page_title: III Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery
section_title: World War I service
hierarchical_section_title: III Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery / History / III Brigade, RHA / World War I service
caption_attribution_description: English: IWM caption&#160;: The Vickers QF 13pdr Horse Artillery Gun of E Battery, Royal Horse Artillery, leaves the Imperial War Museum's building in South Kensington, to take part in the unveiling of C S Jagger's Memorial to the Royal Artillery at Hyde Park Corner, London on 18 October 1925. During the First World War, the gun fired the first British round on the Western Front on 22 August 1914 and was also one of the last to fire before the Armistice came into force in 1918.
context_page_description: III Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery was a brigade of the Royal Horse Artillery which existed in the early part of the 20th century. It served with the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Divisions on the Western Front throughout World War I.
  Post-war, the brigade served in the UK and India before being redesignated as 3rd Regiment, RHA in August 1938 in Egypt.
  The regiment had an earlier incarnation as C Brigade, RHA, formed from the 1st Brigade of the Honourable East India Company's Bengal Horse Artillery in 1862 before being broken up in 1882.
context_section_description: At the outbreak of World War I, the brigade was at Newbridge attached to 3rd Cavalry Brigade, still commanding D and E Batteries.  On mobilization, it was assigned to The Cavalry Division (later 1st Cavalry Division) along with VII Brigade, RHA.
  The division crossed to France between 15 and 18 August 1914, concentrated around Maubeuge between 18 and 20 August, and moved forward towards Mons on 21 August.  Its first action was the Battle of Mons on 23 and 24 August where the division formed the left flank.  It took part in the subsequent retreat, notably the Actions of Elouges and Solesmes, the Battle of Le Cateau, the Action at Néry and the First Battle of the Marne.
  On 17 September, the brigade transferred to the 2nd Cavalry Division on formation.  The brigade served with the 2nd Cavalry Division on the Western Front for the rest of the war.  The brigade commander acted as Commander Royal Horse Artillery (CRHA) for the division.  In practice, the batteries were permanently assigned to the cavalry brigades from September 1914 onwards:
  D Battery, RHA assigned to 3rd Cavalry Brigade from 17 September
  E Battery, RHA assigned to 5th Cavalry Brigade from 17 September
  J Battery, RHA joined with 4th Cavalry Brigade from 1st Cavalry Division on 14 October
  In 1914, The division took part in the battles of Messines (12 October – 2 November) and Armentières (12–17 October) and in the First Battle of Ypres, notably the battle of Gheluvelt (29–31 October).  In 1915, it took part in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle (10–12 March) and the Second Battle of Ypres (battles of St Julien, 26 April – 3 May, and Bellewaarde Ridge, 24 and 25 May).  1916 saw no notable actions, but in 1917 the brigade supported the division in a number of major actions including the Battle of Arras (9–11 April, First Battle of the Scarpe) and the Battle of Cambrai (November and December, including the Tank Attack, the Capture of Bourlon Wood and the German Counter-attacks).
  1918 saw the return of the war of movement and the division was involved in a large number of actions: the First Battle of the Somme notably the Battle of St Quentin (21–23 March), the Battle of the Lys (battle of Hazebrouck, 14 and 15 April), the Battle of Amiens (8–11 August), the Second Battle of the Somme (the Battle of Albert, 21–23 August, and the Second Battle of Bapaume, 31 August – 3 September), and the battles of the Hindenburg Line (Battle of the Canal du Nord, 27 September – 1 October, Battle of Cambrai, 8 and 9 October, and the Pursuit to the Selle, 9–12 October).  Its final action was in the Capture of Mons (11 November, 3rd Canadian Division with 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers and one section of D Battery, RHA).
  At the Armistice, it was still serving with 2nd Cavalry Division with D, E and J Batteries RHA (eighteen 13 pounders).
caption: The 13-pounder gun of E Battery, RHA that fired the first British artillery round on the Western front leaves the Imperial War Museum to take part in the unveiling of the Royal Artillery Memorial in October 1925
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