Sussex Yeomanry – Egypt

Following their time at Gallipoli the Sussex Yeomanry were re-deployed to Egypt.

The elation felt by the Regiment in February 1916 at the prospect of taking on a mounted role soon evaporated – it was not to be. What was worse was that the South East Mounted Brigade  S.E.M.B) was to be scrapped. The S.E.M.B. was amalgamated with the E.M.B. to become the 3rd Dismounted Brigade. This included 1/1st Royal East Kent Mounted Rifles, 1/1st West Kent (Q.O.) Yeomanry, 1/1st Sussex Yeomanry, 1/1st Suffolk Yeomanry, 1/1st Norfolk Yeomanry and 1/1st Welsh Horse Yeomanry.

From February to mid-March the Regiment stayed at Sidi Bishr camp. A Boxing Tournament (already popular within the army) was held which was very successful. Training continued – involving route marches and some night exercises. During their spare time, Officers and men visited Alexandria and Cairo. Race meetings at Alexandria Sporting Club were popular. All-in-all the time that the Regiment spent at Sidi Bishr was not unpleasant.

On March 17th the Regiment entrained for El Kubri on the Suez Canal defences. From there – on 21st March – they moved out to a post in the desert known as ‘Halfway House’. This was a series of defensive trenches in the middle of nowhere. There was little to do and little likelihood of the Turks making an appearance.

The following poem – written by Lieut. Jenner – gives some idea of what life was like for the Regiment at this time:-

AN OUTPOST OF EMPIRE
(Sussex Yeomanry in the Desert)
Oh! The desert east of Kubri is a dreary sort of spot
With driving sand and up above, a sun that’s scorching hot
And myriads of tickling flies to cap the bally lot
In this ‘Outpost of the Empire’ that we hold.

Its title is ‘The Halfway House’ – a rummy sort of name
For where it’s halfway to or from, I cannot tell to fame
But it has a homely ‘pubby’ sort of sounding all the same,
In this ‘Outpost of the Empire’ that we hold.

We’ve fatigues in morn and afternoon and don’t they make you hot!
For they’re digging and revetting and you have to do a lot
Or the R.S.M. will ask you why the ….. you’ve not!
In this ‘Outpost of the Empire’ that we hold.

At night we send a picket out to guard each lonely spot
In case the nimble ‘Johnny Turk’ should try and have a shot
At getting through to Egypt, though we know full well he’ll not
In this ‘Outpost of the Empire’ that we hold.

Well we went and played at rounders (we couldn’t help but go)
We hit the ball and rushed about and made some sort of show
And got so hot that all we could do was puff and blow
In this ‘Outpost of the Empire’ that we hold.

We get cold meat for breakfast, and bread, and jam and tea
And meat again for dinner – as it’s good (?) for us, you see!
And at tea-time we have meat again – oh bless the powers that be!
In this ‘Outpost of the Empire’ that we hold.

And now we’re getting rumours that we’re moving day-by-day
Though what our destination is, is more than I can say
But Blighty, France and India are starters all the way!
In this ‘Outpost of the Empire’ that we hold.

We marched up here from Kubri just three weary weeks ago
And the time we have spent here’s been monotonous and slow
And I don’t think there’s a man who will be sorry when we go
In this ‘Outpost of the Empire’ that we hold.

If we once get back to ‘Blighty’ what a ‘bust up’ there will be
With everybody cheering and shouting three times three
And four hundred merry Yeomen singing ‘Sussex by the Sea’
In this ‘Outpost of the Empire’ that we hold.

I’m not sure what Kipling would have thought about these lines but they give us a little inkling as to what the men had to put up with.

The Regiment remained at Halfway House until early April when they were relieved and marched back to Suez Camp.

Until mid-July the Regiment was involved in training and garrison work around the Suez Canal. It was very hot and tedious work.

In October it became clear that there was no likelihood of the Sussex Yeomanry ever being needed as cavalry. Their future role was to be infantry. Lewis machine-gun training was therefore increased. The Regiment was expanded and infantry training went on apace. At the start of March 1916 the Regiment went by ship to Alexandria to become part of the 230th Infantry Brigade. It was here that further expansion and training took place and the ‘Sussex Yeomanry’ became the 16th (Sussex Yeomanry) Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment. The Unit expanded by 100%. This required the absorption of officers, non-commissioned officers and men, many of whom came from infantry regiments. It reflects credit on all concerned that what could have been a cause of friction was not.

Major-General E.S. Gridwood was appointed to command the 74th (Yeomanry) Division. Although an infantry soldier he was sensitive to the fact that many of his command had trained as – and anticipated being – cavalry. As a Divisional badge he adopted a broken spur. This was much appreciated by his men.

On 9th April 1917 the Battalion was ordered to move and entrained at Sidi Bishr for Deir El Belah. This was the railhead for the Egyptian expeditionary force then in Palestine. Training had not been finished but what the battalion lacked there was more than made up for in spirit. An assault on Gyra was being planned. The British had taken Gaza once already but, due to lack of water, had failed to hold it. In the preparation for this assault the battalion met their first tanks.

They arrived at night when dead silence and no lights was the rule. The noise, glowing exhausts and men on foot yelling directions to the drivers must have given the Turks a good idea of what was afoot. The assault took place on 17th April. The battalion took no part in it as it and the 74th Division were held in reserve. The second battle of Gaza was a failure. The Turks were well dug in with plenty of machine guns, artillery and barbed wire. The British did not have enough artillery to make such an assault. The tanks were not very successful and were all put out of action either by mechanical fault or the Turkish artillery.

The battalion spent the following months finishing their training and with the rest of the 74th Division (amongst others) was detailed to take part in the attack on Beersheba. To try to deceive the enemy into thinking that what looked like a British build-up of forces was a feint – British intelligence came up with a plan. A British cavalry officer on patrol lost his haversack near the Turkish lines. In this haversack was (amongst other things) a letter to his wife and a £5 note. In the letter he said to his wife that there was not going to be an attack. What convinced the Turks that this was genuine was the £5 note – worth much more than our present-day fiver! At dawn on 31st October 1917 the attack commenced and the Brigade advanced. The Turkish artillery heavily shelled the line of advance. Three officers and 22 men were injured. Two men were killed. Most of the damage was caused by shrapnel. The Brigade reached its objective and the whole operation was a success. Beersheba was carried.

All-in-all the whole operation had been a great success – it was the Battalion’s first real baptism of fire. It had come through it well and would continue to do so right through to the capture of Jerusalem and beyond – into France.

This story was submitted by John Dudeney of the Sussex Yeomanry Historical Group