Cavalry at the Front

[oskar2ndchev]

Here's a couple of interesting pictures of cavalry in front line (or near-front line) positions:

[Marcus]

Nice Madsen!

[rsm2ndbtnlf]

A question of interest!

Were German Cavalry used more extensively than were their British and Commonwealth counterparts... as stop gap/provisional line infantry?

[oskar2ndchev]

The short answer is yes.

Basically, when the trench warfare stalemate set in on the Western Front, the Germans found themselves with roughly 6 to 7 divisions worth of cavalry that couldn't readily be used. Some of the cavalry was formally converted to a dismounted role (their horses were sent to replace losses in the field artillery and the troops were reorganized into infantry formations) and designated Kavallerie Schutzen. As the war went on, more German cavalry regiments were converted or dissolved and their troops reassigned to the infantry.

By war's end, of the 110 cavalry regiments that started the war, there were only 22 left.

For the British, they kept a larger percentage of their force mounted in the hope of exploiting any breakthrough and acting as a reserve. Although the British cavalry's significant actions were in 1914 and 1918 when the front was relatively fluid, Cambrai is a hint of what could have been accomplished.

As for the Germans, most large-scale actions after 1914 were in the East. However, cavalry was active on a low-level basis all through the war on the Western Front, mostly in a dismounted role. Each division had a cavalry reconnaissance element (at first a regiment, later a squadron after 1916) that still performed its mission but dismounted. They also acted as a reserve and were rotated in the line as needed. Finally, they acted as rear-area security, escorting POWs and the like.

So, overall, the British cavalry probably participated in large-scale actions during the war while the German cavalry was mostly limited to small-scale actions after 1914. Ironically, had the Germans still retained a large-scale cavalry force in 1918, it could have greatly assisted in the Spring 1918 Offensive and caused some major damage.

[oskar2ndchev]

And a couple more pictures, cavalry mounted:

[Wolfgang]

Trench warfare severely restricted the use of cavalry in the west after the initial phases of the war. However, cavalry remained in extensive use on other fronts, including African, Middle Eastern, Balkan and Eastern Front.

[oskar2ndchev]

Very true, but trench warfare didn't completely erase it. It's just not that obvious. :-)

[rsm2ndbtnlf]

Thank's for the update in regards to the German use of Cavalry. I had a couple of relatives in the Great War who stayed with family tradition, and joined the donkey wollopers. It's given me a little more incentive to research both sides use.

Adam, in reference to the two recent pictures you've posted. They don't look very 'Western Front-ish'. The terrain is far to clean. Could they possibly be period shots from the Balkans?

[oskar2ndchev]

It's possible but I doubt it- there's plenty of "clean" terrain if you go back far enough behind the front lines. I'll go look at the one post card I have.

[oskar2ndchev]

And here's an interesting training picture. Note the stahlhelm- this was definitely taken sometime after 1916. Can't confirm the location but it would be somewhere in France.

[oskar2ndchev]

Here's another picture of cavalry on the move. Definitely late war. On the left, you can see the "Goulash Cannon".

[sapper44]

In the first pic. there are some soft caps being worn, would they have been standard soft caps or would they have been colored like the piping on the tunics
Christian

[kingkaiser]

Nov 23, 2011 16:39:58 GMT -8 sapper44 said:

In the first pic. there are some soft caps being worn, would they have been standard soft caps or would they have been colored like the piping on the tunics ???
Christian

Christian,

The piping on the caps would match the piping on the tunics. Each service branch had their own unique identifying color. Additionally, certain regiments also had their own special color schemes, as well as identifying cap badges. A really good reference for this, with several examples, is the "Kaiser's Bunker" website. The link is below.

www.kaisersbunker.com/

[oskar2ndchev]

If the mutzes are pre-war issue, there was a color scheme where most cavalry regiments had a distinctive color. With the introduction of the universal mutze in 1917, the look was generic. Further complicating matters was the introduction of the "peacetime" uniform in 1916 where the color scheme was changed.

For the 2nd Chevauleger, for example, the color was a carmine (a dark red that's not too far off from the red color for the infantry branch).