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The 15th (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigade was a brigade-sized formation that served alongside British Empire forces in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, during the First World War. Originally called the Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade it was formed from Imperial Service Troops provided by the Indian Princely States of Hyderabad, Mysore, Patiala and Jodhpur, which each provided a regiment of lancers. A maximum of three regiments served in the brigade at any one time. The states of Bhavnagar, Kashmir, Kathiawar and Idar provided smaller detachments for the brigade, which was at times reinforced by other British Empire regiments and artillery batteries when on operations. In October 1914, the Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade was moved by sea to Egypt to become part of the Force in Egypt defending the Suez Canal. In the first three years of the war, the soldiers were involved in several small-scale battles connected to the First Suez Offensive, but spent most of their time patrolling in the Sinai Desert and along the west bank of the canal. It was not until November 1917 as part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force that the Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade was involved in the Third Battle of Gaza. The following year the brigade joined the 5th Cavalry Division when it became the 15th (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigade and played an active role in the British victory over Turkish forces in Palestine. In total, eighty-four men from the brigade were killed in action or died of their wounds and another 123 were wounded. Several memorials were erected to commemorate the brigade in the Middle East and in India. The anniversary of the brigade's most famous victory, the Battle of Haifa, is still celebrated today by its successors in the Indian Army. ==Background== In 1888, the Indian Government proposed that the independent armies of the Indian Princely states provide the British Empire with troops for service on the North West Frontier and outside the Indian subcontinent. The states' forces were recognised by the Indian Government and the British Indian Army as allies, and their troops were subject to the ''Indian Army Act'' when serving alongside the Indian Army. When in the field, the commander of the British Forces alongside which any Imperial Service Troops were serving was recognised as the higher legal authority in accordance with the act.〔Jaipur 1967, pp.XV–XVI〕 To eliminate supply problems, states' armies' field uniform and weapons were the same as the regular Indian Army, and the Indian Government appointed a staff of officers designated Military Advisers and Assistant Military Advisers to assist the independent states' rulers in the training and organisation of their forces.〔Jaipur 1967, p.XVII〕 Imperial Service Troops were commanded by Indian officers. In contrast, British Indian Army units had British officers in all senior command posts; their own Indian Viceroy's commissioned officers were trained to only a troop or platoon level of command.〔 The Imperial Service Troops included cavalry, infantry, artillery, sappers and transport regiments or battalions, with several states contributing both men and equipment.〔 The first states to provide troops for active service were Gwalior and Jaipur for the Chitral Expedition in 1895. Hyderabad sent troops to Burma in 1898 and to the Second Anglo-Boer War in 1902. During the 1900 Boxer Rebellion in China, part of the British relief force contingent was an Imperial Service Brigade, raised from the troops of Alwar, Bikaner and Jodhpur. Bikaner also sent troops to serve in the 1901 Somaliland Campaign.〔Raugh 2004, p.171〕 By the start of the First World War, the princely states together provided fifteen cavalry regiments, thirteen infantry battalions, seven transport units, four companies of sappers, three camel corps regiments and two batteries of mountain artillery, totalling around 22,500 men.〔Duckers 2008, p.33〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「15th (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigade」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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