1st Indian Cavalry Division
The 1st Indian Cavalry Division was a division of the British Indian Army which was formed at the outbreak of the First World War. It served on the Western Front, and was renamed the 4th Cavalry Division on 26 November 1916. In March 1918, the 4th Cavalry Division was disbanded; the British units remained in France and the Indian units were sent to Egypt to help form the 1st Mounted Division.
Lt. Gen. Michael Rimington, commander of the 1st Indian Cavalry Division and later of the Indian Cavalry Corps, riding with Sajjan Singh and Sir Partab Singh in Linghem, France, on 28 July 1915
English and Indian soldiers of the Lucknow Cavalry Brigade's Signal Troop relaxing in a farmyard at brigade headquarters, 28 July 1915
Lieutenant General Sir Michael Frederic Rimington, was a British Army officer who commanded cavalry forces in the Second Boer War and First World War. After early service with the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons, "Mike" Rimington was given command of an irregular cavalry force in South Africa, known as "Rimington's Guides". He commanded them for a year before taking command of his regular regiment, and later a cavalry brigade. In 1914, with the outbreak of the First World War, he commanded the 1st Indian Cavalry Division and then the Indian Cavalry Corps on the Western Front, before retiring to home-service duties in 1916. He had one son, Reginald, who followed his father into the 6th Dragoons; he rose to command an armoured brigade in 1941, and was killed in North Africa.
A caricature of Rimington published in Vanity Fair, 1898. The original caption read "Descended from Edward Longshanks".
Sajjan Singh, Maharaja of Ratlam, riding with Lt. Gen. Rimington and Sir Partab Singh in Linghem, France, 28 July 1915