8th (Lucknow) Cavalry Brigade

The **Lucknow Cavalry Brigade** was a cavalry brigade of the British Indian Army formed in 1911 as a result of the Kitchener Reforms. It was mobilized as **8th (Lucknow) Cavalry Brigade** at the outbreak of the First World War as part of the [1st Indian Cavalry Division](1st-indian-cavalry-division) and departed for France. It served on the Western Front with the division until it was broken up in March 1918. The brigade was reformed in April 1920 and broken up in 1923. ## History The Kitchener Reforms, carried out during Lord Kitchener's tenure as Commander-in-Chief, India (1902–1909), completed the unification of the three former Presidency armies, the Punjab Frontier Force, the Hyderabad Contingent and other local forces into one Indian Army. Kitchener identified the Indian Army's main task as the defence of the North-West Frontier against foreign aggression (particularly Russian expansion into Afghanistan) with internal security relegated to a secondary role. The Army was organized into divisions and brigades that would act as field formations but also included internal security troops. The **Lucknow Cavalry Brigade** was formed in October 1911 as a result of the Kitchener Reforms. The brigade was one of the last to be formed before the outbreak of the First World War. It formed part of the [8th (Lucknow) Division](8th-lucknow-division) in peacetime. ;8th (Lucknow) Cavalry Brigade ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Comrades_France_(Photo_24-158).jpg" caption="English and Indian soldiers of the Signal Troop of the Lucknow Cavalry Brigade relaxing in a farmyard at Brigade Headquarters, 28 July 1915"] :: In September 1914, the brigade was mobilized as the **8th (Lucknow) Cavalry Brigade** and assigned to the [1st Indian Cavalry Division](1st-indian-cavalry-division). With the division, it departed Bombay on 16 October 1914 and landed at Marseille on 7 November. However, the brigade did not reach the Front until 8–10 December due to horse sickness. While in France, the brigade was known by its geographical rather than numerical designation so as to avoid confusion with the British [8th Cavalry Brigade](8th-cavalry-brigade-united-kingdom) also serving on the Western Front at the same time. Other than the Battle of Cambrai when it helped to hold the German counter-attack, it was not involved in battle. Instead, it was held in reserve in case of a breakthrough, although it did send parties to the trenches on a number of occasions. They would hold the line, or act as Pioneers; such parties were designated as the **Lucknow Battalion**. ;Dissolved In March 1918, the brigade was broken up in France. The British units ([1/1st Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons](1-1st-queen-s-own-yorkshire-dragoons) and U Battery, RHA) remained in France, 12th Machine Gun Squadron was broken up on 14 April 1918 and the Indian elements were sent to Egypt. On 22 July 1918 the 8th Mounted Brigade was redesignated as [11th Cavalry Brigade](11th-cavalry-brigade-british-indian-army) and the division as [4th Cavalry Division](4th-cavalry-division-british-indian-army). ;4Post war The Lucknow Cavalry Brigade was reformed in April 1920. In September 1920 it was designated as the **4th Indian Cavalry Brigade** until 1923 when it was broken up. ## Orders of battle ::data[format=table] | In India in August 1914 | |---| | At the outbreak of the First World War, the brigade had the following composition: | :: ::data[format=table] | Western Front | |---| | Perry|1993|p=14}} | :: ## Commanders The Lucknow Cavalry Brigade / 8th (Lucknow) Cavalry Brigade had the following commanders: ::data[format=table] | From | Rank | Name | Notes | |---|---|---|---| | 16 October 1911 | Major-General | G.A. Cookson | | | 26 November 1914 | Brigadier-General | W.H. Fasken | | | 13 May 1916 | Brigadier-General | M.F. Gage | | | 13 December 1917 | Brigadier-General | G.A.H. Beatty | Brigade broken up in March 1918 | :: The new Lucknow Cavalry Brigade / 4th Indian Cavalry Brigade was commanded throughout it existence (April 19201923) by Major-General L.C. Jones. ## Notes ## References ## Bibliography - {{cite book | author-link = Philip Haythornthwaite - {{cite book - {{cite book - {{cite web |access-date=1 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705211343/http://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/Army%20Commands%201900-2011.pdf |archive-date=5 July 2015 - {{cite book ## References 1. {{harvnb. Haythornthwaite. 1996 2. The late Lieutenant General H.G. Hart. ["Hart's Annual Army List for 1913"](https://archive.org/stream/hartsannualarmy1913lond#page/112/mode/2up). *John Murray*. 3. Perry. 1993 4. {{harvnb. Perry. 1993 5. Baker, Chris. ["Cavalry units of the Machine Gun Corps"](http://www.1914-1918.net/mgccav.html). *The Long Long Trail*. 6. Becke. 1936 7. {{harvnb. Perry. 1993 8. {{harvnb. Mackie. 2015 9. {{harvnb. Perry. 1993 10. {{harvnb. Perry. 1993 11. {{harvnb. James. 1978 12. {{harvnb. Perry. 1993 13. ["Battle of Ypres"](http://www.cwgc.org/ypres/content.asp?id=33&menu=subsub). *Commonwealth War Graves Commission*. 14. Perry. 1993 ::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8th_(Lucknow)_Cavalry_Brigade) and is available under the [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the [article history page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8th_(Lucknow)_Cavalry_Brigade?action=history). ::