Wars and ConflictsΒ permalink
cavalry charges
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Message 1.Β
Posted by vera1950 (U9920163) on Wednesday, 19th December 2007
hi, can anyone confirthe last cavalry charge made by the British.
vera -
Message 2
Posted by Idamante (U1894562) on Wednesday, 19th December 2007
I believe it was the one by the 21st Lancers at the Battle of Omdurman in 1898 (Sudan War). At least that was the last really BIG charge...
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Message 3
Posted by Vizzer aka U_numbers (U2011621) on Wednesday, 19th December 2007
It's been suggested that it took place at the Battle of El Mughar, near Jerusalem, on 13 November 1917.
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Message 4
Posted by vera1950 (U9920163) on Wednesday, 19th December 2007
hi,
thanks for those. I know about Omduran but haven't heard of the JERUSALEM one.
VERA -
Message 5
Posted by Mani (U1821129) on Wednesday, 19th December 2007
I believe it was in the wee hours of the 11/11/1918, one last 'Hurrah' before the armistice kicked in.
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Message 6
Posted by Allan D (U1791739) on Wednesday, 19th December 2007
According to this the last successful cavalry charge (don't know about the unsuccessful ones) was by the Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade (although they were in fact mounted infantry rather than cavalry)at the Battle of Beersheba on 31 October 1917:
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Message 7
Posted by docsdiamonds (U1803003) on Wednesday, 19th December 2007
I'm sure there was a US Cavalry charge against a Japanese position in WW2 - so this must have been 1942 or later? Can anyone help?
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Message 8
Posted by Allan D (U1791739) on Wednesday, 19th December 2007
Although Vera does ask "by the British" so neither the Australians (although technically under overall British command) nor the Americans count. As for your query I can only suppose you are reffering to some incident involving Wainwright forces (including the Filipino Army) during the initial Japanese invasion of the Philippines at the beginning of 1942 although like the stories of Polish Lancers charging German Panzers in 1939 the incident may well be apocryphal.
The famous charges involving Teddy Roosevelt's "Rough Riders" up San Juan and Kettle Hills in Cuba during the Spanish-American War of 1898 were, of course, conducted on foot as the horses had to be left behind due to insufficient shipping space. -
Message 9
Posted by TrailApe (U1701496) on Wednesday, 19th December 2007
I'd bet that there were several cavalry charges by British troops in the 1920's. Remember the Army didn't start mechanising until the 30's and cavalry was an excellent way of getting around. Fair enough they were probably against irregular opposition, but so what.
That charge that Churchill took part in often springs to mind because old Winnie was such a succesful self publicist. There were deffo some charges in the early days of WW1 on the Western Front - one against Prussian Donkey Wallopers, a real set to apparently, and in the Middle East there were a few against the Turks. -
Message 10
Posted by colonelblimp (U1705702) on Wednesday, 19th December 2007
Possibly Syria in 1941:
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Message 11
Posted by Trooper Tom Canning - WW2 Site Helper (U519668) on Wednesday, 19th December 2007
Sad to say - but - you are all wrong - the last successful Cavalry Charge was made by the 16th/5th Lancers in June of 1946 at the gardens of the Schoenbrunn Palace in Vienna.
A troop of Lancers rescued the passengers - including the writer - of a Stagecoach going about it's lawful business until being held up by a group of brigands, led by Captain Peter Bull of "B" squadron riding a Lippzanner stallion - yelling 'your money of your life'
The brigands were ridden off to the slammer !
Nothing warlike about it however as it was the Vienna tattoo - the first British Tattoo held overseas - by the occupation troops of 78th Inf Div. - the 46th Inf.Div and the 6th Armoured Div and raised some 10,000GBP( 400,000 schillings) which allowed 2400 Viennese children to have a holiday in the countryside - with good food !
It was a costumed sketch with the Lancers in 18th century uniforms sans "pukka" lances as there was a shortage of same and we had to release ours to the 4th Hussars for their musical ride !
It was just one more effort to relieve the population of the hardships they had undergone with the Russian capture of that great City as we were sharing our rations, plus lumberjacking in the woods to heat their homes and many other acts.
I have some photographs of this event - if anyone is interested ! -
Message 12
Posted by LongWeekend (U3023428) on Wednesday, 19th December 2007
vera
As other posts show, depends on your definition of "British" and your definition of "Cavalry charge".
The last regimental strength cavalry charge was, as posted before, in the battle for Jerusalem in November 1918. The Aussie Brigade operation the previous month was probably the outstanding Imperial cavalry exploit of the war.
There were a number of squadron-strength coup de main attempts on the Western Front on the morning of 11 November 1918, which get a regular slagging off by hindsight historians, but at the time the idea was to grab bridgeheads across rivers, and the Armistice was just an armistice, not a surrender, or a peace.
The last regimental-strength cavalry action was by a Yeomanry Regiment (don't have which one to hand, can find out) in Haifa in 1941. But it was a riot control operation, at a canter, not a charge. Syria is a red herring - the Cavalry Division units that went into Syria were truck-mounted.
The Burma police claim the last Imperial combat charge - at platoon strength - against the Japanese in early 1942. -
Message 13
Posted by Trooper Tom Canning - WW2 Site Helper (U519668) on Wednesday, 19th December 2007
Lost w/end
Good grief man - you doubt my story of the last charge by a British Cavalry Regiment - this will mean handbags at dawn -
or I shall have words with the orderly Officer who is now stationed at Catterick with the regiment now renamed The Queen's Royal Lancers - owing to the fact that they were amalgamated with the 17th/21st Lancers in 1993..
Or you can read the action packed tale of this event here......
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Message 14
Posted by ex4thhussar (U520216) on Thursday, 20th December 2007
Hi VeraHowarth1950
In response to your original query and with apologies to my good friend Tom:
Sorry Tom,
You'll have to do a lot better than offering the 16/5th Lancers Tattoo as a qualifier for the "last cavalry charge made by the British of the war", even if we do recognise what a worthy event the Tattoo was and what a superb spectacle it must have been.
In its place, I'd like to offer as a contender, "Cavalry Charge at the Argenta Gap"
Picture the scene.....
The date, as near as I can get it, was the 18th of April 1945, just a few weeks before the end of hostilities in Europe.
My unit was the 4th Queen's Own Hussars,
which, at that moment in time, was part of the "Kangaroo Army" of the 2nd Armoured Brigade. For the past few weeks we had been moving relatively slowly through a landscape that consisted of hills and rivers. Suddenly we came to the Argenta Gap and immediately it was 'pierced' we were able to see the plains and nothing seemed to stand in the way of our advance.
The order must have been given 'Brigade, in open order, Advance!' because all the vehicles in the column (which included my own βHoneyβ tank) literally fanned out into one straight long line and it was the most wonderful sight that I had ever seen in my (then) short life.
With coloured Squadron pennants flying from our aerial masts and with some of the tank crews even firing pistol shots into the air (a la the old cowboy films) we raced forward at high speed, relatively un-obstructed by an enemy who by that time must have realised that the Italian campaign was almost over for them.
It is sixty two years since I experienced this event and yet it still raises the hair on the back of my neck!
ps
As Wikipedia puts it:
"By the 18th the battle for the Argenta Gap was over, and much of the retreating German force had been destroyed before it could retreat across the Po River". -
Message 15
Posted by vera1950 (U9920163) on Thursday, 20th December 2007
hi everyone,
thanks for all that ,there are cetainly some charges I've never heard of!
ex hussar thanks for sharing your memories,it was wonderfu to read.I salute you and your commrades!
I believe there was a cavalry charge at High Wood on the SOMME in WW1, but Idon't know much about it.It appears though that there were charges much later than that.
vera -
Message 16
Posted by LongWeekend (U3023428) on Thursday, 20th December 2007
vera
I got my dates wrong - should have been 1917, as Alan D posted, not 1918.
The Buckinghamshire Hussars and the Dorset and Berkshire Yeomanry charged together at the Battle of El Mughar on 13 November 1917, then charged again the next day at Gezer.
But, according to Wavell, the last cavalry action of the campaign was on 26 October 1918, when two regiments of 15th Cavalry Brigade (he doesn't say which two) charged Turkish positions at Haritan, north of Aleppo in Syria. This wasn't a victory - after initial success, they were forced back.
The Burma charge was made on 21 March 1942, near Toungoo by a detachment of the Burma Frontier Force (not police, my mistake). The detachment consisted of 60 Indian (not Burman) sowars, led by Captain Arthur Sandeman, an Indian Army cavalry attached to the BFF. Most of them, including Sandeman, were killed. I remember this one, because "Look and Learn" did a rousing story on the incident!
If we're talking about non-Brits, the French maintained Spahi cavalry units in Algeria, and on at least one occasion in the late '50s, they did carry out a charge against ALN guerrillas.
Cheers
LW -
Message 17
Posted by White Camry (U2321601) on Thursday, 20th December 2007
docsdiamonds,]
I'm sure there was a US Cavalry charge against a Japanese position in WW2 - so this must have been 1942 or later? Can anyone help?Β
No, there wasn't. -
Message 18
Posted by LongWeekend (U3023428) on Thursday, 20th December 2007
White Camry
I have come across references to the 26th Cavalry (Phillipine Scouts), and the suggestion that a platoon of the regiment, surprised by the presence of the Japanese in a village called Moroung on 19 January 1942, charged through their opponents on horseback.
It wasn't truly a cavalry charge - the troopers did not have lance or sabre - and they were really breaking out of the enemy's trap, not attacking. But it does seem to have some credence as the last US Mounted action. The 26th's main horsed contribution to the Phillipines campaign was providing horse meat to the garrison of Bataan.
On similar lines, I have also found reference to an action by a mounted patrol of the North Frontier Force in Kenya in 1953, under a sergeant (so, about ten men maximum), who rode through a body of Mau Mau terrorists. Again, it wasn't really a charge (they were mounted infantry). -
Message 19
Posted by Trooper Tom Canning - WW2 Site Helper (U519668) on Thursday, 20th December 2007
My dear ex 4th Hussar -
and just who was it who "pierced" the Argenta gap to allow you with your topless tanks to advance in Line Abreast ?
Why it was no other than 26th Armoured Bde with 16th/5th Lancers;17/21st Lancers and 2nd Batt Lothians of the 6th Armoured Div on their way to seal the pincer movement and join up with 6th South African Div to encircle all enemy forces south of the Po....
The Vienna Tattoo on the other hand was with Donkeys and Hosses...the Donkeys being the riders ! -
Message 20
Posted by Sambista (U4068266) on Thursday, 20th December 2007
Another possibility for non-British cavalry in action would be 1959 - AAUI both the Tibetans and the Peoples Army used horsed cavalry in the campaign that led to the flight of the Dalai Lama.
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Message 21
Posted by LongWeekend (U3023428) on Thursday, 20th December 2007
Another correction:
A colleague who is ex-Yeomanry informs me that the Cheshire Yeomanry did take part in the 1941 Syria campaign while still mounted, attached to the Australians. I've checked the Aussie official history, and indeed British horsed cavalry are mentioned.
So the Cheshire Yeo would appear to have the distinction of being the last British cavalry regiment to go on operations on horseback. No mention of any mounted charges, though.
(The 11 Nov 18 last attack of the war was a squadron of 7th Dragoons, at Lessines, apparently).
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