2/2nd Mounted Division

The 2/2nd Mounted Division was a British cavalry division composed of Yeomanry and Territorial Force units active during the Great War.

It was formed on 6th March 1915 as a replacement/depot formation for the 2nd Mounted Division which was being sent abroad on active service. The 2/2nd comprised the second-line formations of all units in the 2nd Div, and took over the 2nd's Home Defence role of guarding the Norfolk coast against a possible invasion. The division was very undermanned and underequipped at first. Each second-line Territorial unit formed at their original depots were scattered across London and the Midlands, and then had to assemble on the east coast to form the division. At first, rather than growing in size, the division shrunk as men were drafted off to active units overseas. The division also suffered lack of equipment; the artillery batteries were issued with the older 15 pounder Breech Loading Cannon rather than the 13 pounder Quick Firing gun that was the standard weapon of RHA units. There was also a lack of Lee Enfield rifles, and some soldiers had Japanese-made carbines instead. By March 1916 the division was mostly up to strength, and at this point it was redesignated as 3rd Mounted Division. In July 1916 its name changed again, to 1st Mounted Division (the original 1st Mounted had just become the 1st Cyclist Division). By November 1916 the division's artillery had been removed for service overseas, and in September 1917 the division was redesignated again, this time as The Cyclist Division. It remained in the United Kingdom throughout the war.

ee also

2/1st Notts RHA; history of one of the division's artillery batteries.

Notes and references

Becke, A.F. (1945). "History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions: Territorial Force & Mounted Divisions Pt. 2A". London HMSO.