Desert Mounted Corps

Desert Mounted Corps
Desert Mounted Corps commander Harry Chauvel, (front row second left) and corps staff[1]
Active12 August 1917 – 7 June 1919
CountryBritish Empire British Empire
 France
AllegianceBritish Empire
TypeCavalry
Yeomanry
Mounted infantry
Horse artillery
RoleMounted warfare
SizeArmy corps
Part ofEgyptian Expeditionary Force
EngagementsSinai and Palestine Campaign

1917

Palestine

Battle of Beersheba
Battle of Tel el Khuweilfe
Battle of Hareira and Sheria
Charge at Sheria
Battle of Mughar Ridge
Battle of Ayun Kara
Battle of Jerusalem

1918

Jordan and Transjordan

Capture of Jericho
Jordan Valley
First Transjordan attack on Amman
Second Transjordan attack on Shunet Nimrin and Es Salt

After reformation

Palestine, Transjordan and Syria
Battle of Megiddo
Battle of Sharon
Battle of Nazareth
Battle of Haifa
Capture of Afulah and Beisan
Capture of Jenin
Battle of Samakh
Capture of Tiberias
Third Transjordan attack
Capture of Jisr ed Damieh
Second Battle of Amman
Capture of Damascus
Charge at Irbid
Battle of Jisr Benat Yakub
Charge at Kaukab
Charge at Kiswe
Pursuit to Haritan
Charge at Khan Ayash
Battle of Aleppo
Charge at Haritan
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Harry Chauvel

The Desert Mounted Corps was an army corps of the British Army during the First World War, of three mounted divisions renamed in August 1917 by General Edmund Allenby, from Desert Column. These divisions which served in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign had been formed by Australian light horse, British yeomanry, and New Zealand mounted rifles brigades, supported by horse artillery, infantry and support troops. They were later joined by Indian cavalry and a small French cavalry detachment.

The Desert Mounted Corps (DMC) comprised the ANZAC Mounted Division, the Australian Mounted Division and the Yeomanry Mounted Division, with infantry formations attached when required, as had Desert Column. In the first month of its existence, the corps continued training and patrolling no man's land preparing for manoeuvre warfare. Their first operations would be the attack, along with the XX Corps of the Battle of Beersheba. Having captured their objective they were involved in a series of battles, before the old Gaza to Beersheba line was finally broken a week later. During the pursuit they fought two Turkish armies at the Battle of Mughar Ridge before advancing to capture Jerusalem during the Battle of Jerusalem in December 1917.[a]

In 1918, units of Desert Mounted Corps participated in the Capture of Jericho in February, the First Transjordan attack on Amman in March and the Second Transjordan attack on Shunet Nimrin and Es Salt in April, while occupying the Jordan Valley during the summer. As a result of the German spring offensive on the Western Front the corps went through a reorganisation, when the majority of the British yeomanry regiments were dismounted and sent as infantry reinforcements to France. The Yeomanry Mounted Division and the 5th Mounted Brigade were disbanded, to be replaced by Indian cavalry regiments, which formed the 4th Cavalry Division and 5th Cavalry Division. They arrived in the Jordan Valley in May to join the corps and in September with four divisions, participated in the major offensive operations of the Battle of Sharon, a section of the Battle of Megiddo. The subsequent pursuit to Damascus followed by the Pursuit to Haritan, advances of almost 600 miles (970 km) into Turkish territory, resulted in the capture of 107,000 prisoners and over 500 pieces of artillery. At the end of October, the Armistice of Mudros ended the war against the Ottoman Empire and the corps became an occupation force in Syria. By March 1919 units were patrolling Egypt during the Egyptian Revolution of 1919. The Desert Mounted Corps was disbanded in June 1919.

  1. ^ "Informal group portrait of headquarters staff of the Desert Mounted Corps". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  2. ^ Fewster, Basarin, Basarin, 2003, pp.xi–xii


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