Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment

Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment
November 1918 picture of officers, NCOs, and men of the regiment, the survivors of those who enlisted in 1914
Active	August 1914 – 30 June 1919
Country	New Zealand
Allegiance	British Empire
Branch	New Zealand Army
Role	Mounted Infantry
Size	Regiment
Part of	New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade
Nickname(s)	Aucklands Mounteds
March	D'ye ken John Peel
Engagements	First World War Gallipoli Campaign Sinai and Palestine Campaign Egyptian Revolution of 1919
Commanders
(1914–1917)	Charles Mackesy
(1917–1919)	James Neil McCarroll
Insignia
Pugaree flash worn on the hatband

First World War

The Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment was a mounted infantry regiment from New Zealand raised, in August 1914, for service during the First World War. It was assigned to the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.

The regiment was established with twenty-six officers, 523 other ranks and 600 horses. It was formed from three squadrons belonging to pre war Territorial Force regiments: the 3rd (Auckland) Mounted Rifles, the 4th (Waikato) Mounted Rifles and the 11th (North Auckland) Mounted Rifles. It included a small headquarters and, until 1916, a Maxim machine-gun section. During the war, the Maxim guns were withdrawn but the regiment's fire-power increased until each squadron had four Hotchkiss machine-guns, one per troop, by the end of the war.

As mounted infantry, the regiment rode into battle on their horses but were expected to dismount and fight on foot. The regiment fought predominantly against the forces of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. Their first engagement was in the Gallipoli Campaign between May and December 1915, during which they participated in the largest battle of that theatre at Chunuk Bair and the fighting for Hill 60. Evacuated to Egypt, the regiment took part in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign from 1916 to 1918. Their early battles included Romani, Gaza and Beersheba. Later in the war, they were part of the force that occupied the Jordan Valley and took part in the raids on Amman and Es Salt. Their final wartime operation was in connection with the capture of the Turkish Fourth Army. During the four years of war, the regiment sustained 334 dead from all causes and 555 wounded, several of those more than once. After the war, the regiment played a minor role in the Egyptian Revolution of 1919 before it was disbanded in June 1919.