1st Indian Cavalry Division

Lt. Gen. Michael Rimington, commander of the 1st Indian Cavalry Division and later of the Indian Cavalry Corps, riding with Ratlam maharaja Sajjan Singh and Sir Partab Singh in Linghem, France, on 28 July 1915

The division sailed for France from Bombay on 16 October 1914 under the command of Major General H. D. Fanshawe. The division was re-designated the 4th Cavalry Division in November 1916. During the war, they served in the trenches as infantry.

The large number of early officer casualties affected the division's later performance. British officers who understood the language, customs, and psychology of their men could not be quickly replaced, and the alien environment of the Western Front affected the soldiers.[3] The division served in France and Flanders, held in reserve for the expected breakthrough. It provided dismounted parties for trench duty, but its only battle was the Battle of Cambrai during the German counterattacks of 30 November – 3 December. In March 1918, the division was broken up and the Indian regiments were combined in Egypt with the Yeomanry Mounted Division to form the 1st Mounted Division (later the 4th Cavalry Division).[4]

• 2nd (Sialkot) Cavalry Brigade:
  • 17th Lancers
  • 6th King Edward's Own Cavalry
  • 19th Lancers
  • Q Battery, Royal Horse Artillery
  • 10th Machine Gun Squadron (joined after February 1916)

• 3rd (Ambala) Cavalry Brigade (left on 15 September 1915 for the 2nd Indian Cavalry Division):
  • 8th (King's Royal Irish) Hussars
  • 9th Hodson's Horse
  • 30th Lancers (Gordon's Horse)
  • A Battery, Royal Horse Artillery

English and Indian soldiers of the Lucknow Cavalry Brigade's Signal Troop relaxing in a farmyard at brigade headquarters, 28 July 1915

• 8th (Lucknow) Cavalry Brigade:
  • 1st King's Dragoon Guards (left on 7 October 1917)
  • Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons (joined on 6 December 1917)
  • 29th Lancers (Deccan Horse)
  • 36th Jacob's Horse
  • U Battery, Royal Horse Artillery
  • 12th Machine Gun Squadron (from 29 February 1916)

• 5th (Mhow) Cavalry Brigade (joined on 15 September 1915 from the 2nd Indian Cavalry Division):
  • 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons
  • 2nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse)
  • Central India Horse
  • A Battery, Royal Horse Artillery

• XVI Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery (from 26 November 1916):
  • A Battery, Royal Horse Artillery (with the 3rd (Ambala) Cavalry Brigade, then the 5th (Mhow) Cavalry Brigade)
  • Q Battery, Royal Horse Artillery (with the 2nd [Sialkot] Cavalry Brigade)
  • U Battery, Royal Horse Artillery (with the 8th [Lucknow] Cavalry Brigade)
  • I Indian RHA Brigade Ammunition Column

• British cavalry during the First World War
• List of Indian divisions in World War I

• Haythornthwaite, Philip J. (1996). The World War One Source Book. London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 1-85409-351-7.
• Perry, F.W. (1993). Order of Battle of Divisions Part 5B. Indian Army Divisions. Newport: Ray Westlake Military Books. ISBN 1-871167-23-X.
• Preston, R.M.P. (1921). The Desert Mounted Corps: An Account of the Cavalry Operations in Palestine and Syria 1917–1918. London: Constable & Co. OCLC 3900439.
• Sumner, Ian (2001). The Indian Army 1914–1947. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-196-6.
• Wavell, Field Marshal Earl (1968) [1933]. "The Palestine Campaigns". In Sheppard, Eric William (ed.). A Short History of the British Army (4th ed.). London: Constable & Co. OCLC 35621223.

• Baker, Chris. "The 1st Indian Cavalry Division in 1914-1918". The Long Long Trail. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
• "1st Indian Cavalry Division on The Regimental Warpath 1914 - 1918 by PB Chappell". Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-28.