The Canterbury Mounted Rifles Regiment (CMR) returns to Rafah from Gallipoli in January. The return home of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade (NZMR) is delayed by a shortage of shipping. The men take classes designed to ease them back onto ‘civvy street’ after up to five years in the army. They also help quell riots in Egypt, where there is anger at the lack of progress towards the independence that has been promised after the war.
January
- 10th – Major H.C. Hurst assumes command of the CMR.
- 19th – Most of the CMR embarks on HMT Normanat Chanak (Canakkale). Four officers and 90 other ranks remain behind on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
Lieutenant-Colonel J.C.B. Findlay resumes command of the regiment. - 22nd – The CMR disembarks at Port Said, Egypt.
- 23rd – The CMR travels by train to Rafah, arriving at 2 p.m. Training and education programmes to help the men return to civilian life are now its main concerns.
February
- 2nd – The officers and men left behind on Gallipoli arrive at Rafah.
- 7th – Major Percy Acton-Adams assumes command of the regiment.
- 12th – Lieutenant-Colonel Findlay resumes command of the regiment.
March
- 2nd – Major Hurst assumes command of the regiment.
- 10th – Lieutenant-Colonel Findlay resumes command of the regiment.
- 17th – The CMR leaves Rafah by train at 7 p.m. The NZMR is being rushed to Egypt to help suppress a nationalist revolt. Martial law is in force.
- 18th – The CMR moves into a bivouac at Kantara.
- 21st – The CMR boards a train for Damanhour, 50 km south-east of Alexandria.
- 22nd – The CMR arrives at Damanhour at 10.30 a.m. and rides through the town.
- 23rd – The CMR moves by train to Tanta in the Nile Delta. After arriving at 1 p.m., the regiment rides through the town.
- 25th – The CMR leaves Tanta at 3.30 a.m. and rides 40 km north to the disaffected village of Kafr el Sheik, accompanied by four armoured cars. A cordon is thrown around the village at 7 a.m. and it is occupied by 8 a.m. An investigation of the cause of the disturbances results in a number of arrests. Those convicted by summary military court are publicly flogged, fined or imprisoned.
- 26th – The 8th (South Canterbury) Squadron rides through nearby villages as a show of force. The rioting is investigated and summary punishments are meted out in minor cases.
The 10th (Nelson) Squadron is detached and returns to Tanta.
April
- 15th – The CMR moves 25 km west to Disuq, on the western distributary of the Nile.
- 22nd – The CMR returns to Kafr el Sheik.
June
- 17th – The CMR moves to the Demobilisation Camp at Chevalier Island, Ismailia.
- 26nd – The CMR is divided into two groups. One party moves to the New Zealand Training Unit and Depot at Ismailia to await transport to New Zealand in July.
- 30th – The rest of the regiment embarks on HMT Ulimaroa and the CMR ceases to exist as a formed unit.
