New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade

The New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade was a brigade of the New Zealand Army during the First World War. Raised in 1914 as part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, which made up 22% of the whole force, it was one of the first New Zealand units to sail for service overseas.

The brigade was formed from three regiments—the Auckland Mounted Rifles, the Canterbury Mounted Rifles, and the Wellington Mounted Rifles. Altogether, the brigade had an establishment of 1,680 men, and including the smaller support units, the brigade had 1,940 men and 2,032 horses. And by the end of the war, over 17,700 men had served in the brigade. However, the entire brigade's dismounted rifle strength was the equivalent of only a battalion of infantry.

By the end of 1914, the brigade had arrived in British Egypt and was assigned to the New Zealand and Australian Division. Its first active service was in a dismounted role during the Gallipoli Campaign, where they fought against the forces of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. Seven months later, after the evacuation from Gallipoli, the brigade returned to Egypt and, in 1916, became part of the ANZAC Mounted Division. The brigade was then used in defense of the Suez Canal. Then, following an abortive Turkish attack in the Sinai Desert, it took part in clearing the invaders from Egypt. Then in the next two years, it forced the Turkish forces out of Palestine, collectively known as the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. Following its successful conclusion in 1918, the brigade played a small part in the Egyptian Revolution of 1919 before being disbanded in June 1919.

As of 2022, one mounted rifles unit (Queen Alexandra's Mounted Rifles) is retained in the modern New Zealand Army.