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{{short description|Division of the British Indian Army}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{infobox military unit
|unit_name=1st Indian Cavalry Division
|image=
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|dates=September 1914 – March 1918
|country= [[British Raj|British India]]
|allegiance= [[British Crown]]
|branch= [[British Indian Army]]
|type= [[Cavalry]]
|role=
|size= [[Division (military)|Division]]
|command_structure= [[Indian Cavalry Corps]]
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|battles=[[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] in [[World War I]]
:[[Battle of Cambrai (1917)|Battle of Cambrai]]
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|notable_commanders=[[Henry Peregrine Leader]]<br />[[Michael Rimington]]

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The '''1st Indian Cavalry Division''' was a division of the [[British Indian Army]] which was formed at the outbreak of the [[First World War]]. It served on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]], and was renamed the '''4th Cavalry Division''' on 26 November 1916.<ref name=Perry14>{{harvnb|Perry|1993|p=14}}</ref> In March 1918, the 4th Cavalry Division was disbanded; the British units remained in France and the Indian units were sent to Egypt to help form the [[4th Cavalry Division (India)|1st Mounted Division]].<ref name=Perry16>{{harvnb|Perry|1993|p=16}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Gen. Remington, Sir Partab Singh, & the Rajah of Rutlam riding in France (Linghem). Photographer- H. D. Girdwood. (13874204213).jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|alt=Three men on horseback in front of other mounted men|Lt. Gen. [[Michael Rimington]], commander of the 1st Indian Cavalry Division and later of the [[Indian Cavalry Corps]], riding with [[Ratlam State|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 [[Hew Dalrymple Fanshawe|Hew Fanshawe]]. The division was re-named the 4th Cavalry Division in November 1916. During the war, the division served in the trenches as infantry. A 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Haythornthwaite|1996}}</ref> The division served in France and Flanders, held in reserve for the expected breakthrough. It provided dismounted parties for trench duty and in 1917 fought as a division in the [[Battle of Cambrai (1917)|Battle of Cambrai]] during the German counter-stroke 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).<ref>{{cite web |title=Warpath |url=http://www.warpath.orbat.com/indian_cav/1_ind_cav_div.htm |access-date=31 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528042649/http://www.warpath.orbat.com/indian_cav/1_ind_cav_div.htm |archive-date=28 May 2008 |url-status=dead |df=dmy }}</ref>

==Order of battle==
* [[2nd (Sialkot) Cavalry Brigade]]:
** [[17th Lancers]]
** [[6th King Edward's Own Cavalry]]
** [[19th Lancers]]
** [[Q Battery, Royal Horse Artillery]]
** 10th Machine Gun [[Squadron (army)|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]]

[[File:Comrades France (Photo 24-158).jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|alt=Horses and a large group of soldiers|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

==See also==
{{portal|World War I}}
* [[British cavalry during the First World War]]
* [[List of Indian divisions in World War I]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book
| last = Haythornthwaite | first = Philip J.
| year = 1996
| title = The World War One Source Book
| publisher = Arms and Armour Press
| location = London
| isbn = 1-85409-351-7
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Perry | first = F.W.
| year = 1993
| title = Order of Battle of Divisions Part 5B. Indian Army Divisions
| publisher = Ray Westlake Military Books
| location = Newport
| isbn = 1-871167-23-X
}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book
| last = Preston | first = R. M. P.
| year = 1921
| title = The Desert Mounted Corps: An Account of the Cavalry Operations in Palestine and Syria 1917–1918
| url = https://archive.org/details/desertmountedco00presgoog
| publisher = Constable & Co.
| location = London
| oclc = 3900439
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Sumner | first = Ian
| year = 2001
| title = The Indian Army 1914–1947
| publisher = Osprey
| location = Oxford
| isbn = 1-84176-196-6
}}
* {{cite book |chapter=The Palestine Campaigns |last=Wavell |first=Field Marshal Earl|author-link=Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell|editor-last=Sheppard |editor-first=Eric William |edition=4th |title=A Short History of the British Army |year=1968 |orig-year=1933 |publisher=Constable & Co. |location=London |oclc=35621223}}

==External links==
* {{cite web | url=http://www.1914-1918.net/1cavdiv_indian.htm | title=The 1st Indian Cavalry Division in 1914-1918 | last=Baker | first=Chris | publisher=The Long Long Trail | access-date=19 July 2015 }}
* {{cite web|url=http://www.warpath.orbat.com/indian_cav/1_ind_cav_div.htm |title=1st Indian Cavalry Division on ''The Regimental Warpath 1914 - 1918'' by PB Chappell |access-date=2008-05-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517085204/http://www.warpath.orbat.com/indian_cav/1_ind_cav_div.htm |archive-date=17 May 2008 |df=dmy }}

{{Indian Divisions in World War I}}
{{Indian Expeditionary Forces}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:C1}}

{{#seo:
|keywords=British Indian Army divisions, Indian World War I divisions, Military units and formations established in 1914, Military units and formations disestablished in 1918, British cavalry divisions
|description=
}}

[[Category:British Indian Army divisions]]
[[Category:Indian World War I divisions]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1914]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1918]]
[[Category:British cavalry divisions]]

1st Indian Cavalry Division - Revision history

MetaBOT at 16:11, 8 July 2023