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 During the war, the Maxim guns were withdrawn but the regiment's fire-power increased until each squadron had four Hotchkiss machine-guns, one per troop, by the end of the war.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.
History Formation
The Auckland Mounted Rifles Regiment was raised in August 1914, at the start of the First World War, from the region around Auckland on the North Island of New Zealand.Nicol 1921, p.2 The regiment was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Ernest Randolph Mackesy, and comprised a headquarters, a machine-gun section and three squadrons formed from Territorial Force regiments. The New Zealand Territorial Force included a compulsory training system and New Zealand's four military districts were required to supply a mounted regiment for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. To meet that obligation, each of the Territorial Force regiments provided a squadron, which kept its own regimental badges and traditions.Waite 1919, p.6 The squadrons for the Auckland Mounted Rifles came from the 3rd (Auckland) Mounted Rifles, the 4th (Waikato) Mounted Rifles and the 11th (North Auckland) Mounted Rifles.Powles 1922, p.3
Upon its establishment, the regiment comprised twenty-six officers and 523 other ranks, who were mounted on 528 riding horses, seventy-four draught horses and six pack horses. Each squadron of 158 men had a field headquarters and four troops. Although the regiment used horses, they were not cavalry but mounted infantry, and were expected to ride to the battlefield, dismount and fight as traditional infantry.Stack 2011, p.1883 The regiment was assigned to the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, serving alongside two other mounted infantry regimentsthe Wellington Mounted Rifles and the Canterbury Mounted Rifles.Kinloch 2005, p.4
Embarkation What remained of August and most of September was taken up with training, until the regiment received embarkation orders and set sail from Auckland on 23 September. The unescorted transport ships returned to the same harbour the next morning, believing two German cruisers, were in the area. The troops disembarked and it was not until 11 October that they sailed again.Nicol 1921, pp.8–9 This time they reached Wellington on 14 October. Two days later, now part of a large convoy of transport ships, four warships and 9,000 men, they sailed again for an "unknown destination".Nicol 1921, pp.10–11 Stopping at Hobart, the New Zealand convoy waited until 1 November to be joined by an Australian contingent, then thirty-eight ships set sail, heading north.Nicol 1921, p.14 With only brief halts to re-coal at Colombo on 15 November and Aden on 24 November, the convoy entered the Suez Canal on 1 December. Four days later, the regiment disembarked at Alexandria.Nicol 1921, pp.16–20 They entrained for Cairo and established their camp on the edge of the desert, in the suburb of Zeitoun. In the following months, the regiment practised their horsemanship, conducted small arms and bayonet training, and learned to construct trenches.Nicol 1921, p.21
Gallipoli
In May 1915, the regiment, with the rest of the brigade, was warned to prepare to embark for the Gallipoli Campaign, serving in a dismounted role as part of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC). A rear party remained behind to look after the horses while twenty-six officers and 482 other ranks boarded the transport ships.Nicol 1921, pp.28–29 On 12 May they landed at ANZAC Cove and the next day took over from the Royal Naval Brigade in the front line. The regiment was responsible for the section of the front known as "Walker's Top" and "The Nek", opposite what was possibly the strongest Turkish position, only away.Nicol 1921, p.35
They defeated their first Turkish attack on 18/19 May, when their position was subjected to small arms fire from midnight until 03:00. Then the Turkish troops assaulted "Walker's Top" and "Quinn's Post". The attack lasted an hour, and cost the regiment twenty-two dead and twenty-seven wounded, but they held the position. On 22 May they were relieved by the 9th Light Horse Regiment, and moved to the rear.Nicol 1921, p.54 In June the regiment repeatedly moved between front and rear area positions, and was not involved in a major battle. With Mackesy ill, Major Frank Chapman arrived from Egypt on 25 May to assume command of the regiment. He was followed five days later by one officer and 107 other ranks as reinforcements.Nicol 1921, p.61 He was followed, five days later, by one officer and 107 other ranks of reinforcements. The situation remained the same in July, and another two officers and ten men arrived to replace casualties.Nicol 1921, pp.42–45
August saw the regiment involved in the largest engagement of the campaign, at Chunuk Bair. After successfully capturing a Turkish position at "Old No.3 Post" on 6 August, they fought off several counter-attacks, until 9 August, with a strength of only sixty-six men from the 310 who started the battle, they were withdrawn to a rear area.Wilkie 191, p.151Nicol 1921, p.75 Their casualties were fifty-seven dead, 144 wounded and twenty-seven missing in action. On 23 August those survivors with the Wellington Mounted Rifles returned to the front line and four days later took part in the fighting around Hill 60. Their assault began at 17:00 and the regiment, with the Canterbury Mounted Rifles, captured the Turkish front line. The Wellington Mounted Rifles and Otago Mounted Rifles, following up, passed beyond the regiment to capture the Turkish reserve line. All four regiments suffered heavy casualties and had to fight off several counter-attacks. On 29 August the regiment was relieved and moved to a safer area; their casualties during the battle amounted to thirty-eight dead, and sixty-five wounded.Nicol 1921, pp.81–84
Early in September the regiment, now five officers and eighty-three men, were moved back into the front line at "Cheshire Ridge". They were relieved on 12 September and left Gallipoli the next day for the rest camp on the island of Lemnos, where they were joined by three officers and 216 other ranks as reinforcements on 5 October. Three days later, James Neil McCarroll assumed command of the regiment on temporary promotion to lieutenant-colonel,Nicol 1921, pp.85–86 while Mackesy was temporarily commander of the brigade. On 10 November the regiment, now ten officers and 286 other ranks, returned to Gallipoli, to prepare defences at "Waterfall Gully". Three days later, another sixty-six reinforcements arrived and moved into the front line at "Gloucester Hill". On 14 December the regiment left for Lemnos again. They remained on the island until 22 December, when they sailed for Egypt. Disembarking four days later, they returned to their previous camp at Zeitoun. Mackesy returned to command the regiment on 27 December.Nicol 1921, pp.87–91
Sinai
The regiment spent its first month back in Egypt training. Then, once more back up to full establishment, it moved forward to defend the Suez Canal in the area of the Great Bitter Lake.Nicol 1921, pp.95–96 At the same time, it also lost some of its veterans, including those who were wounded and convalescing in England, when several men were transferred to the infantry and artillery on the Western Front.Nicol 1921, pp.97–98
In March the regiment, still part of the brigade, was assigned to the newly formed ANZAC Mounted Division.Powles 1922, p.12 Then on 23 April the regiment was ordered to move into the Sinai Desert to counter a Turkish attack against the British yeomanry at Katia.Powles 1922, p.7 The following week the whole brigade relieved the 2nd Light Horse Brigade at Romani.Nicol 1921, p.99 The defeated Turkish troops had withdrawn east around to Salmana and the brigade was ordered to attack those positions.Nicol 1921, p.102 On 30 May the Auckland Mounted Rifles moved in advance of the brigade, circling around to get into a position to the south-south-east of Salmana. By 04:45 the regiment was ready and the attack started. They galloped towards the Turkish position on a mound, defended by around 200–300 men. Reaching the base of the mound, they dismounted and charged uphill with bayonets fixed. The defenders withdrew, pursued by the 3rd Squadron until Turkish reinforcements appeared and the squadron rejoined the regiment. Turkish casualties in the assault are unknown, but the regiment had only one man wounded.Nicol 1921, pp.102–103
The regiment now lost its Maxim machine-gun section; the guns were withdrawn to help form the brigade Machine-Gun Squadron.Powles 1922, p.5 They were replaced with three Lewis guns, one per squadron.Gullett 1923, p.120 The loss of the section reduced the regiment's establishment to twenty-four officers and 499 other ranks.Powles 1922, p.6
Romani
At the end of July, the 3rd Squadron was sent to patrol to the south near the Nagid well, observing the left flank of a Turkish force crossing the Sinai.Nicol 1921, p.106 On 1 August patrols from the 11th Squadron were sent east of Dueidar, to the En Nuss and Nagid wells, as a defence force and to expand the wells to support a brigade. On 3 August the rest of the regiment moved to Dueidar. At that time, a Turkish force occupied Mount Royston at Romani. As a result, the regiment was ordered to rejoin the brigade, and by 11:30 they were observing around 2,000 Turkish troops on Mount Royston.Nicol 1921, pp.107–108Powles 1922, p.31 For the next thirty minutes the regiment was bombed by Turkish artillery, when a brigade attack was ordered. The 3rd Squadron, supported by Lewis guns from the machine-gun sections, was positioned in the centre of the line between the Canterbury Mounted Rifles and a British yeomanry regiment. The advance forced the Turkish outposts to withdraw. By 16:45, using the cover available, the regiment drew close enough to charge the Turkish defences, capturing 250 prisoners and a field hospital. All together the brigade took 1,000 prisoners and a mountain artillery battery.Nicol 1921, pp.108–109 The regiment's casualties were two dead and six wounded.