'd read previously about the often higher marksmanship in cavalry regiments after their daily rifle drill was increased as the importance of dismounted fighting was recognised.

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