Household Cavalry Composite Regiment

Household Cavalry Composite Regiment
Active 1882
1889–1900
4 August–11 November 1914
1939–1945
Country  United Kingdom
Allegiance British Crown
Branch  British Army
Type Cavalry
Size Regiment
Part of 4th Cavalry Brigade (World War I and World War II)
Engagements

Anglo-Egyptian War Second Boer War
World War I

Western Front

World War II

Anglo-Iraqi War
Syria-Lebanon Campaign

The Household Cavalry Composite Regiment was a temporary, wartime-only, cavalry regiment of the British Army consisting of personnel drawn from the 1st Life Guards, 2nd Life Guards and Royal Horse Guards. It was active in 1882 for service in the Anglo-Egyptian War, in 1889–1900 during the Second Boer War, from August to November, 1914 during the opening months of World War I and in World War II.

Anglo-Egyptian War

The regiment was first formed in 1882 to take part in the Anglo-Egyptian War.[1]

Second Boer War

The regiment was re-raised and served in the Second Boer War from 1889 to 1900.[1]

World War I

Squadron from the 1st Life Guards August 1914, attached to the Household Cavalry Composite Regiment, preparing to leave for France.

When the British Expeditionary Force was mobilised, it had a war establishment of seventeen cavalry regiments – five cavalry brigades of three regiments each, and two regiments which would be broken up to serve as reconnaissance squadrons, one for each of the six infantry divisions. The peacetime establishment in the United Kingdom was nineteen cavalry regiments – sixteen line regiments, and the three regiments of the Household Cavalry.

The sixteen regular regiments were earmarked for overseas service, whilst the seventeenth regiment was to be provided by a composite regiment formed with a squadron from each of the three Household Cavalry regiments – the 1st Life Guards, the 2nd Life Guards, and the Royal Horse Guards – and assigned a mobilisation role in 4th Cavalry Brigade.

Mobilisation

On the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914, the regiment was duly constituted with a squadron each from the 1st Life Guards at Hyde Park, the 2nd Life Guards at Regent's Park and the Royal Horse Guards at Windsor.[2] The regiment joined 4th Cavalry Brigade which was assigned to The Cavalry Division and moved to France in August 1914.[3]

Early Actions

With The Cavalry Division, the regiment took part in a number of actions during the early war of movement: the Battle of Mons (23–24 August), the Battle of Le Cateau (26 August), the Action at Néry (1 September), the Battle of the Marne (6–9 September) and the Battle of the Aisne (12–15 September).[3]

2nd Cavalry Division

The regiment was transferred with 4th Cavalry Brigade to the 2nd Cavalry Division on 14 October 1914 to bring it up to the standard three brigade strength.[4] With the division, the regiment took part in First Battle of Ypres, notably the battle of Gheluvelt (29–31 October).[5] On 11 November, the Household Cavalry Composite Regiment was broken up and its constituent squadrons rejoined their parent regiments; these had landed at Zeebrugge on 7 October 1914 with 7th Cavalry Brigade, 3rd Cavalry Division.[6] The Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars, a Yeomanry regiment, replaced it in 4th Cavalry Brigade.[7]

Household Battalion

From 1916 to 1918, an infantry battalion, the Household Battalion, was formed from the 1st Life Guards, 2nd Life Guards and Royal Horse Guards Reserve Regiments.[2]

World War II

By the outbreak of World War II, the 1st and 2nd Life Guards had been amalgamated as the Life Guards. In September 1939, the Life Guards and Royal Horse Guards formed the Household Cavalry Composite Regiment and the Household Cavalry Training Regiment.

1st Household Cavalry Regiment

The Household Cavalry Composite Regiment once again served with the 4th Cavalry Brigade[8] and joined the 1st Cavalry Division when it was formed on 31 October 1939.[9] It departed the United Kingdom in February 1940, transited across France, and arrived in Palestine on 20 February 1940. It served as a garrison force under British Forces, Palestine and Trans-Jordan.[10]

In November 1940, the Household Cavalry Composite Regiment was redesignated as the 1st Household Cavalry Regiment.[11]

From 6 May 1941 the 4th Cavalry Brigade, together with a battalion of infantry from the Essex Regiment, a mechanised regiment from the Arab Legion and supporting artillery was organised as Habforce for operations in Iraq including the relief of the base at RAF Habbaniya and the occupation of Baghdad. Following this, in July 1941 it was placed under the command of I Australian Corps and was involved in operations against the Vichy French in Syria, advancing from eastern Iraq near the Trans-Jordan border on Palmyra to secure the HadithaTripoli oil pipeline.[12] Between November 1942 and December 1944 the regiment was commanded by Sir Robert Gooch, 11th Baronet.

The regiment was disbanded in 1945 and the personnel returned to their original units.[13]

2nd Household Cavalry Regiment

The Household Cavalry Training Regiment remained in Home Forces until September 1941 when it was redesignated as the 2nd Household Cavalry Regiment and joined the Guards Armoured Division.[11] It acted as the divisional reconnaissance unit until 27 February 1943 when it was replaced by 2nd Battalion, Welsh Guards[9]

In July 1943 it was assigned to the Second Army and in June 1944 it landed in Normandy as part of VIII Corps. Thereafter it served throughout the North West Europe Campaign until the end of the war with VIII and XXX Corps.[11] On 19 June 1945, it rejoined the Guards Division (replacing 2nd Welsh Guards).[14]

Household Cavalry Reserve Regiment

The Household Cavalry Reserve Regiment was formed in September 1939 and remained in Home Forces until March 1941 when it was disbanded.[11]

See also

References

Bibliography

External links

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