Desert Mounted Corps

Desert Mounted Corps
Desert Mounted Corps commander Harry Chauvel, (front row second left) and corps staff[1]
Active	12 August 1917 – 7 June 1919
Country	British Empire  France
Allegiance	British Empire
Type	Cavalry Yeomanry Mounted infantry Horse artillery
Role	Mounted warfare
Size	Army corps
Part of	Egyptian Expeditionary Force
Engagements	Sinai and Palestine Campaign 1917 Palestine Battle of Beersheba Battle of Tel el Khuweilfe Battle of Hareira and Sheria Charge at Sheria Battle of Mughar Ridge Battle of Ayun Kara Battle of Jerusalem 1918 Jordan and Transjordan Capture of Jericho Jordan Valley First Transjordan attack on Amman Second Transjordan attack on Shunet Nimrin and Es Salt After reformation Palestine, Transjordan and Syria Battle of Megiddo Battle of Sharon Battle of Nazareth Battle of Haifa Capture of Afulah and Beisan Capture of Jenin Battle of Samakh Capture of Tiberias Third Transjordan attack Capture of Jisr ed Damieh Second Battle of Amman Capture of Damascus Charge at Irbid Battle of Jisr Benat Yakub Charge at Kaukab Charge at Kiswe Pursuit to Haritan Charge at Khan Ayash Battle of Aleppo Charge at Haritan
Commanders
Notable commanders	Harry Chauvel

The Desert Mounted Corps was an army corps of the British Army during the First World War, of three mounted divisions renamed in August 1917 by General Edmund Allenby, from Desert Column. These divisions which served in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign had been formed by Australian light horse, British yeomanry, and New Zealand mounted rifles brigades, supported by horse artillery, infantry and support troops. They were later joined by Indian cavalry and a small French cavalry detachment.

The Desert Mounted Corps (DMC) comprised the ANZAC Mounted Division, the Australian Mounted Division and the Yeomanry Mounted Division, with infantry formations attached when required, as had Desert Column. In the first month of its existence, the corps continued training and patrolling no man's land preparing for manoeuvre warfare. Their first operations would be the attack, along with the XX Corps of the Battle of Beersheba. Having captured their objective they were involved in a series of battles, before the old Gaza to Beersheba line was finally broken a week later. During the pursuit they fought two Turkish armies at the Battle of Mughar Ridge before advancing to capture Jerusalem during the Battle of Jerusalem in December 1917.^[a]

In 1918, units of Desert Mounted Corps participated in the Capture of Jericho in February, the First Transjordan attack on Amman in March and the Second Transjordan attack on Shunet Nimrin and Es Salt in April, while occupying the Jordan Valley during the summer. As a result of the German spring offensive on the Western Front the corps went through a reorganisation, when the majority of the British yeomanry regiments were dismounted and sent as infantry reinforcements to France. The Yeomanry Mounted Division and the 5th Mounted Brigade were disbanded, to be replaced by Indian cavalry regiments, which formed the 4th Cavalry Division and 5th Cavalry Division. They arrived in the Jordan Valley in May to join the corps and in September with four divisions, participated in the major offensive operations of the Battle of Sharon, a section of the Battle of Megiddo. The subsequent pursuit to Damascus followed by the Pursuit to Haritan, advances of almost 600 miles (970 km) into Turkish territory, resulted in the capture of 107,000 prisoners and over 500 pieces of artillery. At the end of October, the Armistice of Mudros ended the war against the Ottoman Empire and the corps became an occupation force in Syria. By March 1919 units were patrolling Egypt during the Egyptian Revolution of 1919. The Desert Mounted Corps was disbanded in June 1919.

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