The history of the 2nd Cavalry Division
On 6 September 1914, the 3rd Cavalry Brigade (then under 1st Cavalry Division) and 5th Cavalry Brigade (an independent command) were placed under orders of Brigadier-General Hubert Gough. A week later they were formed into the 2nd Cavalry Division and other units required to make up the divisional structure were added as they arrived. The Division remained on the Western Front in France and Flanders throughout the war. It took part in most of the major actions, including:
1914
The Battle of the Aisne (12 – 15 September)
The Battle of Messines 1914 (12 October – 2 November)
The Battle of Armentieres (13 – 17 October)
The Battle of Gheluvelt (30 – 31 October, a phase of the Battles of Ypres 1914) (“First Ypres”)
1915
Winter Operations 1914-15
The Battle of Neuve Chapelle (10 – 12 March 1915)
The Battle of St Julien (26 April – 3 May, a phase of the Battles of Ypres 1915) (“Second Ypres”)
The Battle of Bellewaarde Ridge (24 – 25 May, a phase of the Battles of Ypres 1915) (“Second Ypres”)
1916
No major engagements
1917
The First Battle of the Scarpe (9 – 11 April, a phase of the Arras Offensive)
The Tank Attack (20 – 21 November, a phase of the Cambrai Operations)
The capture of Bourlon Wood (24 – 28 November, a phase of the Cambrai Operations)
The German counterattacks (30 November – 3 December, a phase of the Cambrai Operations)
1918
The Battle of St Quentin (21 -23 March, a phase of the of the First Battles of the Somme in which the Division was engaged until 1 April)
The Battle of Hazebrouck (14 – 15 April, a phase of the Battles of the Lys)
The Battle of Amiens (8 – 11 August)
The Battle of Albert (21 – 23 August, a phase of the Second Battles of the Somme 1918)
The Second Battle of Bapaume (31 August – 3 September, a phase of the Second Battles of the Somme 1918)
The Battle of the Canal du Nord^ (27 September – 1 October)
The Battle of the St Quentin Canal^ (29 September – 2 October)
The Battle of the Beaurevoir Line^ (3 – 5 October)
The Battle of Cambrai 1918^ (8 – 9 October)
The battles marked ^ are phases of the Battles of the Hindenburg Line
The Pursuit to the Selle (9 – 12 October)
The Final Advance in Picardy (17 October – 11 November, including the Battle of the Sambre (4 November) and the capture of Mons (11 November))
The Division was selected to advance into Germany as an advance screen for Fourth Army and form part of the Occupation Force. The move began on 17 November, Cinet and Rochefort were reached five days later and the 5th Cavalry Brigade crossed the German border south of St Vith on 1 December. The Division ceased to exist at midnight 31 March / 1 April 1919.
The order of battle of the 2nd Cavalry Division
| 3rd Cavalry Brigade | joined on 13 September 1914 |
| 4th Hussars | |
| 5th Royal Irish Lancers | |
| 16th Lancers | |
| D Battery, RHA | joined from III Brigade RHA 17 September 1914 |
| 3rd Signal Troop RE | |
| 3rd Cavalry Bde Squadron Machine Gun Corps (Cavalry) | formed 29 February 1916 |
| 5th Cavalry Brigade | joined on 13 September 1914 |
| 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys) | |
| 12th Lancers | |
| 20th Hussars | |
| E Battery, RHA | joined from III Brigade RHA 17 September 1914 |
| 5th Signal Troop RE | |
| 5th Cavalry Bde Squadron Machine Gun Corps (Cavalry) | formed 26 February 1916 |
| 4th Cavalry Brigade | joined from 1st Cavalry Division on 14 October 1914 |
| Composite Regiment of Household Cavalry | left 11 November 1914 |
| 6th Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers) | |
| 3rd Hussars | |
| 1st Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars | joined 11 November 1914 |
| J Battery, RHA | |
| 4th Signal Troop RE | |
| 4th Cavalry Bde Squadron Machine Gun Corps (Cavalry) | formed 28 February 1916 |
| Divisional Artillery | |
| III Brigade, RHA and III Brigade Ammunition Column, RHA | joined from 1st Cavalry Division 17 September 1914; D Battery then placed under 3rd Cavalry Brigade and E Battery under 5th Cavalry Brigade. Brigade HQ was broken up in September 1914 and not reformed until 15 March 1915, although the batteries remained. |
| 1/1st Warwickshire Battery, RHA | joined 4 December 1914, left 14 April 1915 for 9th Cavalry Brigade. |
| Royal Engineers | |
| 2nd Field Squadron | joined 16 October 1914 |
| 2nd Signal Squadron | formed about 28 September 1914 |
| Royal Army Medical Corps | |
| 2nd Cavalry Field Ambulance | joined with 3rd Cavalry Brigade |
| 5th Cavalry Field Ambulance | joined with 5th Cavalry Brigade |
| 4th Cavalry Field Ambulance | joined 16 October 1914 |
| No 4 Sanitary Section | joined 12 January 1915, retitled as 4A in December 1915 |
| Royal Army Veterinary Corps | |
| 7th Mobile Veterinary Section | joined 16 September 1914 |
| 8th Mobile Veterinary Section | joined with 3rd Cavalry Brigade |
| 9th Mobile Veterinary Section | joined 15 October 1914 |
| Other Divisional Troops | |
| 1/1st Leicestershire Yeomanry | joined 14 March 1918, absorbed into regiments of 3rd Cavalry Brigade 4 April 1918 |
| 2nd Cavalry Divisional HQ ASC | 424 (Horsed Transport) Company, formed 10 October 1914 |
| 2nd Cavalry Divisional Auxiliary (Horse) ASC | 575 (Horsed Transport) Company, formed 25 September 1915 |
| 2nd Cavalry Divisional Supply Column ASC | 46 and 413 (Mechanical Transport) Companies. 46 absorbed 413 on 10 October 1916. |
| 772nd Divisional Employment Company | formed on 16 September 1917 |
| 2nd Cavalry Division Field Ambulance Workshop | joined by 26 February 1915, absorbed into Divisional Supply Column 16 April 1916 |
Divisional memorials
There is no memorial to the 2nd Cavalry Division.
Divisional histories
There appears to be no published history of the 2nd Cavalry Division but it receives much coverage in Anglesey’s history of the British cavalry on the Western Front.