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The Desert Mounted Corps was a World War I Allied army corps that operated in the Middle East (Sinai and Palestine) during 1917 and 1918. Originally formed as the Desert Column in February 1917 under the command of General Sir Philip W. Chetwode, it was expanded to a full corps, commanded by Australian General Henry Chauvel, in August 1917 following the reorganisation of the Allied forces by General Allenby after the failure of the Second Battle of Gaza. The Desert Mounted Corps was not an Anzac corps — it contained numerous British and Indian cavalry brigades as well as some French colonial cavalry — but the Australian and New Zealand units provided the veteran foundation and it was the first army corps to be commanded by an Australian.
The Desert Column contained the Anzac Mounted Division and the Imperial Mounted Division (later to become the Australian Mounted Division). The Desert Mounted Corps contained:
- Anzac Mounted Division
- Australian Mounted Division
- Imperial Camel Corps Brigade
- British Yeomanry Mounted Division
In mid-1918, the Corps was reorganised again. Two Indian cavalry divisions were transferred from the Western Front in France, and reorganised to incorporate some of the Yeomanry Mounted Division. The Anzac Mounted Division was detached. The Camel Corps was reduced to a battalion and many of its personnel transferred to the Australian Mounted Division. Still commanded by Chauvel, the corps now consisted of: File:Desert Mounted Corps Horse Memorial
- 4th (Indian) Mounted Division, later 4th Cavalry Division
- 5th (Indian) Mounted Division, later 5th Cavalry Division
- Australian Mounted Division
There were also seven batteries of the Royal Horse Artillery, an Armoured Car detachment and the 7th Light Car Patrol.
See also
- Military history of Australia during World War I
- Mount Clarence, Western Australia for more on the Desert Mounted Corps Memorial
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