Combat mechanisation and transport methods are separate questions. British yeomanry formations that remained horsed in the reserve were scheduled for conversion and were reorganised into armoured or mechanised units after deployment to Palestine, rather than being sent into a major battle zone as cavalry. The British Army's principal fighting forces therefore did not enter the war dependent on horses. Mule teams could nevertheless appear in Europe because planners had prepared for a technologically updated version of the trench warfare of 1914-18. The example shows why the presence of animal transport does not by itself prove that an army's combat formations were unmechanised.
Notable Point · 21:17-22:34
Mechanisation did not eliminate mule logistics
Britain's largely mechanised fighting forces could still use mule transport where terrain and prewar expectations made animals practical.