12TH ROYAL LANCERS IN FRANCE, AUGUST 17TH 1914 – NOVEMBER 11TH 1918

The frontispiece photo of this book says it all: it shows the 23 officers of the 12th battalion, Royal Lancers, grim faced and determined as they set off for France in August 1914. Four years later when the Great War ended in November 1918 , seven of the 23 (30 percent) have been killed – a very high fatal casualty rate. This brief history of the 12th Lancers – the only one of the unit’s role in the Great War – is, as Lt. Gen. Sir Philip Chetwode writes in his foreword – too brief, but it is a moving memorial to the men in that picture who did not return, written by one of their comrades who did. The 12th were rushed out to France with the rest of the BEF at the outbreak of war, arriving on August 17th in time to take part in the autumn battles as cavalry before the trench lines solidified. Later, unmounted, it took part in the defence of the Ypres salient at ZIllebeke; the battle of Arras in 1917; and in the 1918 battles when the 12th were able to resume their role as cavalry. The book contains a Roll of Honour and several photos.