August
The Canterbury Mounted Rifles Regiment (CMR) is formed from the three Territorial Force mounted rifles regiments of the Canterbury Military District and starts training for service overseas as part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF).
The regiment comprises a headquarters staff, a machine-gun section and three mounted rifles squadrons:
Each squadron’s number and name corresponds to one of the three Territorial Force mounted rifles regiments of the Canterbury Military District (squadrons were normally identified in alphabetical order, as A Squadron, B Squadron, etc.).
Lieutenant-Colonel John Findlay is appointed to command the new regiment, which is assembled at the Addington Show Grounds from 12 August and reaches full strength on 16 August.
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
- 16th – Sir James Allen, the Minister of Defence, inspects the regiment.
- 23rd – The CMR leaves camp. Most of the regiment ride to Lyttelton. Headquarters and the 1st (Canterbury Yeomanry Cavalry) Squadron embark on HMNZT Tahiti, while 8th (South Canterbury) and 10th (Nelson) board HMNZT Athenic. Because of a lack of space on these transports, one officer and 40 men from the CMR travel to Dunedin and embark on the same transport as the Otago Mounted Rifles.
- 25th – On arrival in Wellington, the men of the CMR disembark as the departure of the convoy carrying the Main Body of the NZEF has been delayed. 1st (Canterbury) goes into camp at Lyall Bay, while 8th (South Canterbury) and 10th (Nelson) enter camp at Trentham.
October
- 14th – The CMR re-embarks on its transports.
- 16th – The convoy carrying the Main Body of the NZEF leaves Wellington.
- 21st – The convoy arrives at Hobart, Tasmania.
- 22nd – The men of the Main Body undertake a route march through Hobart, then re-embark on their transports and the convoy leaves the harbour.
- 28th – The CMR and the rest of the Main Body arrive at Albany, Western Australia, and join the convoy carrying the main body of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF).
November
- 1st – The combined AIF/NZEF main body convoy leaves Albany for the Indian Ocean.
- 15th – The troop convoy arrives in Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Leave is not granted to the men of the CMR.
- 17th – The troop convoy leaves Colombo.
- 25th – The faster ships of the convoy, including those carrying the CMR, leave the convoy and enter port at Aden.
- 26th – The ships that called at Aden leave the port and rejoin the convoy.
- 30th – The convoy arrives at Suez, Egypt.
December
- 3rd – After passing through the Suez Canal, the CMR disembarks at Alexandria and travels by train to Zeitoun Camp, which is located near Cairo, the capital of Egypt.
The regiment soon settles into a routine of training interspersed with sightseeing and sport. - 17th – The horses have acclimatised and mounted training begins.
