Could You Survive in the WW1 Cavalry? | Western Front

What was it really like to ride into battle as a cavalryman in the First World War? Play Supremacy 1914 for FREE on PC, iOS or Android:
💥 https://s1914.onelink.me/TX2k/SUHI001
Receive a Unique Starter Pack, available only for the next 30 days!

In this immersive episode of Survive History, host Louee Dessent dons full WW1 British cavalry gear—including the SMLE rifle, cavalry sword, and uniform—and joins a cavalry unit for authentic maneuvers and drills. From riding in cavalry charges to working in machine-gun teams, we bring you as close as possible to the real experience.

We explore the fate of the cavalry on the Western Front, from the heroic cavalry charges of 1914 to the bloody attrition of battles like the Somme, where cavalrymen often dismounted and fought alongside infantry in brutal trench warfare. Using firsthand accounts from both British and German soldiers, we reveal how cavalry units adapted—or perished—amid the mud and machine guns of WWI.

Louee gets hands-on with:
The Vickers machine gun
German WW1 weapons and kit
The iconic Lee Enfield SMLE
Cavalry sword training and drills
Real battlefield tactics used by both sides

We also crunch the numbers: what were the odds of a cavalry trooper surviving to see Armistice Day?

Featuring expert insight from Richard Townsley, the Worcestershire Cavalry, and members of the German WW1 reenactment community, this video is a deep dive into WW1 combat realism through living history.

🔔 Subscribe for more immersive war history, weapons testing, and survival scenarios: Survive History

#WorldWarOne #WW1history #SurviveHistory
00:00 Introduction
04:16 Cavalry before WW1
07:03 British cavalry in 1914
11:10 Trench warfare begins
16:33 The Vickers machine gun
18:56 Cavalry training and organisation
23:14 Battle of the Somme 1916
26:00 German infantry weapons and gear
31:11 The brutal winters of 1916-17
34:59 How soldiers cared for horses
40:01 The arrival of tanks
43:04 The German Spring Offensive 1918
46:14 Cavalry success 1918
48:51 Could you survive?