Between the devil and the deep blue sea - University of Canterbury

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advancing and retreating quickly and efficiently. It also had to be extremely flexible as it
was uncertain where an invasion might occur.
TABLE Z: OPERATIONAL STRENGTH OF THE FIELD ARMY, AUGUST 1914 111
SECTION TROOP NUMBERS TOTAL NUMBER
24 Infantry Regiments each 3,300 79,200
4 Companies of Cyclists each 160 640
4 Regiments Cavalry (Cav. Brig. incl. cyclists) each 650 2,600
4 Regiments Field Artillery each 1,300 5,200
1 Corps Mobile Artillery 450 450
4 Companies Pioneers each 170 680
Total operational strength of the Field Army: 88,770
Mobility and flexibility were enhanced by the partition of the Field Anny into self­
sufficient divisions. Each of these was capable of fulfilling strategic directives without
support from the others. The four divisions were organised in exactly the same way,
although Division II had an additional two sections of mobile artillery attached. I 12 The Field
Anny also contained the Cavalry Brigade, which came into being on 8 August 1914, a few
days later than the rest of the anny.l13 It took longer to mobilise because of the large
numbers of horses that had to be requisitioned and transported to a central location. The
brigade constituted almost the entire cavalry strength of the anny, consisting of four
regiments of horse-riders and, as of 18 August 1914, four squadrons of cyclists. 1 14 This
degree of centralisation ensured a high degree of mobility. As the most mobile grouping, it
made sense to keep it separate from the much slower infantry divisions.
III Munnekrede, "De mobilisatie van de landmacht" p. 47.
112 See: Appendix 3, p. 452.
113 H. F. M. van Voorst tot Voorst, "Onze caval erie tijdens de mobilisatie" [Our cavalry during the mobilisation] in
Kooiman (ed.), De Nederlandsche Strijdmacht p. 428.
114 Kooiman (ed.), De Nederlandsche Strijdmacht p. 310.