6th Indian Cavalry Brigade | |
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14th (King's) Hussars resting at the roadside after the third action of Jebel Hamrin, December 1917
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Active | 10 March 1915 – March 1919 |
Country | British India |
Allegiance | British Crown |
Branch | British Indian Army |
Type | Cavalry |
Size | Brigade |
Part of |
6th (Poona) Division Cavalry Division (Mesopotamia) |
Engagements |
The 6th Indian Cavalry Brigade was a cavalry brigade of the British Indian Army that saw active service in the Indian Army during the First World War. It took part in the Mesopotamian campaign and was broken up soon after the end of the war.
On 21 February 1915, orders were sent from India to form a cavalry brigade in Mesopotamia. As a result, the 6th Indian Cavalry Brigade was formed with the 33rd Queen Victoria's Own Light Cavalry which had arrived in Mesopotamia in November 1914 with 6th (Poona) Division, 16th Cavalry and S Battery, Royal Horse Artillery which arrived earlier in the month, and 7th Hariana Lancers which departed India on 28 February to complete the brigade. It served in the campaign in Mesopotamia for the rest of the First World War.
Initially acting in an independent role, the brigade took part in the Battle of Shaiba (12–14 April 1915) where Major George Wheeler of the 7th Hariana Lancers won the Victoria Cross, and Operations in Persian Arabistan (21 April–18 June) including the Affair of Khafajiya (14–16 May). It then took part in the Battle of Es Sinn (28 September) that resulted in the capture of Kut al Amara. From 6 October, the brigade was placed under the command of the 6th (Poona) Division and with it took part in the advance on Baghdad including the Battle of Ctesiphon (22–24 November) and the subsequent withdrawal – Affair of Umm at Tabul (1 December) – back to Kut. It left the division there on 6 December before it got besieged.