Global InformationNew Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade information
| New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade | |
|---|---|
 Brigade marching through Cairo 1914 | |
| Active | 1914–19 |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Allegiance |  British Empire |
| Branch | New Zealand Army |
| Type | Mounted infantry |
| Size | Brigade |
| Part of | New Zealand Expeditionary Force New Zealand and Australian Division ANZAC Mounted Division |
| Nickname(s) | "The Mounteds"[1] |
| Engagements | First World War
|
| Commanders | |
| (1914–15) | Andrew Russell |
| (1915–17) | Edward Chaytor |
| (1917–19) | William Meldrum |
| Insignia | |
| Unit colour patch |  |
| Abbreviation | NZMRB |
The New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade was a brigade of the New Zealand Army during the First World War. Raised in 1914 as part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, it was one of the first New Zealand units to sail for service overseas.
The brigade was formed from three regiments – the Auckland Mounted Rifles, the Canterbury Mounted Rifles, the Wellington Mounted Rifles – and smaller support units. Altogether the brigade had an establishment of 1,940 men and 2,032 horses and by the end of the war over 17,700 men had served in the brigade. However, the entire brigade's dismounted rifle strength was the equivalent of only a battalion of infantry.
By the end of 1914, the brigade had arrived in British Egypt and was assigned to the New Zealand and Australian Division. Its first active service was, in a dismounted role, during the Gallipoli Campaign, where they fought against the forces of the Ottoman Turkish Empire.[nb 1] Seven months later, after the evacuation from Gallipoli, the brigade returned to Egypt, and in 1916, became part of the ANZAC Mounted Division. The brigade was then used in defence of the Suez Canal. Then following an abortive Turkish attack in the Sinai Desert, it took part in clearing the invaders from Egypt. Then in the next two years, it forced the Turkish forces out of Palestine, collectively known as the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. Following its successful conclusion in 1918, the brigade played a small part in the Egyptian Revolution of 1919, before being disbanded in June 1919.
As of 2022 one mounted rifles unit (Queen Alexandra's Mounted Rifles) is retained in the modern New Zealand Army.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Kinochwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Fewster, Basarin, Basarin 2003, pp.xi–xii
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