BRITISH FIGHTERS

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 4, 5 July 1927, Page 15

BRITISH FIGHTERS

i CAVALRY DOOMED

| WAR OFFICE CHANGES

REGIMENTS 'SREmiGED

JtThe cavalry as an arm' of the .'British fighting forces is to be Reduced in number atid eventually may be 'abolished. • The tank, armoured car, aeroplane, machine gun,. and increased pojyer and range of artillery have combined;'to" make tHe horse Soldier obsolete under ?hi6dern conditions o| warfare, and niany military experts in liiigland'have condemned .: him, writes the Xibhdon correspondent ;of, the "New York Times." In a recerit' statement before Parliament Sir L. Worthington-Evaris, Secretary of State for War, foreshadowed the: decline and fall of the cavalry in these words:

'; "There is a responsible body of opinion holding that, in principle, the day of the Tldrse'is over, and that the duties of the cavalry should be performed, and would be better performed, by aeroplanes and by troops mounted in rapidly moving crosscountry' vehicles, such as light fast tanks did.armoured cars. On the other hand, it is utged that, there are many military situations possible in various parts of the ■world in whichy compared with the adaptability of the horsed unit, a. mechanically transported unit would be at a'great disadvantage. ' ' • i^'At present an unbridged river presents all unpleasant' object to tanks and presents but few'difficulties to cavalry, and there are many rivers in countries in which our • army 'must be. prepared to operate. Jp;believe the-truth is that we have not y^t got the data upon which to make an ufie'yocable decision as to the'kind of milit|ry force which is. to do the work hitherto done by the cavalry. : For the present the best solution' seems to be a combination,' of the two.

.$. CAVALRY REQUIREMENTS. year I asked a" committee of military experts to' give me some advice as tfti the cavalry requirements of the Army. They directed, my attention, in the first. I>lace, to. two grave, defects in the cavalry as jt is organised and equipped to-day. To take; its place effectively in a modern aymy, the cavdlry : reginient has neither sufficient mobility nor adequate fire power. The lack of mobility is due partly to the excessive weight" that the troop force has now to carry. This seriously reduces a regiment's; speed, and range of action, and tHealready narrow, radius of action is still further limited by its dependence on its ponderous arid slow-moving transport. ?;''The;lack Of fire power is partly due t» an insufficiency of machine guns and partly to the unsuitability of the Hotchkiss gun^ The Army Council has decided t«: take;steps immediately to remedy the dfefects, ;so far-as jpossible, by providing njebbanical vehicles for the first-line transport and eight machine guns instead of fciur as :i»t present, to be carried in mechanical- vehicles instead of on pack ¥?'At present this reorganisation will be confined,to the six-line regiments only, but the intention is to extend the new organisation to all the cavalry as funds become available, subject to such modifications as experience may. suggest. More research and experiments are necessary before we come, to: a final decision. ' ' '■ -

; ry'To mechanise* the '•-. cavalry completely with -an: unsuitable vehicle—and there is no suitable vehicle at present—would be almost expensive mistake. The horse may not:; be all, that it should be, but, in the meantime, it is better than a vehicle that is all that it should* not be. : But I can assure the House that the provision of a suitable;.cross-country vehicle ia the subject of: jContirmous research and espeririierit. i-

/; Meanwhile, the reorganisation which IStovidea for the mechanisation of the first-line: transport and the carriage of the machine-guns enables us to increase cs»yalry mobility and fire power, and at tfie: same time to reduce the number of men and. horses." FIRE POWER AND MOBILITY. The last sentence tells the story. By utilising;; a little machinery, the number of men a.nd Horses is reduced by hundreds/ and the reduction is accompanied by a decided increase in both fire power and mobility. - ,

It is strange that England should be the_ first great Power to come (jut unequivocally in its condemnation of cavalry as; a suitable ,arm for; modern warfare. ,° ne^ can i doubt that the! statement o£, the Secretary for War is a condemnation. If the statement is a trifle veiled, that is a concession to the British Army's lingering devotion to the cavalry. Cavalry ruled .the British Army and ruled it poorly,* according: to many critics and observers>;,Jjeing> responsible for many- blunders. To-day the War Office seems convinced that the horse soldier belongs only to the palt, and,|,being conyinced; is—in the wordsi of Vone: military rwriter—"gratityjngly enthusiastic .in .its championship of the new methods of<'mechanisation' " Continuing, this critic observes: The change is, of course, inevitable. It i» only; one item in a process which hag been the outward life of the civilised world since the age of mechanical invention; began. In'the speeding up which entaila:;the. mechanical transportation of mfantry-A-the horse has been hopelessly outdistanced*;- He has been beaten on his own ground;-, he; 'has become an also ran.' Cavalry is,'in ;fact, superseded, not only by the great stability which certain aspects of modern war take On but aIBO by its greater mobility-when trench warfare is abandoned. Reconnoitring is now done by the airplane, the charge by tanks, the transport of men and material by lorry; even the guns are broughtpup by tractor. The horse has bidden farewell to the battlefield and on all but" picturesque grounds we may be thankful." Soldiers will regret the passing of thecavalry.. To them it is a beautiful arm of the service, colourful and dauntless Its morale ia always high, for it is very proud, and it is steeped in • traditions of valour. There is no military spectacle comparable to a cavalry charge. There is no military ceremony comparable to a" cavalry review. Who, having been a cavalryman, would not again thrill at the command: "Pass in review. Column of platoons on first troop, first squadron, forward, guide right, column right! How-w-w-w!" .'