3rd Cavalry Division (United Kingdom)

3rd Cavalry Division
Division insignia
Active1 September 1914 – 31 March 1919
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
TypeCavalry
SizeDivision
Part ofCavalry Corps
EngagementsWorld War I
Defence of Antwerp
First Battle of Ypres
Second Battle of Ypres
Battle of Loos
Battle of Arras (1917)[1]
First Battle of the Somme (1918)
Battle of St Quentin
Battle of the Avre
Battle of Amiens (1918)
Hindenburg Line
Battle of Cambrai (1918)
Pursuit to the Selle
Advance in Flanders[2]
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy

The 3rd Cavalry Division was a division of the British Army in the First World War. It was formed at Ludgershall, Wiltshire England in September 1914 under the command of Major-General the Hon. Julian Byng. The division moved to Belgium in the first week of October 1914, landing at Ostend, although its third Brigade was only formed there once.[3] During the war the division took part in most of the major actions where cavalry were used as a mounted mobile force, and also many where the troops were dismounted and effectively served as infantry.[3]

On 11 November 1918, units of the division had reached the River Dender at Leuze and Lessines in Belgium, when orders were received that they would cover the advance of the British Second Army into Germany. They started the advance on 17 November, divisional headquarters being established at Waterloo on 21 November. The following year they wintered in Belgium, and the division was officially demobilised by 31 March 1919.[3]

  1. ^ Becke 1935, p. 22
  2. ^ Becke 1935, p. 23
  3. ^ a b c Baker, Chris. "The 3rd Cavalry Division in 1914-1918". The Long Long Trail. Retrieved 5 August 2013.