3rd Cavalry Division ( United Kingdom ) 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 once there . 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 . On November 11 , 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 winter was spent in Belgium but by 31 March 1919 , the division was demobilized . Formation . The 3rd Cavalry Division began forming on 1 September 1914 at Ludgershall , Wiltshire . Initially it commanded just two cavalry brigades – the 6th and the 7th – and divisional troops . The 6th Cavalry Brigade was formed with the 1st Dragoons and the 10th Hussars , both from Potchefstroom , South Africa , and the 3rd Dragoon Guards from the Force in Egypt ( though they did not join the brigade until 4 November in Belgium ) , the only regular British Army cavalry regiments not stationed in the United Kingdom or India at the outbreak of the war . The 7th Cavalry Brigade was formed with the three Household Cavalry regiments , the only regular cavalry regiments remaining in the United Kingdom after mobilization of the BEF and its transport to France . The 1st Life Guards joined from Hyde Park , the 2nd Life Guards from Regent ' s Park and the Royal Horse Guards from Windsor . Each regiment only consisted of two squadrons as each had provided a squadron to the Household Cavalry Composite Regiment in 4th Cavalry Brigade in August 1914 . The detached squadrons did not rejoin their parent regiments until 11 November 1914 in Belgium . XV Brigade , Royal Horse Artillery ( and Brigade Ammunition Column ) was formed for the division . In peacetime , K Battery , RHA was at Christchurch and C Battery , RHA at Canterbury . Later , G Battery , RHA ( originally at Ipswich ) would join in Belgium . Strangely , two RHA brigades formed early in the war were simultaneously designated as XV Brigade , RHA . The other was formed at Leamington , Warwickshire in January 1915 for 29th Division . The 3rd Cavalry Division ' s brigade was renumbered as IV Brigade , RHA in May 1915 . The 3rd Field Squadron , Royal Engineers was formed on 16 September and the 3rd Signal Squadron , Royal Engineers on 12 September , both at Ludgershall . The division was also provided with two Cavalry Field Ambulances ( 6th and 7th ) , two Mobile Veterinary Sections ( 13th and 14th ) , and a divisional supply column ( four companies of the Army Service Corps ) . The division departed Ludgershall on 5 October , embarked at Southampton on 6 October and landed at Ostend on 8 October ( 7th Brigade at Zeebrugge on 7 October ) and deployed to the Western Front in France and Belgium . Early actions . The 3rd Cavalry Division served on the Western Front until the end of the war . In 1914 , the division saw action in the defence of Antwerp ( 9 and 10 October ) and the First Battle of Ypres , notably the battles of Langemarck ( 21 – 24 October ) , Gheluvelt ( 29 – 31 October ) and Nonne Bosschen ( 11 November ) . To bring the division up to the standard strength of three brigades , the 8th Cavalry Brigade was formed in Belgium on 20 November 1914 with the 10th Hussars from 6th Cavalry Brigade and the Royal Horse Guards from 7th Cavalry Brigade . Each brigade was made up to three - regiment strength with yeomanry regiments : 6th Cavalry Brigade with the North Somerset Yeomanry from 1st South Western Mounted Brigade , 7th Cavalry Brigade with the Leicestershire Yeomanry from North Midland Mounted Brigade , and 8th Cavalry Brigade with the Essex Yeomanry from Eastern Mounted Brigade . With the addition of its third brigade , 3rd Cavalry Division also obtained a third Cavalry Field Ambulance ( 8th , from England on 23 December ) and a third Mobile Veterinary Section ( 20th , from England on 9 March 1915 ) . 1915 – 17 . In 1915 , the division took part in the Second Battle of Ypres ( Battle of Frezenberg Ridge , 11 – 13 May ) and the Battle of Loos ( 26 – 28 September ) . On 29 February 1916 , Machine Gun Squadrons were added to the cavalry brigades , formed from the machine gun sections of each brigade ' s constituent regiments . 1916 saw no notable actions , but in 1917 the division saw action in the Battle of Arras ( First Battle of the Scarpe , 9 – 12 April ) . At other times , the brigades formed dismounted units and served in the trenches as regiments under the command of their brigadiers . Reconstituted . In March 1918 , the 4th ( formerly 1st Indian ) and 5th ( formerly 2nd Indian ) Cavalry Divisions were broken up in France . The Indian elements were sent to Egypt where they formed part of the new 4th and 5th Cavalry Divisions which played a major part in the successful conclusion of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign . The British and Canadian units remained in France and most of them were transferred to the 3rd Cavalry Division causing it to be extensively reorganized . The Household Cavalry regiments were concentrated in the 7th Cavalry Brigade and the yeomanry regiments in the 8th Cavalry Brigade . The latter left the division on 14 March 1918 , the day after the Canadian Cavalry Brigade joined from 5th Cavalry Division . The three Household Cavalry regiments left 7th Cavalry Brigade on 10 March . They were dismounted and converted to machine gunners as No . 1 ( 1st Life Guards ) , No . 2 ( 2nd Life Guards ) and No . 3 ( Royal Horse Guards ) Battalions of the Guards Machine Gun Regiment at Étaples . They were replaced in the brigade on the same day by the 7th Dragoon Guards from 9th ( Secunderabad ) Cavalry Brigade of the 5th Cavalry Division , the 6th Dragoons from 5th ( Mhow ) Cavalry Brigade of the 4th Cavalry Division and the 17th Lancers from 2nd ( Sialkot ) Cavalry Brigade also of the 4th Cavalry Division . On 11 March , all three regiments came on the British War Establishment i . e . changed from a 4 - squadron to a 3 - squadron organisation . 1918 saw the return of the war of movement and the division took part in the First Battle of the Somme notably the Battle of St Quentin ( 21 – 23 March ) , Actions of the Somme Crossings ( 24 and 25 March ) and Battle of the Avre ( 4 and 5 April ) ; the Battle of Amiens and the battles of the Hindenburg Line ( Battle of Cambrai , 8 and 9 October and the Pursuit to the Selle , 9 – 12 October ) . Its final action was in the Advance in Flanders ( 9 – 11 November ) . Armistice . At the Armistice , 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 Second Army into Germany . They started the advance on 17 November , divisional headquarters being established at Waterloo on 21 November . Transport difficulties meant that the only one cavalry division could advance with Second Army so the following winter was spent in Belgium . By 31 March 1919 , the division was demobilized . Order of battle . 6th Cavalry Brigade . 6th Cavalry Brigade was formed on 19 September 1914 at Ludgershall , Wiltshire and served with the division throughout the war . 7th Cavalry Brigade . 7th Cavalry Brigade was formed on 1 September 1914 at Ludgershall , Wiltshire and served with the division throughout the war . It was extensively restructured on 10 March 1918 . 8th Cavalry Brigade . 8th Cavalry Brigade was formed in Belgium on 20 November 1914 . It left the division on 14 March 1918 , the day after the Canadian Cavalry Brigade joined . Canadian Cavalry Brigade . The Canadian Cavalry Brigade was attached to the Division from 10 April to 17 June 1916 before transferring to the 2nd Indian Cavalry Division . It rejoined the Division on 13 March 1918 from 5th Cavalry Division . Divisional Troops . The division was supported by the following units : Commanders . The 3rd Cavalry Division had the following commanders :