The Last Britisn Cavalry Charge

[Barney]

The Last British Cavalry Charge

Huj, November 8th 1917

At 1.30pm on November 8, 1917, just outside Huj, a small dusty town deep in the Sinai Desert, 181 horses of the Worcester Yeomanry Cavalry ridden by men armed with sabres, galloped into a force of 20,000 Turks, 21 German field guns and three Austrian 5.9 Howitzers. It was to become the final cavalry charge of the British Army. Darcy Harold Jones was the last survivor of that incredible charge and this is his story?????..

Born in Worcester, November 26th, 1896 Darcy was the youngest of five children. His father was a Master Potter and his mother kept a spotlessly clean home that always smelt of fresh baked bread. The family were very comfortable financially, and the British Empire ruled the world. All was good and secure in the world.

Darcy left school at 14 and become a laboratory technician.

But Darcy craved excitement so in 1913, at the age of 17 he joined the Territorial Force (fore-runner of the TA), enlisting in the Worcester Yeomanry.There he leaned to ride a horse and fight with a sword.

Life was one long game, but in 1914 storm clouds gathered across Europe. His three elder brothers, Campbell, Harry and Frank, had all enlisted, and as the Territorial Force were mobilised, signing, almost to a man, the General Service Obligation Waiver enabling them to serve overseas, Darcy had the chance of real adventure of the type he'd read about in Boy's Own paper.

On April 10th, 1915, the Worcestershire Yeomanry sailed from the port of Bristol bound for Alexandria aboard the HMT Wayfarer. As it made its way through the Mediterranean the ship was struck by a torpedo. The troops on board were all rescued. But the Cavalrymen would not leave without their horses, therefore some of the men, Darcy amongst them, returned to the stricken vessel and, despite great danger, rescued all 763 horses on board.

The animals were eventually sent back to Ireland, from whence came the best army horses, but the men continued on to Alexandria aboard HMT Saturnia arriving in Egypt as infantry. In protest at being dismounted, they insisted on marching everywhere in their spurs.

In August 1915, they set off for the Dardanelles, to join the debacle known as the Gallipoli Campaign. A naval attack in February had been a disaster, and the ANZAC troops together with many Regular Army units lately returned from the outposts of Empire were being badly mauled. But troops continued to be poured in. Darcy and his friends landed at Suvla bay on August 6th, the Turks, beginning to smell victory, were ready for them.

There, in the trenches, Darcy saw men die for the first time, but initially he was not dispirited. He got his first experience of 'Johnny Turk' and longed to be up and at him. But over the next four months, as his friends began to be shot down one by one around him, his mood changed to frustration. Sitting in a hole in the earth eating bully beef and getting his feet wet in the mud was not his idea of war.

Darcy's idea of warfare were still bound up with ideas of chivalry. Horses and sword play - it was the type of combat you could only find in the desert. By Christmas a bloody episode in British military history was over and Darcy, together with the rest of the Army was withdrawn to Alexandria.

Gallipoli had been comparable, in the ineptitude of its planning, to the Crimean War of 1853. Darcy was not to know it then but it was to bring him even closer to the Crimean campaign. He was about to take part in an action reticent of the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava.

Darcy was glad to find himself back in the saddle. He felt much better, in the desert, mounted on Blanche, his new steed. He would remember her with pride and affection for the rest of his life.

Happy again, despite the heat, the flies and disease. The camp was based over some ancient catacombs, right next to an outlet of the main drains of Alexandria. Many of the men went down with jaundice. There was always the everpresent threat of malaria, white cholera, dysentry and heatstroke.

The Yeomanry were happy to leave the unhealthy air of the cities and HQ life, so they escaped on patrol at every opportunity. Over the next year Darcy led the life of a desert warrior. Days and nights were spent patrolling, resting during the day at Oasis or Wadis moving only in the cool of the dark hours.

Early in 1917, the Turks tried to attack the Suez Canal by going through the desert, so the Yeomanry, along with the infantry and the Camel Corps, had to form a line, blocking the coast against them. A serious desert War had begun.The tide of war ebbed and flowed until November 1917.

Everyone in the Yeomanry camp sensed that there was something big in the air, but no one knew when it would happen, or what it would be.

They found out at noon on November 8th. The Londoners of the 60th Division, General O'Shea's 'Cockney infantry' and the Australian Mounted Infantry, were being held up by two batteries of Austrian gunners occupying a fine position on the adjacent ridge near the village of Huj. Major General Allenby had decided that cavalry assistance was needed!

The Austrians and Turks were allies. From their position on the other side of the ridge, the Yeomanry could hear enemy shells, fired at the rate of sixteen a minute, falling amongst the Londoners and Australians. To make matters worse, another battery of machine guns operating at right-angles was supplying raking fire across the British line.

The recently promoted Corporal Darcy Jones, together with his friends Bill Wood and Reggie Smith, both from Malvern, had spent an enjoyable morning. The unit had been out since the early hours patrolling in strength, sent to scout further afield, now they sat looking into a little valley below them.

On the side of the hill, they came upon a small hut. There seemed to be no one about; nothing stirred except for the buzzards and booted eagles always waiting above them. So, swords, drawn, they entered.

Inside they found Turkish women's underwear, all good quality and heavily embroidered and men's vests and pants, probably made in Berlin.

It was the boys' first reminder of anything female since they had left Blighty. Darcy began grabbing handfuls and stuffing it into his saddle bags, the others copied and, roaring with laughter, they turned back for the British camp. They galloped past the infantry, lying in long rows.

The men on the ground swore bitterly at the jokers on horseback as they whipped up sand into their faces. But amid the excitement, Darcy had noticed something was up.

Darcy saw that there was a great deal of frantic to-ing and fro-ing from the Yeomanry headquarters established by Lieut Colonel Hugh Cheape under a cool clump of trees.

At 1.30pm Allenby ordered Cheape, and his men to take their place in history.

The popular Captain Valentine, known as 'Val', and Major Bill Wiggin rode up and down the lines assembling them into two ranks. Mounted on Blanche, armed with a sabre and a rifle, Darcy was more excited than he had ever been before.

Before them they could see the massed Austro-Turkish guns, they even saw the guns turn towards them. Darcy recalled it was then the penny dropped. Valentine turned in his saddle, his face flushed. Darcy heard him shout: 'It's the guns we're after, lads.'

Almost simultaneously he heard Lt-Col Cheape cry: 'Chaaarrrrge!'

Val galloped about a length ahead of everyone else on a huge, beautiful, grey. Behind him the cavalrymen launched a classic charge, 1,500 yards directly onto the guns.

Darcy rode forward, next to his friend Bill Wood. As his sword arm came out of its scabbard up into the air and his spurs went in. Down the other end of the valley the enemy frantically adjusted their guns. Darcy cantered, then galloped at full pace, not thinking of anything, just feeling exhilarated. His horse and his drawn sword made him feel invincible.

Like others, he had heard the rule a thousand times ' Just point your weapon and the speed of your horse will do the rest'.

A terrific fire was opened up on them by the enemy field guns, machine guns and rifles, at short range. Captain Valentine led the Worcestershire horsemen through the enemy left-flank guard, aiming for the field and heavy artillery pieces. Later it was reported that 'every artilleryman was sabred by his piece'.

Captain Val, charged through an inferno of shells right onto the Turkish field battery, which was firing at point-blank range. As his men reached the guns they sabred all the gunners before they themselves were cut down.

As Captain Val and his men lay dying, Colonel Cheape rode with a troop of Yeomen galloped round to the extreme right of the ridge and captured four camel guns three 5.9 guns and many prisoners.

Darcy and the centre squadron attacked down the throat of the guns, between Val and Cheape's men. It was not the kind of charge the enemy were expecting. Unlike Balaclava , the British did not ride in formation, but in twos and threes, even wide apart. They looked more like Cossacks than regular cavalry, slashing the enemy and vanishing into their own dust.

Amid the noise Darcy heard a bang and realised that Bill Wood's horse had been shot from under him ad his friend was gone. Nevertheless, Darcy rode on with the rest, on through a blizzard of shot, shell and machine-gun fire. Darcy recalled that the Austrian gunners fired so many shells that they were forgetting to set the fuses and the dud shells were going clean through the horses without exploding.

They reached the enemy guns with full-throated cheers, some using their swords like whips on the horses. The Turks seemed to freeze at the onslaught. As the British got among them and began to hack off heads and limbs, the guns roared and a bloody melee ensued. Any Turkish soldier who stood still was cut down.

Darcy felt he couldn't stop riding, he saw men fall under his hooves and he rode them down. He saw them turn and run, abandoning their guns. As the enemy scattered the charge became a rout.

The action took 20 minutes, the most exhilarating few moments of Darcy's whole life. After the charge there was silence.

The Regiment re-grouped and bivouacked on the site of the captured positions for the night. Allenby sent his congratulations and men celebrated the capture of 12 guns. Others were delighted to find dumps of circular cakes of Turkish bread and sacks of compressed dates.

Thirty-six Yeomen were dead and four out of nine officers, including Val and Sergeant Allen, who had been with the Yeomanry since 1896. He was found dead, still holding his sword which was buried up to the hilt in an Austrian gunner. Fifty-seven men were wounded, and 110 horses lost.

The British took 100 prisoners, including a Syrian woman who was married to an Austrian officer. Turkish corpses were piled into pyramids of 30 to 40. They quickly attracted flies and, to add to the discomfort, the terrible Khamsin wind, insufferably hot, started to blow like a blast-furnace, scorching dust-encrusted skins into sores and further drying already parched throats.

Some men dropped asleep, but Darcy and others set off into the desert to search for water of any kind, no matter how brackish. Five miles from Huj, at Nedjeli, some of them found foul water, full of black and yellow leeches. They gave it to the horses and drank it themselves with chlorine tablets. It reminded Darcy of his 'chem lab' back in Worcester.

At 7pm water carts arrived. For the men and horses that had remained at Huj it was their first drink for 50 hours. Early on November 9th, the British began to bury their dead. The bodies were put in a large pit, one mile from Huj, and marked with a cross.

Darcy was feeling numb. A common effect of such action on those who survived. Only later did he come to the conclusion: that he was glad to have been part of it, and satisfied that he and Blanche had come through unscathed. Good humour and optimism remain with Darcy to the end of his days, even though life subsequently gave him some hard knocks.

Still extremely lively and cheerful to the end, at the first mention of the cavalry charge he raised his arm as he would a sabre.

At a special RAF Lyneham dinner given in his honour many years later, a woman asked him how he liked spending his time and he immediately replied, 'making love'.

After Huj, Darcy gave up horses and went to Cairo to learn to fly. He got a commision to fly on April 1st, 1918. Back in Britain, he was fond of flying his biplane over his girlfriend Gertrud's garden so that he could wave to her. On one occasion his plane caught the tops of the trees, came down, and he had to be rescued by some passing German prisoners of war.

After the Great War, he got a job in a pathology laboratory in Lewisham, south-east London. He and Gertrude married in 1920 and had a daughter, Dorothy, now 71. Their second child, a boy, died of pneumonia, aged eight. Not wanting Dorothy to be an only child, they had another daughter, but she was born mentally handicapped.

Gertrude never recovered from these tragedies and suffered a nervous collapse, at one time refusing to go out of the house for 12 months. Eventually Darcy, who was devoted to his younger daughter, retired early to look after his wife.

Darcy consoled himself by collecting stamps - he collected over 40,000. He remained essentially 'a man's man', all his life playing all the sports he could, except tennis. He only gave up golf in his mid 90s.

During World war II, he was commanding officer of 228 Air Training Squadron in Kent.

In his advanced years he sometimes became confused and curious about why people were interested in him. When told it was because he was famous, he immediately replied, with a wicked glint in his eye

"You mean infamous, don't you?"

Darcy was featured in an article in the Daily Mail on December 28th 1996 but sadly this grand old man died soon after.

As far as I can ascertain this was the last formal Cavalry Charge performed by the British Army unless you guys know different..................

Barney

Edited July 27, 2004 by Barney

[Nick]

The Kings Dragoon Guards may pip that claim...

In the 3rd Afghan War in 1919 at Dakka I believe there was also a cavalry charge by horsed British Cavalry

[Nick]

Have a look at this link for info on the action by the KDG in Afghanistan.

QDG.ORG.UK

[Barney]

Yes you are absolutely right, 16 May 1919. The KDG performed well that day and the account on the website reads well. I can only say that it was not the entire unit but that is irrelvent, it was a fine covering action. Did Captain Cooper receive an award for his actions?

Edited July 29, 2004 by Barney

[Bob Hunter]

Interesting story Barney, thanks for passing it on.

[Guest ExileEric]

Interesting story Barney, thanks for passing it on.

I enjoyed the story too, Barney (in the Worcester Evening News archive on the net), when I was researching an earlier, disastrous action of the Q.O.W.H. (Qatia Oasis - Easter Sunday, 1916). I also think that you're partly right in your assumption about the charge at Huj. I believe that it was the last British cavalry charge against guns. For those who are in striking distance, the Worcester Regiment and the Q.O.W.H. have an excellent section - the Museum of the Worcestershire Soldier - in the Worcester City Library Museum and Art Gallery in Foregate Street. There are sections there devoted to the actions at Qatia and Huj and there's a useful little section on the net too.

[Chris Boonzaier]

These may have been for one of the last charges on the European continant.

[Chris Boonzaier]

These were Vincents medals

The 6th Cavalry Brigade mounted detachment, which consisted of

fifty men apiece from the 3rd Dragoon Guards, l0th Royal Hussars, and Royals,

and was commanded by Major Watkin Williams of the l0th, was ordered at about

2 p.m. on the 24th March to make a mounted attack on some enemy infantry and

machine-guns, who were in action in front of two copses on the rising ground just

west of Villeselve. The detachment, which was formed into three regimental troops,

of which that of the 3rd Dragoon Guards was led by Lieutenant A. B. P. L. Vincent,

moved off immediately along the road to Villeselve with the 3rd Dragoon Guards

troop leading. Orders were given to the troop leaders on the march, after which the

squadron rode on at a steady trot, turning left off the main road and taking a sunken

track leading north into Collezy. It then came under heavy machine-gun fire from

the direction of Golancourt, but took cover behind a number of large farm buildings.

Here it was between elements of British infantry who were in action east of the farm,

and elements of French infantry lining the sunken track in rear.

Wasting no time, as the orders had already been given, the squadron passed through

the British infantry and began to gallop towards the two copses with troops in line;

the 3rd Dragoon Guards against the right-hand copse and the l0th Hussars against

the left-hand copse, with the Royals 150 yards behind. They started knee-to-knee,

across about 600 yards of ground, of which the last two hundred were ploughed. They

came under heavy machine-gun fire immediately and this, as well as the fast pace,

caused them to open out, so that when the charge was sounded they were fairly

well extended. The moral effect on the enemy was very surprising. The moment

the men cheered, and the swords came down to the "sword in line", they either put

their hands up or else bolted into the copses. This did not save them, for once cavalry

had been launched to the charge it was always far too late for the enemy either to

run or to make placatory gestures. They were ridden down and 100 sabred, while

the 3rd Dragoon Guards troop, on reaching the right-hand copse, dismounted

and chased them through the trees, bringing twelve back alive. In this attack, besides

the 100 sabred, 107 Germans were captured as well as 4 machine-guns. The infantry,

which had followed up closely, having completely recovered their spirits, captured

many more; for the Germans continued to surrender freely, although before the

attack they had held the initiative.

Casualties to the squadron amounted to seventy-five all ranks. This was half its

strength, but out of the total only one officer and a few men were killed, and the

wounds of the majority were slight, so that in most cases they were able to continue

at duty. Had the infantry attempted to cross the 600 yards of ground they would

have been decimated to no purpose. It was enfiladed by at least five machine-guns-

only one of which escaped capture- while some 500 riflemen were covering it from

in front, with mortars and artillery at call. The exploit was in fact only practicable

to cavalry at the gallop.

Although only a very small affair on this vast battle front, the charge at Villeselve

had most important immediate results. It enabled the exhausted and disheartened

infantry to advance and retake an area of great tactical importance, and it secured

the left flank of the 14th Division, thus preventing a major breakthrough at a most

awkward and shaky part of the line.

[Chris Boonzaier]

The field they charged over, this was the forrest the 3rd Dragoons under Vincent charged...

[Tosun Saral]

If there were 20 000 Turks in 1917 we would to the honour of British.