Mounted Infantry - 20th Century Transition

20th Century Transition

Many European armies also used bicycle infantry in a similar way that mounted infantry used horses. However they were handicapped by the need for proper roads.

The Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade which took part in the cavalry charge in the Battle of Beersheba (1917) during World War I were regarded as a mounted infantry brigade, while the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade which also took part in this battle were mounted riflemen.

Mounted infantry largely disappeared with the demise of the horse as a means of military transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Germany deployed a few horse-mounted infantry units on the Russian Front during the Second World War, and cyclist units on both fronts as well, and both Germany and Britain (which had used cyclist battalions in the First World War) experimented with motorcycle battalions. Germany also utilized organic horse and bicycle mounted troops within infantry formations throughout World War Two, although bicycle use increased as Germany retreated into its own territory. Japan deployed cyclists to great effect in its 1941 to 1942 campaign in Malaya and drive on Singapore during World War II. A horsed cavalry regiment of the Philippine Scouts assisted in the defense of the Philippines at the onset of World War II. The 10th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army also maintained a Mounted Reconnaissance Troop throughout World War Two, which saw service in Italy and Austria during the war.

Countries with entrenched military traditions like Switzerland retained horse-mounted troops well into the Cold War, while Sweden kept much of its infantry on bicycles during the snow-free months.