The 3rd Cavalry Division in 1914-1918
The history of the 3rd Cavalry Division
The Division was formed at Windmill Hill Camp at Ludgershall in early September 1914. It left there on 5 October and began to embark next day at Southampton. After some sailing delay due to suspected submarine activity in the English Channel, it arrived at Ostende on 8 October and proceeded to Bruges as part of IV Corps. The Division
then remained
on the Western Front in France and Flanders, taking part in the following engagements:
1914
The
Antwerp operations (9 - 10 October)
The Battle of Langemarck (21 - 24 October)*
The
Battle of Gheluvelt (29 - 31 October)*
The Battle of Nonne Bosschen (11 November)
* the battles marked * are phases of the Battles of Ypres 1914 ("First Ypres")
1915
Winter
Operations 1914-15
The Battle of Frezenburg Ridge (11 - 13 May, a phase of the Battles of Ypres 1915) ("Second Ypres")
The Battle of Loos (26 - 28 September)
1916
No major engagements
1917
The First Battle of the Scarpe (9 - 12 April, a phase of the Arras Offensive)
The attack on Monchy le Preux (10 -11 April, a phase of the Arras Offensive)
1918
The Battle of St Quentin (21 - 23 March, a phase of the of the First Battles of the Somme in which the Division was engaged until 5 April)
Note: between 22 and 25 March 1918 the Division provided the 3rd Dismounted Division, organised into three dismounted brigades. It also provided a mounted detachment under "Harman's Detachment" and then "Reynolds's Force" between 23 and 29 March.
The actions at the Somme crossings (24 - 25 March, a phase of the of the First Battles of the Somme)
The Battle of the Avre (4 - 5 April, a phase of the of the First Battles of the Somme)
The Battle of Amiens (8 - 11 August)
The Battle of Cambrai 1918 (8 - 9 October, a phase of the Battles of the Hindenburg Line)
The Pursuit to the Selle (9 - 12 October)
The Final Advance in Flanders (9 - 11 November)
By 11 November the advance units of the Division had reached the line of the River Dender at Leuze and Lessines.
The
Division was selected to advance into Germany
as an advance screen for Second Army and form part of the Occupation Force. The move began on 17 November; Waterloo was reached four days later. Transport and supply difficulties caused a change of plan and the Division remained in Belgium throughout the winter. The Division ceased to exist at midnight 31 March / 1 April 1919.
The order of battle of the 3rd Cavalry Division
| 6th Cavalry Brigade | began to form on 19 September 1914 |
| 1st Royal Dragoons | |
| 10th Hussars | left for 8th Cav Bde 20 November 1914, rejoined from 8th Cav Bde 12 March 1918 |
| 3rd Dragoon Guards | joined 4 November 1914 |
| 1/1st North Somerset Yeomanry | joined 13 November 1914, left for 8th Cav Bde 13 March 1918 |
| C Battery, RHA | joined 19 October 1914 |
| 6th Signal Troop RE | |
| 6th Cavalry Bde Machine Gun Squadron MGC | formed 29 February 1916 |
| 7th Cavalry Brigade | formed on 1 September 1914 |
| 1st Life Guards | left 10 March 1918 |
| 2nd Life Guards | left 10 March 1918 |
| Royal Horse Guards | left for 8th Cav Bde 21 November 1914 |
| 1/1st Leicestershire Yeomanry | joined 12 November 1914, left for 8th Cav Bde 7 November 1917 |
| K Battery, RHA | joined 1 October 1914 |
| 7th Signal Troop RE | |
| 7th Cavalry Bde Machine Gun Squadron MGC | formed 29 February 1916, broken up 14 April 1918 |
| 7th Dragoon Guards | joined 10 March 1918 |
| 6th Inniskilling Dragoons | joined 10 March 1918 |
| 17th Lancers | joined 10 March 1918 |
| 8th Cavalry Brigade | formed 20 November 1914, left 14 March 1918 |
| Royal Horse Guards | joined from 7th Cav Bde 21 November 1914, rejoined 7th Cav Bde 7 November 1917 |
| 10th Hussars | joined from 6th Cav Bde 20 November 1914, rejoined 6th Cav Bde 12 March 1918 |
| 1/1st Essex Yeomanry | joined 11 December 1914 |
| G Battery, RHA | joined 25 November 1914, left for 5th Cavalry Division 13 March 1918 |
| 8th Signal Troop RE | |
| 8th Cavalry Bde Machine Gun Squadron MGC | formed 29 February 1916, left for 7th Cav Bde 11 March 1918 |
| 1/1st Leicestershire Yeomanry | joined from 7th Cav Bde 7 November 1917 |
| Canadian Cavalry Brigade | attached between 10 April and 17 June 1916, joined 13 March 1918 |
| Royal Canadian Dragoons | |
| Lord Strathcona's Horse | |
| Fort Garry Horse | |
| Royal Canadian Horse Artillery Brigade | |
| Cavalry Cavalry Machine Gun Squadron | |
| Canadian Signal Troop RE | |
| Divisional Artillery | |
| XV Brigade, RHA and XV Brigade Ammunition Column, RHA | formed 1 October 1914 and retitled as IV Brigade in May 1915 |
| Royal Engineers | |
| 3rd Field Squadron | joined 19 October 1914 |
| 3rd Signal Squadron | formed 12 September 1914 |
| Royal Army Medical Corps | |
| 6th Cavalry Field Ambulance | formed 14 September 1914 |
| 7th Cavalry Field Ambulance | formed 3 October 1914 |
| 20th Cavalry Field Ambulance | joined ?, left 23 December 1914 |
| 8th Cavalry Field Ambulance | joined 23 December 1914, left 14 March 1918 |
| 7th Canadian Field Ambulance | joined 13 March 1918 |
| No 12 Sanitary Section | joined 9 January 1915 |
| Royal Army Veterinary Corps | |
| 13th Mobile Veterinary Section | |
| 14th Mobile Veterinary Section | |
| 20th Mobile Veterinary Section | joined 9 March 1915, left 14 March 1918 |
| 'A' Canadian Veterinary Section | joined 13 March 1918 |
| Other Divisional Troops | |
| 7th Motor Machine Gun Battery MGC | joined 30 March 1916, left 18 July 1917 |
| 3rd Cavalry Divisional HQ ASC | 81 (Horsed Transport) Company, formed 14 September 1914 |
| 3rd Cavalry Divisional Auxiliary (Horse) ASC | 576 (Horsed Transport) Company, formed 23 September 1915 |
| 3rd Cavalry Divisional Supply Column ASC | 73 and 414 (Mechanical Transport) Companies, formed 4 and 16 September 1914 respectively. 73 absorbed 414 on 10 October 1916. |
| 773rd Divisional Employment Company | formed 16 September 1917 |
| 3rd Cavalry Division Field Ambulance Workshop | joined 14 May 1915, absorbed into Divisional Supply Column 1 April 1916 |
