War Diaries Talk

Cavalry Inactivity

  • atozvet by atozvet

    the Essex Yeomanry seemed tp have spent most of the war in reserve positions. Involved early on in engagement with 15 officers many ORs injured, deaths. Later a 2/3 day holding the line engagement at Moncy April1917 with casualties. Half transferred into dismounted detachment, working as pioneers. In January 1918 the first reference to a Lieutenant transferring to the Tank corps. Perhaps at last realising the ineffectiveness of cavalry against enemy machine gun fire.
    Whilst in reserve there were opportunities for a Horse Show, hay making and other 'training' activities.

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  • HeatherC by HeatherC moderator

    I'm doing North Somerset Yeomanry, another cavalry Regiment in the same Division as the EY and after a serious mauling in an early engagement in 1915 where they suffered heavy casualties, their story has been similar. Lots of moving around, provision of dismounted parties to work with other units and of course casualties here and there but nothing else major so far to the end of 1916. I think there was always that hope that the major breakthrough would come and cavalry might be needed to exploit it.

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  • David_Underdown by David_Underdown moderator

    Cavalry continued to be useful until the last day of the war, David Kenyon's "Horsemen in No Man's Land" is a very interesting look at the overall use of cavalry on the Western Front during the war. They were far more mobile than any other available force, the first tanks barely moved at walking pace in battle conditions. The German Spring Offensive would have had a greater chance of success if cavalry had not been available as a fast moving reserve to plug gaps (they may then have fought dismounted, but unlike the cavalry of any other European nation that was seen as a key part of their role for which they were well trained, and uniquely they carried exactly the same rifle as their infantry counterparts - in the pre-war army, cavalry typically had a greater proportion of 2nd and 1st class shots than infantry regiments). Equally, if the German Army had been able to keep cavalry in the field, that would probably also have assisted in their offensive in early 1918.

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  • Traceydix by Traceydix

    I've been tagging pages from the 1 cavalry div 1 machine gun squadron. So far I've tagged pages from July 1916 to the beginning of Oct 1916. All they've done is march from one place to another and back again, and bivouac with their horses. At least half the entries say 'nothing to report' . Rather different from the 1914-15 pages I've also tagged for the 1st Middlesex infantry reg!

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  • atozvet by atozvet

    Just had published in the Veterinary Record a letter about the usefulness or not of the cavalry of Western Front WWI based on my reading the diaries of Mobile Veterinary sections. I respect David Underdown's remarks as Moderator from a year ago but now I am even more convinced that Yeomanry Regiments were no match for the German machine guns. I have analysed 2/3 months horse casualties in Summer 1917: there were 4 reports of gunshot or shrapnel wounds to horses coming in whereas ther were 90 cases of MANGE that required evacuation to base hospitals out of 290 horses evacuated in the same period. Horses tethered in 'lines' were standing in mud, getting foot injuries, quitter as well as bruising from kicks
    It seems by 1917, a large number of horses were being 'cast' which implies they were reducing the number of effective cavalry horses behind the front line. Comment welcomed

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  • marie.eklidvirginmedia.com by marie.eklidvirginmedia.com

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horses_in_World_War_I
    Interesting article regarding British Cavalry during World War 1. on above wikipedia link.

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  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    Thank you, both.

    @atozvet: your letter sounds very interesting - do you by any chance have a link to it?

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  • atozvet by atozvet

    Try veterinaryrecord.bvapublications.com Issue of February 28th 2015 Vol 176 n0 9 p235.
    I think there is public online access They put in one typo with DAVC after the name W P Stokes who was a Captain in the Army Veterinary Corps (Later became RAVC). It implies he was a Director but they were hogh ranking DAVC and ADAVC's. Stokes name came up in one of my earlier Mobile Vet Sctns as visiting from the Dragoons where he must have been an attached V O

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  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    Thanks - I found the letter, but it requires a subscription to get the full text, which I don't have here. I'll be able to get hold of it through university connections, though.

    Sounds interesting. I'm looking forward to reading it.

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  • atozvet by atozvet

    Surplus cavalry horses (400 approx.) marched back with inadequate escorts ( 1 to 7 horse). Not able to tether in lines. 1 drowned Horse welfare letter see link http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/vr.h1079?ijkey=F7E6l5BJqcAaNJ1&keytype=ref

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  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    Thanks, @atozvet. I've merged your last post into this discussion.

    Just got hold of the full text of your letter, which makes for a very interesting read. I agree that traditional cavalry warfare didn't have much place at the Western Front. There are a few isolated instances of the shock factor of a cavalry charge paying off (e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Moreuil_Wood), but I agree with your point that, for the most part, the conditions in which the horses had been kept would not have leant themselves to this kind of action.

    However, as David Underdown says, the real utility of the cavalry, especially towards the end of the war, was as a fast-moving reserve, able to plug gaps and respond to shifting lines. In this role, they were essentially mounted infantry.

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  • atozvet by atozvet

    Agree, they were a fast moving reserve but it seems in the last year or two of the war, the cavaly went up to the front, handed over their horses to keepers and then took on the role of infantry in the front line. I have recently recorded where there was only 1 man to lead a group of 7 horses back to safe lines. comment of one horse drowned and one strangulated due to accommodation in marshy ground. Temporary accommodation for horses was set up by taking a long rope from one wagon wheel across the field to another wagon wheel then tie each individual horse by its rope halter to the long "line". In some cases, a heel rope was needed to keep the hind legs at 90 degrees to the head rope line to reduce kicking and entanglement, Overhead shelter was difficult and rugs were used to shelter the horses in temporary lines

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  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    I see - so committing cavalry to the line for any extended period then degraded their ability to respond as a mobile reserve if required in other areas?

    I noted your comment that Capt. Stokes had personally intervened with the higher powers to correct this in one instance, but obviously it wasn't a lesson learned on a wider scale.

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