Deeds of Pluck and Daring 3
Deeds of Pluck and Daring
British Cavalry in Action
The man who invented barbed wire would probably have been greatly surprised if he had known that one result of his work would be to do away with much of the usefulness of horse soldiers, or cavalry.
In old times cavalry brigades were a most important part of an army. But in these days war is carried on chiefly in trenches, protected by fence's and entanglements of strong barbed wire. Horses are of very little use for this sort of fighting. The poor animals would be torn and killed by the sharp barbs on the wire. It is only when the enemy's lines are broken, and he is obliged to retreat, that cavalry can be let loose to cut off the stragglers and harry the flying soldiers.
Great numbers of British Yeomanry were sent to Egypt when the Turks threw in their lot with the Germans, but very quickly the horses were taken away from the men, and the troopers turned into infantry men. As foot-soldiers the Yeomanry gained immortal fame when they landed on the bleak Gallipoli Peninsula in face of a truly terrific fire from the Turkish guns, machine-guns, and rifles.
Later on, on the Sinai Peninsula, mounted troops were employed against the Turks invading Egypt through Syria. But dashes by armoured motor-cars fitted with machine-guns have as a rule taken the place of cavalry charges in this war.
Yet, in the earlier stages of the Great War, British cavalry was decidedly active and successful on the Western Front, during the heroic retirement from Mons, up to the time when opposing armies found themselves face to face behind deep wire-protected trenches extending from the North Sea to the Swiss Frontier-a distance roughly equal to that between London and Edinburgh.
One of the first affairs of cavalry occurred in the main street of a small village. A patrol of British Hussars came unexpectedly upon a large number of Germans. If the Germans had been the brave and dashing horsemen they were said to be, they ought to have overcome the small handful of British soldiers. No doubt they tried their best to do so, but their best was not equal to that of the worthy successors to the gallant "Light Brigade" of Balaclava fame.
Both forces charged-the Germans levelling their long lances, the British, sword in hand, crouching over their horses' necks as they crashed into the Hun cavalry.
It was a short, sharp, and decisive little affair. The vaunted lances were no match for the heavy cavalry sabre. The Germans broke and fled, leaving several of their number dead and wounded, while a few remained prisoners in the hands of the British. A few days later another cavalry engagement took place, this time on a larger scale. General French's " contemptible little army" was being forced back by sheer weight of numbers. For six days, retiring in superb order and fighting almost incessantly, under the scorching sun by day and in the close misty atmosphere by night, the Tommies had "stuck it,, in a manner that had earned admiration even from their foes. To retire, and yet keep perfect order, is one of the most difficult tasks that soldiers have to perform. Many of the men did not understand why they were ordered to retire, for on their particular front they were more than holding their own. None of them were used to this sort of fighting. The Germans felt sure that the little British Army would be "wiped out". But it was not. Every man was a trained voluntary soldier and a Briton. These were points that the Germans had over-looked.
Yet during the great retirement the pressure of the enemy upon the British rear-guard was tremendous. When the German infantry were not attacking, and their immense number of field-guns throwing thousands of shells upon their foes, enormously strong columns of cavalry were hurled upon the sorely pressed troops under French's command.
It was a chance for the British cavalry on the left flank of the retiring infantry to act, and nobly they seized it. The 12th Prince of Wales's Royal Lancers galloped out and thundered against the dense masses of grey-coated German horsemen. It was a terribly hot day, and many of the men had thrown off their khaki jackets and rode in shirt sleeves. Worthily the Lancers lived up to the glorious reputation they had gained in action, as far back as the Peninsular War, and as recently as at Paardeberg, when Cronje's burghers were compelled to laager and at last surrender.
The heavy masses of German cavalry crumpled up under the tremendous charge of the Lancers. Many of the brave Lancers fell, but on the enemy's side the losses were greater still.
At the same time, the Scots Greys, seeing how the British infantry were in danger of being outnumbered, trotted towards the shallow shelter-trenches, which the Tommies were attempting to hold in spite of the punishing artillery-fire of the enemy. In those sorry ditches-they could hardly be called otherwise-the 'valiant Black Watch, undismayed in spite of losses and fatigue, were "sitting tight "-one battalion holding back a German Army Corps while the rest of the British infantry division fell back. The Greys cut through the close ranks of the Huns, putting them to headlong flight.
The rest of the 5th Cavalry Brigade also took part in this, the greatest cavalry action on the Western Front. To quote Sir John French's dispatch: "The Brigade attacked and routed the columns, the leading German regiments suffering very severe casualties and being almost broken up".
