New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade
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The New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade [1] was a brigade of the New Zealand Army during the First World War. Raised, in 1914, as part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force it was one of the first New Zealand units to sail for service overseas.
The brigade was formed from three regiments, the Auckland Mounted Rifles, the Canterbury Mounted Rifles, the Wellington Mounted Rifles, and smaller sized support units. All together the brigade has an establishment of 1,940 men and 2,032 horses and by the end of the war over 17,700 men had served in the brigade. However the entire brigade only had a dismounted rifle strength the equivalent of an infantry battalion.
By the end of 1914, the brigade had arrived in Egypt and was assigned to the New Zealand and Australian Division. Its first active service was, in a dismounted role, during the Gallipoli Campaign. Where they fought against the forces of the Ottoman Turkish Empire.[nb 1] Seven months later, after the evacuation from Gallipoli, the brigade returned to Egypt, and in 1916, became part of the ANZAC Mounted Division. The brigade was then used in defence of the Suez Canal. Then following an abortive Turkish attack in the Sinai Desert, took part in clearing the invaders from Egypt. Then in the next two years, forced the Turkish forces out of Palestine, collectively known as the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. Following its successful conclusion in 1918, the brigade played a small part in the Egyptian Revolution of 1919, before being disbanded in June 1919.
Background
On 4 August 1914, the British Empire declared war on the German Empire. Two days later, to assist the war effort, New Zealand offered to send a New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) to fight alongside the British Army. That offer was accepted by the Imperial Cabinet and amongst the troops asked for was a mounted infantry brigade. Which became known as the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade. Being mounted infantry the brigade was expected to ride to the site of the battle, then dismounted and fight on foot, just like normal infantry.
The brigade's first commanding officer was Colonel Andrew Russell. His command comprised a headquarters, three regiments, each with three squadrons, and support troops, formed from the New Zealand Territorial Force, The Territorial Force included a compulsory training system and the four New Zealand Military Districts were required to supply a mounted regiment for the NZEF. To meet that obligation the Territorial Force regiments, each provided a squadron, which kept their own regimental badges and traditions. All together the brigade has an establishment of 1,940 men and 2,032 horses. However the entire brigade only had a dismounted rifle strength the equivalent of an infantry battalion. Such was the nature of the fighting they were involved in, that by the end of the war over 17,700 men would serve in the brigade.
Formation
Initially, in 1914, the brigade comprised a Brigade Headquarters, three mounted regiments, the Auckland Mounted Rifles, the Canterbury Mounted Rifles, the Wellington Mounted Rifles, and support units, from the New Zealand Engineers, a Field Ambulance and an Ammunition Subsection. New Zealand did not supply an artillery battery for the brigade, as it was always intended artillery would be provided by the British Army. Another regiment, the Otago Mounted Rifles, raised as a divisional cavalry regiment, was assigned to the brigade during the Gallipoli Campaign. Then in the early stages of the Sinai Campaign the Australian 5th Light Horse Regiment, for a time, replaced the Wellington Mounted Rifles. In July 1916, the three regiments lost their machine-gun sections, which were amalgamated, to form the Brigade Machine-Gun Squadron.
Training in New Zealand
In New Zealand, the brigade's reinforcements trained at Featherston Camp north east of Wellington where about 8,000 men were housed in nearly 300 buildings, including three billiard rooms, a post office, a cinema, sixteen dining halls, six cook-houses and stables for 500 horses. The training programme included eight weeks of dismounted drill, two weeks of shooting, eight weeks of mounted drill and lectures on sanitation, military law and discipline, animal management and stable duties. All mounted reinforcements had to pass confirmatory riding tests before being cleared to go overseas. Once trained the men were sent to Sydney or Melbourne in Australia, where they embarked on Australian troopships bound for Suez.
Egypt
A little over two months after the declaration of war, in October 1914, the brigade sailed from New Zealand. Arriving in the Suez Canal on 3 December 1914, they disembarked at Alexandria two days later. Then entrained for Cairo, and established a camp in the western suburb of Zeitoun. The brigade was now assigned to the New Zealand and Australian Division, with the New Zealand Infantry Brigade.
Gallipoli
The brigade's transport ships arrived off Gallipoli on 12 May. The troops were kept on board until dark, then landed at Anzac Cove, camping that night on the beach. The next day they took over the northern, No.4 Section, of the beach head.
No.3 Post
On 27 May the brigade realised the Turks were building a new position, at the base of the foothills, around 450 yards (410 m) east of the No.2 Post and when completed it would be a danger to the New Zealand post. So it would have to be captured and the task was given to the 1st Squadron, Canterbury Mounted Rifles. The squadron assembled at No.2 Post and after dark, at 22:00, 28 May assaulted the position, and by 23:30 had forced the Turkish defenders to withdraw.
Chunuk Bair
The objective of the British August offensive was to seize Chunuk Bair a high point in the Sari Bair mountain range. The New Zealand and Australian Division would provide the attacking force. The initial part of the attack was to clear the Turks from the foothills, which was given to the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, reinforced by a Māori Pioneer Battalion.
Evacuation
The regiment spent their time building winter quarters, and tunnelling into the hillside to provide protection against shellfire, doing so until 27 November when they moved back into the front line. On 9 December, Major Christopher Powles, the Brigade-Major, took over command of the regiment, with Studholme as the second in command. Three days later, the order for the complete evacuation of the peninsula was issued. Men with minor ailments left first, followed by one regiment or battalion from each brigade. The Auckland Mounted Rifles were chosen as the first regiment to leave from the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade,[48] which meant that the Canterbury Mounted Rifles had to extend its lines to cover for the Aucklanders. The last men were due to leave over the night of 19/20 December.
The regiment now numbered fourteen officers and 290 other ranks, which was to be reduced to nine officers and 163 men, the rest being among the first batch to be evacuated on 18 December. The remainder were divided in three groups. The first group, of three officers and ninety men, left the front for the embarkation beach at 17:30 the next day. They were followed by the second smaller group of three officers and forty-two men at 21:35. The last group, three officers and thirty-one men, had to cover for the whole regiment, keeping up a steady rate of fire and moving their one Maxim-gun around the position to support the deception that all defences were fully manned. This last group was also divided into three parts, the first of which left at 01:45 on 20 December. They were followed by the next group who waited ten minutes before withdrawing. The last small group of men left at 02:05, and reached the beach, without incident, at 03:30. The regiment sailed again to Lemnos, and on 22 December to Egypt, arriving at Alexandria on 26 December, and eventually returned to their old camp at Zeitoun.
Sinai
In January 1916, the brigade left Zeitoun and headed east camping that night beside the Great Bitter Lake on the Suez Canal. While here they conducted desert training and each squadron, in turn, was sent across the canal on reconnaissance patrols into the Sinai Desert. In February they carried out a dual role of manning trenches along the canal, dismounted, and doing long range mounted patrols into the Sinai. Then in March, the brigade was assigned to the newly formed ANZAC Mounted Division, alongside the Australian 1st, 2nd and 3rd Light Horse Brigades.
Katia
Without any notice at 20:30 23 April, the brigade was ordered to Kantara thirty-two miles (51 km) away on the Suez Canal. The reason was not then known, but it later transpired a Turkish force in the Sinai Desert had attacked British yeomanry positions at Katia and Oghratina. They reached Kantara at 07:00 and an hour later moved into the desert camping at Hill 70 for the night and sent out reconnaissance patrols into the desert and manned observation posts. Patrol activity was kept up, most of the time at troop strength, but some involved the complete brigade. On 15 July 1916, the three mounted regiments lost there machine-gun sections, which were transferred to the newly formed brigade Machine-Gun Squadron. However a shortage of equipment, meant that they only had six of the newer Vickers machine guns, and six older Maxim guns. Then four days later reconnaissance aircraft spotted a large Turkish force moving west across the desert.
Casualties
During the war 334 men from the regiment died from all causes. In the seven months of the Gallipoli Campaign they had 127 dead; fourteen of those died of illness and 113 were killed in action. Another forty-six, not included in that total, were reported missing believed dead. The two years of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign accounted for another 127 dead. At the same time 466 men were debilitated or wounded in action at Gallipoli, and another 254 were wounded during the later campaign, a total of 720 wounded for both campaigns.
Many of the Gallipoli dead have no known grave; the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Chunuk Bair Cemetery, constructed on the site where the Turks buried Allied war dead following the evacuation, has 632 graves of which only ten men have been identified. At the nearby Hill 60 Cemetery, which has another 788 graves, only seventy-six were identified.
Honours
Several men of the regiment were recognised for their service by the British Empire awards system. Captain Robin Harper, later commander of the brigade machine-gun squadron, was perhaps the most decorated, being awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), Military Cross (MC), Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) and being mentioned in despatches three times. Findlay was invested as a Companion of the Order of the Bath and awarded a DSO, alongside six other officers who were also invested with the DSO. One officer was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), and another a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). Another eleven officers were awarded the MC, while the other ranks received a total of twelve DCMs and twenty-three Military Medals. There were also a total of sixty mentions in despatches, some men being mentioned more than once.
Later in 1921 the 1st Canterbury amalgamated with the 8th (South Canterbury) to form the Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry. In January 1942 all Mounted Rifle Regiments added to their name 'Light Armoured Fighting Vehicles Regiment.' In March 1944 the NZ Armoured Corps reorganized into three Regiments. The 3rd Armoured Regiment comprised the 1st CYC, 5th(Otago) and 10th(Nelson and Marlborough) LAFV Regiments. The 3rd Armoured Regiment went into recess in 1956.
1st Machine-Gun Squadron
The 1st Machine-Gun Squadron was a sub-unit of the New Zealand Military Forces during the First World War. It was part of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, and served with them in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign from 1916 to 1918.
The squadron was formed in Egypt during 1916 by amalgamating three machine-gun sections, belonging to three separate regiments: the Auckland Mounted Rifles, the Canterbury Mounted Rifles and the Wellington Mounted Rifles. Each section was initially equipped with two Maxim guns but following their experience in the Gallipoli Campaign, where the value of the guns in attack and defence was realised, their strength was increased to four guns.
The squadron primarily fought against the forces of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, first in Egypt during 1916, then in Palestine and the Jordan Valley in 1917 to 1918.
In common with the other national armies in the British Empire, in January 1916 the New Zealand Expeditionary Force was required to form a Machine-Gun Corps. The corps would initially have three companies to serve with the New Zealand Division and a squadron to serve with the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade.
The origins of the 1st Machine-Gun Squadron can be traced back to the raising of three machine-gun sections, belonging to three different regiments. These regiments were: the Auckland Mounted Rifles, recruited from the region around Auckland on the North Island of New Zealand; the Canterbury Mounted Rifles, from the Canterbury Region on the South Island of New Zealand; and the Wellington Mounted Rifles from the region around Wellington, also on the North Island. In August 1914, when the sections were formed, they each consisted of two Maxim guns, with one officer in command, and twenty-six other ranks, mounted on twenty riding horses and sixteen draught horses.
Members of the 1st Canterbury Mounted Rifles give a
demonstration in Egypt of the .303 Hotchkiss Machinegun,
also used by the NZMR in the desert campaigns.
This unit with a Mounted Brigade is called a "Machine Gun Squadron."
The gun numbers are:- No.1, who does the firing; No. 2, who looks after the feeding of the gun - he carries the gun into action whilst No 1 carries the tripod; Nos. 3 and 4, ammunition carriers. Then there is the range finder, whose duty it is to make out all ranges, and who always has his range finder with him. In some cases there is a scout, who generally acts as an extra gun number.
These gun numbers might be termed the aristocrats of a section the other men being pack leaders, who drag the gun and ammunition packhorses along. This is a very responsible job, (especially when galloping into action; but it is a job that nobody likes much and pack leaders are generally very pleased to get a 'rise to a gun number. A Machine Gun Squadron is what is termed a technical unit where every man is supposed to be a specialist at his job. We are skilled workmen but we are not proud; we don't give ourselves airs. In fact, you will always see us fraternizing with the Regiment chaps.
In the Squadron we have another branch the Transport. Now, the Transport is used for a great number of things - indeed, it is very useful and its members think themselves exceedingly important --I am not a Transport driver. On trek they carry the officers' and their own gear this is of the first importance; secondly, they carry all the reserve ammunition spare gear and cookhouse chattels (if you are a great friend of one of the drivers you may get a small parcel carried as a great favor). The Transport is a unit within a unit and the fellows in it get a bob a day more than gun numbers and pack-horse leaders. Also, the drivers do no fatigues their arduous duties do not permit of it. Fatigues in the M.G.S. are about the same as in a Regiment except that we never do any guards.
Carrying a machine gun into action is no joke. The order has been given "Dismount. Guns off'' You leap off, hand your horse over to your pack leader, bundle the gun and tripod off the pack: and then find that the enemy is much farther away than you thought. If you are No 1 you shoulder the tripod, if No 2 the gun, whilst Nos. 3 and 4 take two boxes of ammunition each from one of the ammunition packs: and off you start to the nearest vantage spot to get the gun into business. The Section officer or sergeant to the leader or perhaps the scout has been sent forward to select a spot, and you plod wearily on with bullets zipping all around. It gives a fellow the curious feeling down the spine and that gun gets heavier - you feel that you must drop, the wretched thing fling yourself on the ground and gasp. However; you have progressed near enough to the enemy trenches and the officer gives the command to get the gun into action in a certain position. This you do as quickly as possible feeling as if you had grown to the size of an elephant. Complete concealment of the gun position is highly desirable: but alas! not always practicable in an attack where very often a position has to be found in haste and the gun put almost anywhere.
Loading of the Mules
Five mules were required to carry the machinegun, ammunition and associated equipment.
Plate IX. Pack, first mule (Left Side) Plate X. Pack, first mule (Right Side)
Plate XI. Pack, second mule (left side) Plate XII. Pack, third mule (left side)
The 4th and 5th Mules were loaded in a manner.
Trooper’s Equipment
The amount of equipment required to place the New Zealand Mounted Rifles into the field during World War One was immense. To transport the men and some 10,000 New Zealand horses from one side of the globe to the other was only the beginning of a logistic mountain.
Although items like ammunition and 303 Enfield rifles were manufactured either in the Lithgow Factory in New South Wales or the small arms factories of England most items for the troops were manufactured in New Zealand, or at least the bulk of them were.
Leather items from Sam Browne belts to Bandoliers, to saddles and horse tack such as bridles and horse team traces were in the most part locally produced. However many leather goods came from the "Leather Town" of Walsall in the English Midlands where thousands of hands manufactured for Regiments throughout the Empire.
The carpentry shops and peace time furniture makers re-tooled and supplied Carts, Drays, Waggon wheels, horse boxes and foot lockers.
Besides food to feed the "Mother Country" the farmers of New Zealand supplied half the wool for the Empires uniforms.
Badges were made by many companies in England, notably Gaunt and Co, but also made in Australia and New Zealand.
Metal couplings, Belt buckles, studs and domes were dropped forged, cast or lathed in factories across the country - and for a country of only 1 million people, and with 19.35% of her 580,000 male population serving abroad it was a fantastic achievement.
Looking at the photograph left we can get a better understanding of the kit required by one trooper on active service, and to understand the weight carried on the horses back.
Photograph NZMRA -Memorial Trooper
Note:
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