1914 - Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment timeline

August

The Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment (WMR) is formed from the three Territorial Force mounted rifles regiments of the Wellington Military District. It is raised for service overseas as part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF).

The regiment consists of a headquarters staff, a machine-gun section and three squadrons:

• Queen Alexandra’s 2nd (Wellington West Coast) Squadron 
• 6th (Manawatu) Squadron
• 9th (Wellington East Coast) Squadron

Each squadron’s number and name corresponds to one of the three Territorial Force mounted rifles regiments of the Wellington Military District (squadrons were normally identified in alphabetical order, as A Squadron, B Squadron, etc.).

Lieutenant-Colonel William Meldrum is appointed to command the new regiment, which is assembled and brought up to full strength at Awapuni Race Course – ‘Awapuni Camp’ – in Palmerston North by the end of the month.

The regiment’s horses come from two sources. A man can enlist with his own horses. Those who do not are allocated a horse (known as a ‘remount’) from the stock that the army purchases at the start of the war. This leads to skulduggery as men attempt to acquire a suitable mount.

September

• 22nd – The regiment leaves Awapuni Camp by train for Wellington.
• 23rd – The men arrive in Wellington and board transport ships along with the rest of the NZEF Main Body:
  • HMNZT Arawa – Headquarters Staff, 2nd Squadron (less one troop) and the Machine Gun Section;
  • HMNZT Tahiti – 6th Squadron (less one troop);
  • HMNZT Orari – 9th Squadron, one troop each from the 2nd and 6th squadrons and all the regiment’s horses.
• 28th – The departure of the NZEF Main Body troop convoy is postponed and the transports return to port. The troops remain quartered aboard their ships.
• 29th – Training resumes onshore.

October

• 15th – The WMR and the rest of the NZEF Main Body re-embark on the transport ships.
• 16th – The Main Body convoy leaves Wellington at 6 a.m.
• 21st – The convoy arrives at Hobart, Tasmania.
• 22nd – The men of the Main Body, including the troopers of the WMR, undertake a route march through Hobart before re-embarking on their transports at midday. The convoy leaves the harbour at 4 p.m.
• 28th  – The convoy arrives at Albany, Western Australia, and joins a convoy carrying the main body of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF).

November

• 1st – The combined Australasian main body troop convoy leaves Albany and begins crossing the Indian Ocean.
• 13th – The convoy crosses the Equator and celebrates with traditional ‘crossing the line’ ducking ceremonies during which a New Zealand Medical Corps lieutenant is fatally injured.
• 15th – The convoy arrives in Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Over the next two days the men are given shore leave in groups.
• 17th – The convoy leaves Colombo.
• 30th – The convoy arrives at the port of Suez, Egypt, at the head of the Red Sea and enters the Suez Canal.

December

• 2nd – The transports carrying the men and horses of the WMR complete their voyage through the Suez Canal and reach Port Said, on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt.
• 3rd – The transports carrying the men and horses of the WMR arrive at Alexandria, Egypt.
• 4th – The WMR disembarks at Alexandria and travels on three trains to what will shortly become Zeitoun Camp, near Cairo, the capital of Egypt. Only 14 of the 728 horses carried on HMNZT Orari have died during the seven-week voyage.
  The regiment soon settles into a routine of training interspersed with sightseeing and sport.