Before leaving the subject of ammunition supply, attention should be drawn to the vital necessity of cavalry regiments replenishing their regimental reserve of small arm ammunition from the ammunition column every day. Obvious as this duty may appear, it is one that is frequently neglected, especially during a time of long marches. It frequently happened that, in spite of repeated applications, the ammunition column commanders could not get indents from the regiments for days at a time. Such delays were often followed by sudden demands for the immediate supply of a large quantity of ammunition, which, perhaps, was not all available at the moment. There ensued mutual recriminations, and much extra work for the tired horses of both the columns and the regimental ammunition wagons, all of which might have been avoided by more forethought and attention to detail.
When the Desert Mounted Corps officially came into being, it was constituted as follows:—
Commander: Lieutenant-General Sir Harry Chauvel, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., Australian Imperial Forces.
AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND MOUNTED DIVISION (ANZAC).
Commander: Major-General Sir E.W.C. Chaytor, K.C.M.G., C.B., p.s.c., A.D.C., New Zealand Imperial Forces.
1st Australian Light Horse Brigade.