The North Irish Horse, some notes concerning their history


         "NORTH IRISH HORSE"

For information about their sister regiment The South Irish Horse follow the link.

The North Irish Horse was formed as a Yeomanry regiment in 1902. After the Haldane reforms of 1908 it became a Special Reserve cavalry regiment. A list of men who made the supreme sacrifice during the First World War can be seen here. The following information is taken from; "BRITISH REGIMENTS 1914-1918" by Brigadier E.A. James Naval and Military Press. 5^th Edition April 1998. Part I, page 15 SPECIAL RESERVE NORTH IRISH HORSE ‘France and Flanders, 1914-18’ 4.8.14 Belfast: attached to 3^rd Cavalry Brigade. On mobilisation the regiment was split up and the squadrons were employed mainly as divisional cavalry until 1916. After this as corps cavalry and, finally in 1918, as corps cyclists and infantry. Three new squadrons were formed. ‘A’ Squadron landed at Harve on 19.8.14 as G.H.Q. Troops. 4.1.16 to 55^th Div. as Div. Cav. 10.5.16 to VII Corps Cav. Regt. ‘B’ Squadron was attached to 59^th Div. in Hertfordshire from Aug. 1915 to April 1916. In May 1916 ‘F’ Squadron in France became ‘B’ Squadron. ‘C’ Squadron landed in France on 22.8.14 as G.H.Q. Troops. 14.4.15 to 3^rd Div. as Div. Cav. 11.5.16 to X Corps Cav. Regt. ‘D’ Squadron. In 1915 joined 51^st Div. at Bedford as Div. Cav. 2.5.15 landed at Harve. 10.5.16 to VII Corps Cav. Regt. ‘E’ Squadron. In 1915 joined 34^th Div. on Salisbury Plain as Div. Cav. 1.1.16 landed at Harve. 10.5.16 to VII Corps Cav. Regt. ‘F’ (later ‘B’) Squadron. In 1915 joined 33^rd Div. on Salisbury Plain as Div. Cav. 18.11.15 landed at Harve. On 19.4.16 left 33^rd Div. and after short attachments to 1^st Cav., 49^th and 32^nd Divs. joined X Corps Cav. Regt. on 21.6.16. Became ‘B’ Squadron on 25.5.16. On 10.5.16 ‘A’, ‘D’ and ‘E’ Squadrons formed what was known as the 1^st North Irish Horse and served as VII Corps Cav. Regt. On 16.7.17 it became XIX Corps Cav. Regt. and transferred to V Corps on 7.9.17. Early in March ( I believe 1918, HGV ) the regiment was dismounted and converted to cyclists and was V Corps Cyclist Bn. until the end of the war. On 21.6.16 ‘B’ and ‘C’ Squadrons with the service sqdn. of the 6^th (Inniskilling) Dragoons (from 36^th (Ulster) Div.) formed the 2^nd North Irish Horse at Toutencourt as X Corps Cav. Regt. In August 1917 the X Corps Cav. Regt. was broken up and the squadrons went to a base depot for infantry training. On 25.9.17 the 9^th Bn. Royal Irish Fusiliers absorbed 304 men of the two North Irish horse squadrons adding (North Irish Horse) to its title. The unit was in 108^th Bde. 36^th (Ulster) Div. A reserve regiment was formed and remained in Ireland all the war, for most of the time at Antrim. A brief note about WW 2; The NIH served as a supplementary reserve tank regiment in North Africa and Italy. To see a list of men who died during the Second World War click here, this list also includes one man who died as a member of the Army of Occupation.