Desert Mounted Corps

The Desert Mounted Corps was a World War I Allied army corps that operated in the Middle East (Sinai and Palestine) during 1917 and 1918. Originally formed on 15 March 1916 as the Australian and New Zealand Mounted Division under the command of Major General Harry Chauvel (referred to as Anzac Mounted Division because it was made up of Australian and New Zealand troops who had served in the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps at Gallipoli), this mounted division became part of Desert Column in December 1916 with the addition of 42nd and 52nd Infantry Divisions, under the command of Lieutenant General Sir Philip W. Chetwode.^[1][2][3][4]

Expanded to a full corps, Desert Mounted Corps was commanded by Australian Lieutenant–General Henry Chauvel, in August 1917 following the reorganisation of the Allied forces by General Allenby after the failure of the Second Battle of Gaza. The Desert Mounted Corps contained numerous Australian British French, Indian and New Zealand cavalry, light horse and mounted rifle brigades.

The Desert Mounted Corps Memorial at Mount Clarence, Albany, Western Australia. The memorial originally stood in Port Said, Egypt, until it was damaged in anti-British riots, during the Suez Crisis of 1956. Albany is also linked with the corps by the fact that the Anzac mounted units left Australia from there in November 1914.

The Anzac Mounted Division contained:

• 1st Light Horse Brigade
• 2nd Light Horse Brigade
• 3rd Light Horse Brigade
• New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade.

The Desert Column contained:

• Anzac Mounted Division
• Imperial Mounted Division
• Imperial Camel Corps Brigade
• 42nd Infantry Division
• 52nd Infantry Division
• 53rd Infantry Division

The Desert Mounted Corps contained:

• Anzac Mounted Division
• Imperial (became) Australian Mounted Division
• Imperial Camel Corps Brigade
• British Yeomanry Mounted Division

Memorial for the horses of the Desert Mounted Corps located in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, Australia

In mid-1918, the Corps was reorganised again. Two Indian cavalry divisions were transferred from the Western Front in France, and reorganised to incorporate some of the Yeomanry Mounted Division. The Anzac Mounted Division became part of Chaytor's Force in September, 1918. The Camel Corps was reduced to a battalion and many of its personnel transferred to the Australian Mounted Division to form the 5th Light Horse Brigade. Still commanded by Chauvel, the corps now consisted of: File:Desert Mounted Corps Horse Memorial

• 4th (Indian) Mounted Division, later 4th Cavalry Division
• 5th (Indian) Mounted Division, later 5th Cavalry Division
• Australian Mounted Division
• Anzac Mounted Division

There were also seven batteries of the Royal Horse Artillery, an Armoured Car detachment and the 7th Light Car Patrol.

See also

• Military history of Australia during World War I
• Mount Clarence, Western Australia for more on the Desert Mounted Corps Memorial

References

1. ^ Bou 2009, pp. 150–2
2. ^ Hill 1978, p. 67
3. ^ Kinloch 2007, pp. 57–8
4. ^ Powles 1922, p. 12

Sources

• Jean Bou, A History of Australia's Mounted Arm Series: Australian Army History Series (Port Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 2009)
• A.J. Hill, Chauvel of the Light Horse A Biography of General Sir Harry Chauvel, GCMG, KCB (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1978)
• Terry Kinloch, Devils on Horses in the words of the Anzacs in the Middle East 1916–19 (Auckland, Exisle Publishing, 2007)
• Powles, C. Guy The New Zealanders in Sinai and Palestine Volume III Official History New Zealand's Effort in the Great War (Auckland: Whitcombe & Tombs Ltd, 1922)