Mounted Infantry Certificate

[KVT]

My Great Grand Father was awarded this in 1906.

As he was serving with the 1st Battalion of the the Royal Irish Fusiliers, I was wondering of what relevance it would have to an infantry regiment?

He trained at Longmoor  Camp for a number of months.

Does anyone have any idea of what the training would have consisted of ,and its role within his battalion thereafter?

I have looked on line but can find little about the the certificate, the training, or Longmoor.

Does anyone know of any photographs of Longmoor at that time?

Thanks for any help.

KVT

[ainslie]

The 'mounted infantry' ideas came from the Boer War, when the rigidly-drilled British Army was outfoxed by the mobile, mounted Boers.  Some infantry units were retrained for this role, and probably training continued after that conflict was over.  The plan was to make the infantry more mobile, but not to do away with the traditions of the cavalry.
Reading up on the Boer War [or Second South AfricanWar] may give you more than I can.
I suspect that the generals did not much like the idea, as no units seems to have been converted to the role by the time WW1 broke out.

Googling Longmoor Camp [which is in Hampshire] will give you some comments on the training area which is evidently still in use but not universally loved.

A

[mmm45]

Longmoor is home to the Royal Military Police Close Protection School at the moment.
A number of the buildings are still there from its original days!!

Ady