6th Cavalry Brigade ( United Kingdom ) The 6th Cavalry Brigade was a cavalry brigade of the British Army . It served in the Napoleonic Wars , notably at the Battle of Waterloo , with the 3rd Cavalry Division during World War I and the 1st Cavalry Division during World War II . Napoleonic Wars . The 6th Cavalry Brigade was formed for the Waterloo Campaign in 1815 and consisted of It was commanded by Major General Sir Hussey Vivian . The brigade took part in the Battle of Waterloo . During the battle , the 1st Hussars , KGL suffered just 7 casualties ( 1 killed , 6 wounded ) , the 10th Hussars 94 ( 22 killed , 46 wounded , 26 missing ) and the 18th Hussars 102 ( 12 killed , 73 wounded , 17 missing ) . This represented a loss rate of about 13 % . World War I . Formation . The brigade was formed on 19 September 1914 at Ludgershall , Wiltshire for the 3rd Cavalry Division . It commanded three regular British Army cavalry regiments , the only ones not stationed in the United Kingdom or India at the outbreak of the war . A Royal Engineers signal troop also joined on formation . The 1st Dragoons joined the brigade on 19 September and the 10th Hussars on 22 September , both from Potchefstroom , South Africa . The 3rd Dragoon Guards from the Force in Egypt did not join the brigade in Belgium until 4 November . The brigade landed at Ostend on 8 October 1914 and deployed to the Western Front in France and Belgium . C Battery , Royal Horse Artillery ( six 13 pounder s ) joined the division ' s Royal Horse Artillery Brigade from XIV Brigade , RHA of 7th Division on 19 October and was permanently attached to 6th Cavalry Brigade on the same day . On 29 February 1916 , a Machine Gun Squadron was formed from the machine gun sections of the brigade ' s constituent regiments . The 3rd Cavalry Division was initially formed with just two cavalry brigades – the 6th and 7th . To bring the division up to the standard strength of three brigades , the 8th Cavalry Brigade was formed in Belgium on 20 November 1914 . The 10th Hussars was transferred to the new brigade on formation and was replaced by the North Somerset Yeomanry from the 1st South Western Mounted Brigade in England . Chronicle . The brigade served with the 3rd Cavalry Division 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 ) . In 1915 , it took part in the Second Battle of Ypres ( Battle of Frezenberg Ridge , 11 – 13 May ) and the Battle of Loos ( 26 – 28 September ) . 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 brigade formed a dismounted unit and served in the trenches ( as a regiment under the command of the brigadier ) . 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 ) . 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 . World War II . The 6th Cavalry Brigade was a pre - war First Line Territorial Army cavalry brigade reformed in 1920 . On the outbreak of the war , it was part of Western Command and commanded the Warwickshire , Staffordshire and Cheshire Yeomanry regiments . It joined the 1st Cavalry Division when it was formed on 31 October 1939 . With the 1st Cavalry Division , the 6th Cavalry Brigade departed the United Kingdom in December 1939 , transited across France , and arrived in Palestine on 9 January 1940 . It served as a garrison force under British Forces , Palestine and Trans - Jordan . On 1 August 1941 , the Division was converted into the 10th Armoured Division and the 6th Cavalry Brigade into the 8th Armoured Brigade . 8th Armoured Brigade would later take part in the Second Battle of El Alamein and land at Gold Beach on D Day . Units in WWII . Unlike in the First World War , when brigade compositions rarely changed , there was considerable movement of units between the 4th , 5th and 6th Cavalry Brigades in the Second World War . Of the three regiments with the brigade when it was converted to an armoured formation : Commanders . The 6th Cavalry Brigade had the following commanders during World War I : The 6th Cavalry Brigade had the following commanders during World War II :