1914 The Great War, WWI
From Galloping Horse to Battlefield Trenches
On the evening of 4th August 1914, King George V of Great Britain declared war on Germany, who had ignored the British ultimatum demanding that German invasion forces immediately withdraw from Belgium. Although the official explanation for war focused on protecting Belgium as a neutral country, the principal reason was to prevent a French defeat, thereby enabling Germany to take control of most of western Europe.
The volunteer military organisations of Great Britain had been reorganised during 1908, consolidating the county rifle and volunteer artillery corps with the yeomanry into a single unified auxiliary formation, commanded by the War Office. This ‘Territorial Force’ was intended to augment British land forces in time of war, without resorting to conscription.
Although a few Territorial Force units did deploy into France during 1914, the majority were used to release the regular formations garrisoning the Empire.
When the ‘1st Contingent’ companies of the Imperial Yeomanry had returned from South Africa in 1901, it was desired that they should form the nucleus of ‘new’ yeomanry formations to continue recruiting for the ongoing war. Thereby, the ‘Sussex Imperial Yeomanry’ was duly formed in June 1901, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Wyndham, Baron Leconfield of Petworth House, Petworth (formerly an officer in the 1st Life Guards). Regimental HQ was established in Brighton, with A Squadron in Hove, B Squadron in Lewes, C Squadron in Chichester, and D Squadron in Hastings and Rye.
Similarly, in April 1901, the Surrey Imperial Yeomanry had also formed under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Cubitt, Baron Ashcombe of Denbies, Dorking. Regimental HQ was established in Clapham, with A Squadron at Pimlico, B Squadron in Guildford, C Squadron in Epsom, and D Squadron in Wimbledon.
In 1902, the then Princess of Wales graciously agreed that the regiment should become the Surrey Imperial Yeomanry (The Princess of Wales’s). The ‘Imperial’ was dropped from the titles of all the county yeomanry with the creation of the Territorial Force in 1908. When George V became King in 1910, the title of the Surrey Yeomanry changed again to Surrey (Queen Mary’s Regiment) Yeomanry.
At the outbreak of war in August 1914, the Sussex Yeomanry had its Regimental HQ on Church Street, Brighton. A Squadron was also located in Brighton, with a detachment in Horsham. B Squadron was in Lewes, with a detachment in Haywards Heath. C Squadron in Chichester, with a detachment in Bognor (the Brigade Signals Troop) and D Squadron at Eastbourne, with a detachment in Bexhill. The Sussex Yeomanry formed part of the South Eastern Mounted Brigade, along with the East Kent Yeomanry, the West Kent Yeomanry, and the Surrey Yeomanry.
In 1914, the Surrey Yeomanry (Queen Mary’s Regiment) had its Regimental HQ on King’s Avenue, Clapham. A Squadron was also in Clapham. B Squadron was in Guildford, with detachments in Camberley and Woking. C Squadron was in Croydon and D Squadron in Wimbledon.
Surrey Yeomanry (QMR) 1914–1919
On mobilisation at the outbreak of war, it went with the rest of the South Eastern Mounted Brigade to the Canterbury depot, and A and D Squadrons merged. Unlike the other yeomanry regiments within the brigade, in November 1914, the Surrey Yeomanry was split up to provide a cavalry squadron to three of the regular infantry brigades being recalled from India.
A/D Squadron joined the 27th Division, and B Squadron joined the 28th Division. Both then moved to Winchester, with the 27th Division, deploying to France a few days before Christmas 1914, making it one of the first Territorial Force units to join the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front. The 28th Division joined them in January 1915.
The conditions were miserable, and as mounted troops they could play little part in trench warfare, so they were employed in anti-sniper patrols, guiding supply wagons and reinforcements into and out of the front-line, and as fatigue parties for sandbag filling, trench digging, and burial duties.
From August 1915, A Squadron began sending two troops, dismounted, into the front-line, supplementing a Canadian Light Infantry battalion. In early 1916, the 27th and 28th Divisions were redeployed to Salonika to deter Bulgarian aggression against neutral Greece.
During December 1916, A and B Sqn were withdrawn from their respective divisions, and the 1/1st Surrey Yeomanry was reformed as the XVI Corps’ cavalry element.
During the summer of 1917, the ever-increasing cases of malaria in the Struma River valley made holding the area impossible. XVI Corps therefore withdrew across the river, leaving the Bulgarian side as a broad unoccupied expanse patrolled daily by the Surrey Yeomanry.
Greece finally joined the war in June 1917. As the Struma Front remained relatively quiet, XVI Corps was relieved by Greek troops in June 1918, enabling XVI Corps to begin the final Allied offensive at Lake Doiran, north of Thessaloniki, in September 1918.
The fighting with Bulgaria ended on the 30th September 1918. The British advance then continued across Bulgaria, intending to open up a new front against Turkish forces, but they too ceased hostilities, signing an armistice on the 30th October 1918.
With the war in Salonika effectively over, the British now occupied territory in the Caucasus. This was partially to 'protect India's flank,' and to secure the local oilfields, but also to supervise the Turkish withdrawal from the region, and to support the ‘white’ (anti-Bolshevik) faction in the ongoing Russian civil war.
As Turkish forces withdrew from Baku in the middle of November 1918, they were replaced by a British force from Salonika, and martial law was implemented. There were also British occupations of the Georgian cities of Tbilisi and Batumi and along the 560 mile Baku-Batumi railway.
By January 1919, the British presence was 40,000 strong, the largest of all British intervention forces in Russia. They served only a defensive role and were withdrawn in August 1919.
A composite Squadron of the 1st / 1st Surrey Yeomanry, known as Q Squadron, landed at Batumi Port on the shore of the Black Sea in early February 1919. After six weeks in Batumi they were ordered inland to Tbilisi, remaining there until withdrawn in the summer of 1919.
C Squadron of the Surrey Yeomanry joined the 29th Division at Stratford-upon-Avon and embarked for Alexandria, Egypt, arriving there in April 1915. The 29th Division then deployed to Gallipoli, but without C Squadron.
In June 1915, the Squadron moved to the Greek island of Imbros, attached to the Headquarters of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. After Gallipoli had been evacuated in December 1915, C Squadron went back to Egypt and was shipped to France in March 1916.
Deployed onto the Western Front during May, C Squadron left the 29th Division, joining with other yeomanry units to become the cavalry element of III Corps. This formation was heavily engaged in the Battle of the Somme throughout the Summer of 1916.
In the autumn, the squadron sent a dismounted draft to reinforce the 10th (Service) Battalion of the Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment). On 1st July 1917, III Corps Cavalry was ordered to be dismounted and sent for infantry training.
In September 1917, the remainder of C Squadron (6 officers and 121 Other Ranks) were also drafted into the 10th Battalion Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) in the 41st Division.
At the end of 1917, the 10th Battalion moved to the Italian Front, taking up positions between Vicenza and Grisignano, before returning to France in March 1918. The Battalion spent the remainder of the war on the Western Front. The 10th Battalion was at Tenbosch, Belgium, when the Armistice came into effect and returned to England during January 1919.