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25.01.2022 Photograph taken near Pilckem on the 31st of July 1917, during the Battle of Pilckem Ridge, of British troops loading a pack horse with wiring staples. Note the... horse's gas-mask. Many horses died as a result of the conditions at the front - artillery fire, of exhaustion, drowning, becoming mired in mud and falling in shell holes. Poison gas attacks injured their respiratory systems and skin. When gas warfare began in 1915, nose plugs were improvised for the horses to allow them to breathe during attacks. Later, several types of gas masks were developed by both the Central and Allied nations, although horses often confused them with feedbags and destroyed them. Lest We Forget. Photograph came from Imperial War Museums. Image file number IWM Q 5717. Some information came from Wikipedia.

25.01.2022 A Beautiful Song - Christmas 1915 - WW1

25.01.2022 On This Day 30 September 1918 Private E J Ryan, 55th Battalion, originally of Tumut, New South Wales, wins the Victoria Cross at Bellicourt, France.... Edward John Francis Ryan (1890-1941), soldier and labourer, was born on 9 February 1890 at Tumut, New South Wales, second son of Michael Ryan, a Sydney-born labourer, and his wife Eugenia, née Newman, from Gunning. Educated locally, he worked as a labourer before enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force at Wagga Wagga on 1 December 1915. After marching to Sydney with the 'Kangaroos' recruiting march he was posted to the 2nd Reinforcements of the 55th Battalion. He left Sydney on 14 April 1916 and after two months in Egypt joined his unit at Fleurbaix, France, in September. He remained with the 55th for the rest of the war except in January-June 1917 when he was detached to the Anzac Light Railways Unit. John Ryan won the Victoria Cross for conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty during the allied assault on the Hindenburg defences on 30 September 1918. During the 55th Battalion's attack near Bellicourt Ryan, despite heavy fire, was one of the first to reach the enemy trench. A fierce counter-attack drove the Australians back to the Le Catelet line trenches where a bombing party at their rear placed them in a critical position. Ryan quickly organized and led a party to attack the Germans with bomb and bayonet. Reaching the position with only three men, Ryan and his party killed three Germans on the flank and then Ryan alone rushed the remainder with bombs and drove them back across no man's land. He fell wounded but his action saved a highly dangerous situation and enabled the trench to be retaken. Private Ryan rejoined his battalion in December and on 22 May 1919 received his V.C. from King George V at Buckingham Palace. He returned to Sydney on 24 October and was discharged from the A.I.F. on 10 January 1920. A Sydney Morning Herald article described him as 'a thin lithe man with a smiling face that has been burned a deep mahogany brown'. The subsequent years were not kind to John Ryan who, like so many returned servicemen, found it hard to adjust to civilian life and to keep a job. His circumstances worsened during the Depression when he was on the road for four years. Destitute, in August 1935 he walked from Balranald, New South Wales, to Mildura, Victoria, where he was given temporary work by the local council and shortly after found employment in a Melbourne insurance office where he remained for several years. By May 1941, in poor health, he was again tramping the streets looking for work and was taken to hospital the day he was to have started yet another job. He died of pneumonia in Royal Melbourne Hospital on 3 June 1941 and was buried with military honours in the Catholic section of Springvale cemetery where eight V.C. winners formed a guard of honour. Unmarried, he was survived by two brothers and a sister Mrs P. G. Grant of Yass, New South Wales, who presented his V.C. to the Australian War Memorial in November 1967. His brother Malcolm was a trooper with the Light Horse, A.I.F. For further information see following link/s: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biograp/ryan-edward-john-francis-8312 https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676782

24.01.2022 Wilfred 'Tom' Baker alongside his horse Jerry. Baker served in the 1st Signal Section with the 1st Light Horse Brigade. Wilfred Baker collection. A number of Baker's photos, most copied from the original negatives, appear in the book.

24.01.2022 On This Day 04 October 1917 The Battle of Broodseinde Belgium... The battle of Broodseinde Ridge was the third operation launched by British general Herbert Plummer as part of the Ypres offensive of 1917. It was a large operation, involving twelve divisions, including those of both I and II ANZAC. The attack was planned on the same basis as its predecessors - the attacking troops' objectives were approximately 1,500 metres deep, the advance would be preceded by a massive artillery bombardment; and a creeping barrage would lead the troops on to their objectives and then protect them while they consolidated their positions. The attack began before dawn on 4 October 1917. The Australian troops involved were shelled heavily on their start line and a seventh of their number became casualties even before the attack began. When it did, the attacking troops were confronted by a line of troops advancing towards them; the Germans had chosen the same morning to launch an attack of their own. The Australians forged on through the German assault waves and gained all their objectives along the ridge. It was not without cost, however. German pillboxes were characteristically difficult to subdue, and the Australian divisions suffered 6,500 casualties. For further information see following link/s: https://vwma.org.au/explore/campaigns/18 YouTube link/s: https://youtu.be/Wb0GbI2FKlM https://youtu.be/ttlGjEW0ruI https://youtu.be/48JDQW_OcyA https://youtu.be/CDUsNXE4znk

24.01.2022 We Remember Today - 835 Private Walter Dickinson, 21st Battalion, of Tooborac, Vic, holding a rifle with fixed bayonet. Pte Dickinson enlisted on 5 January 1915... and was killed in action on 20 March 1917 near Bapaume, France. A brother served in the same unit, losing an arm at Pozieres, France.

24.01.2022 Very interesting read.

24.01.2022 JERICHO CUP | Banjo Paterson BM58 Handicap 1700m A legend in his own lifetime. We all know him for Waltzing Matilda, The Man from Snowy River, Clancy of the Ove...rflow and countless other literary gems. But do we know he rode winners as an amateur jockey at Randwick and Rosehill, over the jumps and on the flat. When WWI came along, despite being 50, he enlisted and finished up Commander of the Australian Light Horse Remount Squadron. Along the way he became an Honorary Vet (with a Certificate of Competency to prove it). THIS RACE HONOURS THAT SERVICE With never a sound of trumpet, With never a flag displayed, The last of the old campaigners Lined up for the last parade Banjo Paterson, ‘The Last Parade’ #JerichoCup | #RoadToJericho

24.01.2022 We Remember Today - 835 Private William Albert Baker, 9th Australian Light Horse Regiment, of Kangarilla, SA. Pte Baker enlisted on 13 November 1914 and was killed in action on 28 November 1915 at the Gallipoli Peninsula.

23.01.2022 On This Day 29 September 1918 Captain G H Wilkins awarded bar to Military Cross ... George Wilkins, explorer, war photographer and cinematographer, was born on 31 October 1888 at Mount Bryan East in South Australia. He studied electrical engineering at the South Australian School of Mines, mechanical engineering at the University of Adelaide and music at the University of Adelaide's Elder Conservatorium. At the same time he developed a keen interest in photography and cinematography. In 1908 he moved to England to work for the Gaumont Film Company as a ‘cinematographic cameraman’. Soon afterwards he began work as a reporter for the London Daily Chronicle, travelling to report on events overseas. He learned to fly and take aerial photographs and, in 1912, he left England to report on the Balkan War, becoming the first person to take motion pictures in the front line of a war zone. In 1913 he accepted a place on a Canadian Arctic expedition and was still there in 1916 when he first heard that the world was at war. On returning to Australia he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Australian Flying Corps but was prevented from operational flying because of colour blindness. In July 1917 he was appointed as an official photographer with the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and reached the Western Front in time to photograph the Australians during the Passchendaele campaign. By mid 1918, now a captain, he was given command of No. 3 (Photographic) Sub-Section of the Australian War Records unit. More adventurer than photographer, Wilkins was sometimes a participant in, as well as an observer of, war. In June 1918 he was awarded the Military Cross for helping wounded under fire and, in September, earned a bar to the award for leading a group of inexperienced American soldiers through a dangerous action. He is the only Australian official photographer to have been decorated. In January 1919 Wilkins travelled to the Gallipoli Peninsula as a photographer with the Australian Historical Mission under the official historian, Charles Bean. His appointment with the AIF ended on 7 September 1920. In later life Wilkins set out to explore the Arctic by air and flew from Alaska to Norway, for which he was knighted. Wilkins won a number of awards for his pioneering exploration work. In November 1928 and January 1929 he explored the Antarctic by air, and in the 1930s, made five further expeditions to the Antarctic. In 1931 he unsuccessfully attempted to take a First World War submarine, the Nautilus, under the Arctic ice to the North Pole. He subsequently worked in defence-related positions with the US Weather Bureau and the Arctic Institute of North America. Wilkins died on 30 November 1958 in Framingham, Massachusetts. He was so highly regarded in the United States that his ashes were scattered at the North Pole by the crew of an American nuclear submarine. His output is represented in the Australian War Memorial collection by eight films and hundreds of photographs from the First World War. For further information see following link/s: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676761 http://adb.anu.edu.au/biogra/wilkins-sir-george-hubert-9099

23.01.2022 On this day... in 1918, elements of the Desert Mounted Corps' Australian Mounted Division rode into Damascus at the end of a long pursuit following the Egyptian... Expeditionary Force victory in the Battle of Megiddo. To take the city, the Desert Mounted Corps rode over 400 kilometres, fought many actions against the Ottoman rearguards, and captured over 60,000 prisoners, 140 artillery pieces and 500 machine guns. The following day, the commander of the Desert Mounted Corps, Lieutenant General Sir Harry Chauvel, rode through the city. Hundreds of Australian soldiers, debilitated by malaria during the fighting in the Jordan Valley, became ill during the advance, and some died of the disease. The capture of Damascus was the last major battle of the Sinai and Palestine campaign, but pursuit of the Ottoman forces continued until they surrendered on 30 October, ending the fighting in the Middle East. British Empire forces suffered over 50,000 casualties in the overall campaign, including nearly 12,000 killed or missing and 5,000 that died of disease. Lest we forget. Ian Smith Chair Anzac Day Committee Image of Harry Chauvel riding into Damascus: AWM

23.01.2022 Lest We Forget

22.01.2022 #OTD - Battle of Brisbane On the 26th and 27th of November 1942, Brisbane was rocked by two nights of intense rioting and fighting between Australian and Americ...an servicemen stationed in the city during WWII. The rioting, which was widely supressed at the time by censors claimed one Australian life, with hundreds more injured as well as thousands of dollars’ worth of damages. The cause of the riot was because of the disparity in conditions for Australian and American servicemen. The Americans had higher pay and access to luxuries such as chocolate, cigarettes, food and stockings items that were all rationed for the Australians. In addition, there were also perceived race issues, with Australians taking offence to the segregation and mistreatment of African American soldiers by their American counterparts. According to records at the time, the riot was kicked off when three Australian soldiers were stopped by a group of American MPs (Military Policemen). The Australians had been talking to an intoxicated American Private on the side of the road when a group of American MPs demanded to see his ID. When the MPs attempted to arrest the American Private, the Australians intervened and attempted to defend him. The MPs called for reinforcements, whilst nearby Australian servicemen and civilians rushed to help their countrymen. As the MPs withdrew to the American PX (Post Exchange), more Australian servicemen and civilians arrived and began throwing rocks and breaking windows. Sporadic fighting broke out throughout the city and by 8pm some 5,000 people were involved. A group of Australians captured several boxes of ammunition, sub machineguns and hand grenades and the riot looked to turn violent. The MPs at the PX also began to arm themselves, and during a scuffle outside, one Australian Gunner Edward Webster was shot in the chest and killed, whilst a number of others were also injured. On the following night, a crowd of 500-600 Australian servicemen gathered outside the building and as NCOs went through the crowd confiscating grenades a further scuffle broke out. The MP who shot Webster, Private Grant was initially court-martialled for manslaughter but was later acquitted on the grounds of self defence. Five Australians were convicted of assault and one was jailed for six months. The event was widely censored with the only information being realised as ‘one Australian killed, six wounded’. It is believed that the incident was never reported by US media and this resulted in many exaggerated stories including one saying that 15 Australian servicemen had been shot by Americans with machineguns with the bodies being piled on the Post office steps! An interesting event and quite aptly named! --------------------------------------------------------------- If you spot an error, please send me a message. Join our group here: https://business.facebook.com/groups/2626189084317964

21.01.2022 A group of Australian soldiers stand around, some drinking beer from assorted receptacles. In the forground a man lights his cigarette from another's. Original ...caption reads "Some of the types who raided the canteen and pinched the beer". One of a series of images in an album relating to the wartime service of Lieutenant Harry Downes MC MM, 48th Battalion. United Kingdom: England, Wiltshire, Hurdcott 1919 AWM.

20.01.2022 #Onthisday in 1918 the Australian Light Horsemen take Damascus, the Syrian capital, at the end of the long and successful advance that ended the First World War... in the Middle East. Learn more about the taking of Damascus: http://ow.ly/jccc50ByBSd Image: Local civilians in a Damascus street the day after its capture by Allied forces in October 1918. H10654

20.01.2022 6th Light Horse Regiment men on active service 1918. Ralph Kellett collection.

19.01.2022 The Swaggering Light Horseman!

19.01.2022 Died on this date 22nd November..... Gunner Henry Lewis was born at Morphett Vale, South Australia in 1892. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (A.I....F.) on 25th October, 1915 as a 23 year old Labourer from Toowoomba, Queensland. His next of kin was listed as his brother Mr J. Lewis, Waikery, Murray River, South Australia. Gunner Henry Lewis embarked from Sydney on HMAT Argyllshire (A8) on 11th May, 1916 with 9th Field Artillery, 1st Reinforcements & disembarked at Devonport, England on 10th July, 1916. Gunner Lewis was written up for an Offence on 29th September, 1916 while in Boyton, Wiltshire - When an active service AWL from 8.30 a.m. 26.9.16 to 10.30 p.m. 26.9.16. He was awarded 7 days Field Punishment & forfeited a total of 8 days pay. Gunner Lewis was admitted to 1st Dermatological Hospital at Bulford, Wiltshire with V.D. on 15th October, 1916. He was discharged from Hospital on 1st December, 1916 & posted to No. 1 Command Depot at Perham Downs, Wiltshire. Gunner Lewis was marched in to Camp 21 at Larkhill, Wiltshire on 10th December, 1916. Gunner Lewis proceeded overseas to France on 15th March, 1917. He was transferred to 1st Division Artillery at Etaples on 25th March, 1917 & taken on strength in France on 29th March, 1917. Gunner Lewis was sent to hospital sick on 6th June, 1917 & admitted to 2nd Australian Field Ambulance with Appendicitis. He rejoined his Unit from Hospital on 7th July, 1917. Gunner Lewis was detached to St. Omer on Picquet Duty (In military terminology, a picquet refers to soldiers or troops placed on a line forward of a position to warn against an enemy advance) on 15th September, 1917 & rejoined his Unit on 29th September, 1917. Gunner Lewis was transferred to 2nd Field Artillery Brigade at Belgium on 5th October, 1917. He was taken on strength & posted to 6th Battery on same day. Gunner Lewis was on leave to England on 14th February, 1918 & rejoined his Unit on 5th March, 1918. Gunner Lewis was admitted to 1st Australian Field Ambulance on 21st March, 1918 he had been wounded in action as a result of a gas Shell. He was admitted to 6th (USA) General Hospital in France on 16th April, 1918 suffering from Gas Shell ‘W’ & Broncho pneumonia. He embarked for England on 19th April, 1918 on Hospital Ship Guildford Castle. Gunner Lewis was admitted to Norfolk War Hospital at Norwich on 20th April, 1918. He was discharged to No. 3 Command Depot at Harefield on 18th June, 1918. Gunner Lewis was marched in to Overseas Training Brigade on 26th October, 1918 then marched in to Reserve Brigade Australian Artillery at Heytesbury, Wiltshire on 8th November, 1918. Gunner Henry Lewis was sent sick then admitted to the Military Hospital at Sutton Veny, Wiltshire on 17th November, 1918 with Influenza Pneumonia, seriously ill. Gunner Henry Lewis died at 23.15 hrs on 22nd November, 1918 at the Military Hospital, Sutton Veny of Influenza Pneumonia. He was buried in St. John the Evangelist Churchyard, Sutton Veny, Wiltshire, England where 140 other WW1 Australian Soldiers & 2 Australian Nurses are buried. The relatives of the late Gunner Henry Lewis were unable to be located to advise them of his death. Notices were placed in newspapers several times in an attempt to locate the next-of-kin. As a result his War Medals & other Mementos were sent to Untraceables. A photo of the original cross marking his grave in churchyard at Sutton Veny was located in his Service Record file as it would normally have been sent to next-of-kin. (The above is a summary of my research. The full research can be found by following the link below) https://ww1austburialsuk.weebly.com/k--m.html

17.01.2022 On This Day 03 October 1918 Lieutenant J. Maxwell, 18th Battalion, originally from Sydney, New South Wales, performed the action that resulted in him being awar...ded the Victoria Cross, on the fortified 'Beaurevoir line', near Estrees, France. Joe Maxwell (1896-1967) was an apprentice boilermaker before enlisting in Sydney in February 1915. He served on Gallipoli and the Western Front. Rough, tough, and exceptionally brave, he was commissioned in late 1917. In little more than a year he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM), the Military Cross and Bar, and the Victoria Cross. On 3 October 1918, Maxwell took over when his company commander was wounded and captured a machine-gun. He then attacked another post. Later he was briefly taken prisoner. During a barrage, he managed to pull out a concealed revolver, shoot two of the enemy, and escape. Although aged just 22, Maxwell became the second most highly decorated Australian. He later worked in a variety of jobs. His book, Hell's bells and mademoiselles (published 1932), became a war classic. Using an alias, he enlisted in the Second World War but was discovered and discharged. Maxwell was awarded the Victoria Cross, the Military Cross and Bar, DCM, service medals for the First World War, and coronation medals for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II. On 6 July 1967 Maxwell collapsed and died of a heart attack in a street in his home suburb of Matraville; he had for some time been an invalid pensioner. After a service with military honours at St Matthias Anglican Church, Paddington, he was cremated. His widow donated his medals to the Army Museum, Victoria Barracks, Paddington. For further information see following link/s: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676726 http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/maxwell-joseph-7534

16.01.2022 Perhaps we need to take some resolve from those who won our freedom for us. Taking cover from German machine guns on the Peronne Road, Mont St Quentin on 8 Sept...ember, 1918, Australian Private Reynold ‘Cleve’ Potter and his comrades found themselves in a bad situation: We crouched like rabbits in a shallow trench, and he [Fritz] merely proceeded to blow us out by concentrating a couple of batteries of six-inch guns on the spot. To raise our heads an inch or two was to have our heads ventilated; to stay was to be blown to Hades; to go forward was to step off the earth. Our C.O. once told us in Lark Hill that when we reached the front there would be times when: If we go forward we die If we go backwards we die So better go forward and die. Than backward and die. I had been in the position more than once since; but never had it been so absolutely certain the only possibilities of the situation as now. And we chose ‘the better part’ to die going forward and made a rush across the road. From the diary of Private Reynold ‘Cleve’ Potter (21st Battalion) Australian Great War Poet See more

16.01.2022 On This Day 30 September 1918 The Battle of Kaukab Palestine... Kaukab, an action fought on 30 September 1918 about sixteen kilometres south-west of Damascus, brought about when a Turkish column attempted to block the advance by leading elements of the Australian Mounted Division (Major-General Henry Hodgson) towards the city. The Turks, numbering several thousand, were themselves falling back north-east on Damascus, but when they sighted the 4th Australian Light Horse Brigade (Colonel Murray Bourchier) they moved across its path and took up position along a ridge with the clear intention of making a stand. Hodgson ordered Bourchier's 4th and 12th regiments to prepare to charge with the sword across the two kilometre wide stony valley separating the two forces, while the 5th Light Horse Brigade (Brig. General George Macarthur-Onslow) - ignoring the enemy's line-pushed past the western flank and kept going. Although their position was well covered by many machine-guns, the Turks had no guns with which to reply to the fire opened up on them by the British horse artillery in Hodgson's force. As the latter began bombarding the Turkish machine-gun posts over open sights, and with Macarthur-Onslow's brigade (French cavalry on distinctive grey horses being prominent) moving ominously in their rear, the Turks lost all heart for a fight. The Australians were expecting a hot reception by the time Bourchier finally gave the order to advance soon after 11 a.m., but in the event the action was bloodless. The German machine gunners abandoned their weapons without firing a shot at the charging lines of horsemen and joined in the general flight. Twelve machine-guns were thus captured, and 22 prisoners, for no loss to the attackers. For further information see following link/s: http://alh-research.tripod.com//kaukab-palestine-septembe/

15.01.2022 16 November 1917: Jaffa At 9.30am on 16 November, 1917, patrols of the Wellington Regiment of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles entered Jaffa. They found the tow...n undefended, and the inhabitants wildly welcoming. Jaffa had suffered badly during the war. Trade had dried up as the British blockaded the coast, and the Ottoman army had requisitioned goods from businesses and individuals alike. In the late summer of 1917, a Venezuelan mercenary in Ottoman service Rafael de Nogales rode from Beersheba to Jerusalem, and found: During this trip, which took me also to Ramleh, Jaffa and several other points, I could judge of the ruin caused by deportations, epidemics and looting. Jaffa, for instance, was a dead city, practically evacuated save for a few German families and the civil authorities, who had remained under pretext of guarding the town and who were sacking it right and left in complete accord with their master, Djemal Pasha. (Nogales, ‘Four Years under the Crescent’, p. 312.) Jaffa was a real strategic prize for the British. Although the harbour lacked docks, it was still a sheltered anchorage for British ships to moor and be unloaded by smaller boats. Up until now, the EEF’s logistics had relied on 100 miles of railway across the Sinai, and an essentially camel-based system of bringing everything the army needed the next 50 miles. Shortages and delays had been commonplace. Small amounts had been landed by boats along the shore, but this was a precarious business. Now, precious supplies could be unloaded right near the front lines. Image: Jaffa from the shore.

14.01.2022 We Remember Today - 301 Sergeant Albert Griffith, 2nd Veterinary Section, Army Veterinary Corps of North Carlton, Vic. A presser prior to his enlistment on 8 December 1914 he embarked from Melbourne on board HMAT Borda on 22 December 1914 and returned to Australia on 24 September 1916.

13.01.2022 When two platoons came under fire from hostile machine-guns at Chuignes on 23 August 1918, George Matthews sprang into action. The 24-year-old lance corporal wo...rked along a trench under heavy fire and bombed two machine-guns, capturing one and inflicting casualties on the crew of another. The following day, he was badly wounded in his chest, neck and left knee, and reportedly lost the power of speech. For his actions, Matthews was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Today, his name is listed on the Australian War Memorial’s Indigenous Service list, one of the thousands of Indigenous Australians who volunteered during the First World War, despite not being legally allowed to do so. Read the article: http://ow.ly/pVRK50CjpO4 #NAIDOCWEEK #NAIDOC2020

13.01.2022 Mounted infantryman of the 8th (Frontier Force) Bn, The Burma Rifles, patrolling a rugged section of the Burma - Siam (Thailand) border. 2nd December 1941. (AP Photo)

12.01.2022 AUSTRALIANS IN RHODESIA -Boer War

11.01.2022 "I saw that he was looking for some blank canvas, so I suggested the side of my house. I had a big blank white wall, it was perfect! Local artist, Harry Maddox..., painted an incredible mural on the side of SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity volunteer, Maggie Denholm’s house in Bodmin, Cornwall to honour the fallen this #RemembranceDay. SSAFA volunteer, Maggie, was delighted to offer the side of her home as a blank canvas for artist Harry after she saw a post on social media. Maggie says: "The mural is absolutely fantastic and pays homage to those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Here at SSAFA, we provide support to veterans, service personnel, and their families, whenever and wherever they need us."

11.01.2022 Died on this date 30th November..... Private Eric William Toms was born at Nelligen, NSW in 1895. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (A.I.F.) on 20t...h September, 1916 as a 23 year old, married, Blacksmith from Parramatta, NSW. Private Eric William Toms embarked from Sydney, NSW on HMAT Benalla (A24) on 9th November, 1916 with the 39th Infantry Battalion, 5th Reinforcements. Private Eric William Toms died at 2.10 am on 30th November, 1916 on board HMAT Benalla (A24) while at Sea from Meningitis. He was buried at Sea & is commemorated on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Hollybrook Memorial, Southampton, Hampshire, England as he has no grave. (The above is a summary of my research. The full research can be found by following the link below) https://ww1austburialsuk.weebly.com/s---t.html

11.01.2022 Soldiers of the 13th Light Horse provide the Wedding Guard for John Bagot and his new wife, Eileen Dubois Ive, as they walk, from the tent where they have marri...ed, under the crossed rifles with bayonets fixed - 22nd May, 1915. The groom is Second Lieutenant John Frederick Bagot who embarked on 12 May 1915 and served with the 13th Light Horse Regiment. Bagot trained in South Australia for seven months with the 9th Light Horse before transferring to the Light Horse Depot at Broadmeadows. He passed his examination for commissioning as a 2nd lieutenant and was appointed to this rank on 24 March 1915. In November 1917 he was promoted in the field to the rank of Captain. He returned to Australia in February 1919.

10.01.2022 JERICHO CUP | Harry Chauvel BM64 Handicap 2000m Born Henry George Chauvel on 16th April 1865 at Tabulam NSW, he was always known as Harry Chauvel. By the outbre...ak of war he had already established a long history of service to his country. It was, however, that his finest hours were to be as Commander of the Australian Light Horse in the Middle East. In a war littered with examples of disregard for human life, Chauvel was the outstanding exception. His attitude to command is best explained by Henry Gullet official Australian historian. Chauvel was no hard-riding gambler against odds. Like Alva, he could on occasion ignore the ardent enthusiasm of his officers and bide his time. Always cool, and looking far enough ahead to see the importance of any particular fight in its proper relation to the war as a whole, he was brave enough to break off an engagement if it promised victory only at what he considered an excessive cost to his men and horses. He fought to win, but not at any price. He sought victory on his own terms. He always retained, even in heated moments of battle, when leaders are often careless of life, a very rare concern for the lives of his men and his horses. Yet there was one outstanding example when he did throw caution to the wind The Charge at Beersheba. What could have been the slaughter of 800 brave men and their mounts, resulted in victory and the loss of ‘just’ 31 men and 70 horses. We can only presume 100 years later that the only alternative was to die of thirst in the desert. The saying ‘fortune favours the brave’ was never so aptly demonstrated. HARRY CHAUVEL WE SALUTE YOU #JerichoCup #RoadToJericho

10.01.2022 A light horseman with the mascot pony of the 6th Light Horse Regiment. Ralph Kellett collection.

10.01.2022 Sister Jessie Buchan, Australian Army Nursing Service, wrote to a friend from 15th General Hospital, Alexandria, on 2nd October 1915. I am on the eve of depart...ure on a large transport for England. The vessel is taking 1200 invalided soldiers and 18 nurses besides orderlies. We expect to sail to-morrow. On Monday last we were told to get ready to sail on Tuesday, so we got on board, bag and baggage, and settled down, and the patients were being put on. After being, on board about an hour we were all ordered off, as the boat (Shropshire) had been carrying (so it was reported) contraband goods. Since, we have been waiting for the Andania. One does not feel too cheerful about sea voyages between here and England with so many submarines about, but can only trust that we reach there in safety. We are only making one voyage and then coming back to Egypt. Miss Pierre Humbert, [1] whom you mentioned in your letter, was on board the Mooltan with us coming out. She told me she knew you. She is at Lemnos with the 3rd Australian Hospital... We had a busy time, for a while after the big rush on August 4. Wounded simply poured in-for days, and the operating theatres were going from morning till midnight for over a week-with just time to snatch meals. I had 10 weeks in the theatre after we first came, but for the last six weeks was in the dysentery ward. Dysentery and enteric seem to be making havoc among the men; but one can't wonder at it when you hear of the condition of things at Gallipoli. I wonder what the end will be? It is terrible to think of the lives that have been sacrificed. If it does not soon end we will not have any more left. Nurses seem to pour out here every week from England and else where. We had to erect a shelter on the roof of our hospital and put 300 beds up there before the last big rush; had beds everywhere, in corridors and on balconies. All the roofs are flat in Egypt. Of course only cases that are not badly hurt are put on the roof and in the tents. The Red Cross Society is very good in Alexandria, and seems to send out lots of things to various hospitals. Some of the wealthy residents here have gone to England and have left, their beautiful homes furnished, at the disposal of the nurses and officers as rest houses at the seaside. They appoint a housekeeper for each house, and the Red Cross pays 6/ a day for each nurse's board while staying there which pays servants and for food. The harbor here is immense and beautiful; a sight in itself to see the shipping. I was out yachting one day and went round all the big ships and hospital boats. Am beginning to pick up a few words of Arabic, especially in the food line. [2] [1] Nurse Pauline Elsie Pierre Humbert, 3rd Australian General Hospital. [2] 'Barrier Miner' (Broken Hill, New South Wales), 21st November 1915. Image: Nurses on the Andania, 'The Sphere,' 23rd October 1915.

09.01.2022 We Remember Today - 2140 Sergeant Percival Horace Hockridge 3rd Light Horse Regiment of Norwood, SA. A clerk prior to his enlistment on 8 December 1915 he emba...rked from Adelaide on board HMAT Anchises on 16 March 1916. He later served with the 14th Company Imperial Camel Corps and returned to Australia on 23 August 1917.

09.01.2022 November 14th is Ayun Kara Day. Today we specifically remember the 18000 New Zealanders who served in the ranks of the New Zealand Mounted Rifle Brigade in Eg...ypt and the Holy Land and approximately 700 men who died either from wounds or disease during this campaign from 1916-1918. This montage of historic photos (mostly) taken from the Broomfield collection shows (A) The battleground of Ayun Kara which lies near the cities of Rishon LeZion and Ness Ziyona in Israel. (B) The day after the battle (C) Mounted Horseman. (D) The first commemoration of Ayun Kara in 1918 (E) Families from the Jewish settlement attending the commemoration. (F) A memorial obelisk commemorating the fallen soldiers. Lest We Forget. See more

09.01.2022 In the Footsteps of

08.01.2022 Died on this date -1st October.....Private Laurence Edmonds Pearce was born at St. Peters, South Australia in 1897. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force... (A.I.F.) on 3rd January, 1916 as an 18 year old Bank Clerk from Glenelg, South Australia. Private Pearce embarked from Melbourne, Victoria on HMAT Kanowna (A61) on 1st April, 1916 with the Army Medical Corps March 1916 Reinforcements. He then embarked from Alexandria on 28th May, 1916 & was transferred to England. Private Pearce was transferred from A.A.M.C. Details at Tidworth, Wilshire, England to Perham Downs, Wiltshire, England on 9th July, 1916. Private Laurence Edmonds Pearce was admitted to Tidworth Military Hospital on 29th September, 1916. He died on 1st October, 1916 in Lucknow Isolation Hospital, Tidworth, Wiltshire, England with Cerebro Spinal Meningitis. Private Laurence Edmonds Pearce was buried in Tidworth Military Cemetery, Wiltshire, England where 172 other WW1 Australian War Graves are found. Private Pearce has a Commonwealth War Graves Commission Headstone as well as a shared private headstone with fellow Australian Army Medical Corp member Corporal Thomas Charles Foster. (The above is a summary of my research. The full research can be found by following the link below) https://ww1austburialsuk.weebly.com/n---s1.html See more

08.01.2022 This painting truly represents the close bond of empathy and understanding between the Australian Light Horseman and his horse. This light horseman has been bit...terly disappointed, for the mail has come and he has missed out again. This was the experience of trooper Ion Idriess for this is what he wrote in his diary in 1916... "June 21st Yesterday fifteen bags of mail (thousands of letters) came for the 5TH. And yet there was not one solitary letter, parcel, or even newspaper for me." September 19th Why the hell don't I get any letters or parcels? My mates are always getting them: I don't get a lousy newspaper even." Another Light Horseman, Major Harold B Suttor wrote in his diary in May 1918.. "Thurs 9. One ton of mail arrives and not one letter for me - usual luck" Feeling forlorn and forgotten this Light Horseman has ridden his mount aside from the rest of his section, and feeling rather sorry for himself has plopped down on the ground to indulge in a little wallow in self pity alone. His horse may not understand just why his rider is so unhappy at this moment, but horses are very sensitive and intelligent creatures, and he certainly can feel that his master is upset. He bends his head down over his masters shoulder, nuzzling him perhaps with a little nicker of horse sympathy, to let him know that he is by his side, feeling his sadness, and he is not alone. His Light Horseman responds by laying his head against that of his horse and giving him a hug and caress. Perhaps soft words are spoken, perhaps none are needed, but mutual sympathy is expressed and appreciated by both, and so each are comforted and reassured by the other. https://hubs.ly/H0xfqXB0 The Australian Light Horse is an iconic part of our history. From the Boer War through World War One the Australina Light horse has taken its place in. We hope to keep their history and their story alive through our Light Horse inspired collections. Come and see our complete collection dedicated to the Australian Light horse and their mounts. #Beersheba #LightHorse #WW1 #WWI #GreatWar #AustralianLightHorse #Horse #History #historic #military #collection

07.01.2022 *The Surafend Massacre/Affair * As one British Historian Hugh Sevag-Montefiore, put it as New Zealands most disgraceful moment of the Great war, which over shad...ows the supposed War crimes commited by the NZ Division on their debut at the Somme at the Battle of Flers-Courcellete 15/09/1916. Lets yarn about New Zealand Mounted Rifles, New Zealanders of the defunct Imperial Camel Corps & Australian Lighthorse Men. *The Bond between the NZ Mounted rifleman & Australian LH was extremely strong more so than their countyman on the western front.They were men bound by the brotherhood of the Horse Tough Horsemen from New Zealand & Australia who did not consider themselves as Anzacs or Diggers whos pride extended down to squadron level nothing more or less. The Surafend massacre was the premeditated massacre of many male inhabitants from the Arab village of Surafend (now the area of Tzrifin in Israel) and a Bedouin camp in Palestine by soldiers of the ANZAC Mounted Division on 10 December 1918. The massacre, believed to have been in response to the murder of a New Zealand soldier by a villager, caused a significant rift between the Division and its Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal Sir Edmund Allenby. The village of Surafend (also known as Sarafand) was near the camps of the three brigades of the ANZAC Mounted Division: the New Zealand Mounted Rifle Brigade, and the Australian 1st and 2nd Light Horse Brigades. The proximity of the village, coupled with a perceived general British Army acceptance and dismissal of petty crime by the local Arabs, meant that thefts and even murders took place regularly with little to no redress from the Imperial forces. The reluctance of the British to punish or avenge such crimes led to a build-up of resentment among the division towards both the native Arabs and British General Headquarters On the night of 910 December 1918, a New Zealand soldier, 65779 Trooper Leslie Lowry, was woken around midnight when his kitbag, which he was using as a pillow, was stolen from his tent. Lowry pursued the thief outside of the camp, where he was apparently shot. Lowry was found by Corporal C.H. Carr, who had heard the sound of a struggle and a cry for help, lying in the sand about 40 metres from the tent lines, bleeding from a bullet wound to the chest. He died just as a doctor arrived at approximately 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday 10 December, having said nothing. The camp was roused, and a group of New Zealand soldiers followed the footprints of the thief, which ended about a hundred yards before the village of Surafend. Soldiers set up a cordon around the village, and ordered the sheikhs of the village to surrender the murderer, but they denied any knowledge of the incident or its perpetrator. The death was brought to the attention of the staff of the division the following day, and a court of inquiry was conducted at first light by Major Magnus Johnson. Plaster casts of the footprints were taken, and the bullet that killed Lowry was determined to have been fired by a Colt .45 pistol, which was not on general issue to NZMR troops, but was common amongst Turkish and Arab forces. By nightfall there had been no response on what action, if any, should be taken. According to the police report, there was no evidence linking anyone from the village to the murder. *Where there was Trouble to be had, you can Gaurantee an Australian would be involved. The following day, the men of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles prepared for what was to take place that night. Early in the evening, around two hundred soldiers entered the village, expelling the women and children. Armed with clubs and bayonets, the soldiers then set upon the remaining villagers whilst also burning the houses. Somewhere upwards of about 40 people may have been killed in the attack on Surafend and the outlying Bedouin camp. The casualty figures depend upon the testimony from the reporting authority. There is no certain figure and one account puts the figure at more than 100. There were also unknown numbers of injured villagers who were tended to by the field ambulance units. The massacre at Surafend was both visible and audible to the nearby division headquarters, and the division's Commander-in-Chief, General Sir Edmund Allenby, was ordered by General Headquarters to find and discipline those who took part in the killings, in particular those who led and organised the attack. The New Zealanders stood firm in solidarity and refused to name any individual soldiers responsible, and thus no-one could be definitively charged and disciplined for the massacre. General Allenby ordered the division to the square at headquarters, where ignoring the salute of Commanding Officer Chaytor he expressed his fury at their actions in no uncertain terms and employed unexpectedly strong language, including calling them "cowards and murderers". According to Gullett's Official History of Australia in the War of 19141918, the division was fully expecting harsh military discipline for the massacre, and would have accepted this without resentment; however, Allenby's abusive outburst, although leaving them unpunished, fueled a great amount of resentment and bitterness that their commanding officer would speak of the brigades in such a manner. The feeling among the mounted division was only intensified by Allenby's withdrawing his awards recommendations for members of the division and his silence towards them over the following year. It was only in June 1919 that Allenby was informed by an Australian journalist of the resentment in the division following his outburst, and he subsequently wrote a glowing tribute to the Australian Light Horse troops, bidding them farewell and thanking them for their heroic work in Palestine and Syria. No one was charged for the massacre, but the 2060.11.3d was paid to authorities in Palestine to rebuild the village. The British government contributed 686 due to a small number of Scottish soldiers who had participated and in 1921 requested that Australia and New Zealand contribute the remaining two thirds. Australia did not contest its liability and quickly paid 515.2.9d to Britain. New Zealand however objected, but eventually under British pressure paid 858.11.5d which the repariation was more than compatriots which showed who was the most responsible in May 1921. THE news of trooper Lowry’s death spread rapidly and its effect was devastating. For a man to have come through everything the NZ Mounted Rifles had endured, only to be murdered by an Arab thief just weeks before sailing for home, was almost too much for his comrades to bear. Trooper Smith NZMR (Dairy Excerpt) He was unarmed for Christ’s sake! The thief must have seen that. What kind of man calmly shoots an unarmed man, at point-blank range, for the sake of a bloody kit-bag? We’re not going to take this lying down I don’t care what the Heads say. This is too bloody much. Come on you blokes, it should be easy enough to track the bastard through all this sand. Look! there are his footprints! You three, go back and round up the rest of the Squadron and see if you can get some of the Aussies from the Light Horse to join us. We’re going to track this murdering bastard back to the hole he came from and cork it up tight. Make sure he’s still there in the morning when the Red-Caps arrive. The thief’s footprints led the New Zealanders and their Australian allies across the sand to the nearby Palestinian village of Surafend. Within the hour they had set up a tight military cordon around the cluster of stone houses: no one was permitted to enter or leave. THE morning light came slanting down into the village of Surafend and illuminated the faces of the New Zealand and Australian troopers encircling it. But the rising sun brought no Military Police. Indeed, having being informed of the murder of Trooper Lowry and the situation at Surafend by the Australian and New Zealand Divisional Commander, Major-General Edward Chaytor, General Headquarters had peremptorily ordered the cordon lifted. There would be no official investigation, no Red Caps, no arrests. By the afternoon of 10 December all the troopers who had surrounded Surafend were back behind their tent-lines, allowing a steady stream of Palestinian men to make their way out of the village without hindrance. Trooper Lowry’s comrades were furious. I don’t believe this I simply don’t believe this! How can the bloody British just sit there, knowing that a soldier of the Empire has been murdered, and do nothing about it? You know the Heads. There’ll be some behind-the-scenes skulduggery between the British and that Arab king Lawrence has been squiring around. The last thing they want is any ‘unpleasantness’ nothing to upset the ‘delicate diplomacy’ between His Majesty’s Government and the leaders of the Arab tribes. What’s one Kiwi digger’s life compared to ‘the future of the Middle East?’ It’s just like that bloody fiasco at Ain Es Sir remember? When our lot were sent back to help the Circassians and the ungrateful little bastards ambushed us. Nobody did anything about the men they killed there either. Well that’s not going to happen this time. I’ve been talking to the men. They’re ready to do something on their own. And there’s a swag of blokes in the Light Horse who’ll join us. The Aussies are as sick of this turning a blind eye to theft and murder as we are. I hear there’s even a few Brits willing to their bit. Do what? We’re going to pay the village of Surafend a little visit. And if they refuse to hand over the bastard who shot Les, we’ll administer some justice of our own ANZAC-style. THERE was fear in the eyes of the women, children and old men of Surafend as they were assembled in front of the village well. These strange men from distant lands said little, but their gestures were clear enough. Holding the pick-axe handles they were carrying with both hands, they pushed and prodded the little huddle in the direction they wanted them to travel out of the village and up into the sandhills. One of the old men pleaded with his grim shepherds. We are friends, he cried in heavily accented English, friends of the British. You may be friends of the British, hissed one of the troopers, pushing the old man back into the huddle, but you’re no friends of ours. Keep them well back! Someone shouted. Well back. From the crest of the big sandhill overlooking Surafend, the little huddle watched as around 200 pissed off troopers closed in on their homes. In addition to pick-axe handles, the New Zealanders and Australians were armed with the heavy, canvass-sheathed chains used to haul supply wagons and field guns. They were eerily silent, and the expressions their faces wore were hard very hard. We want the man who shot Trooper Leslie Lowry. The leader of the troopers was speaking slowly and very clearly to the village headman. We tracked him to this village. If he’s not here, we want to know where we can find him. Lead us to him, now, and nothing will happen to you and your people. Refuse, and . The trooper cast a meaningful glance at the mute formation drawn up behind him. The Palestinian looked into the eyes of the New Zealander standing before him. Neither man moved a muscle. Then, drawing himself up to his full height, the headman leaned forward to within a few inches of the New Zealander’s face, and speaking in a clear voice so all the men of his village could hear, he said: Get your infidel dogs out of my village! And spat in the trooper’s face. A roar, deep and guttural, leapt from the throats of all the men present, and both sides lunged towards the other. The troopers swung their pick-axe handles high and brought them down with deadly force. The heavy chains hissed and whistled. The air was filled with the sickening sound of wood and metal connecting with human bone and tissue. Men screamed, fell, and lay still, but still the Palestinians continued to hurl themselves upon the troopers. Allahu Akbar! They cried. God is Great! Get them! Get the bastards! Shouted the troopers. From a distance it was all-too-clear how the fight would end. The villagers were outnumbered and the troopers superior training and discipline easily overcame their furious resistance. Slowly, methodically, the New Zealanders and the Australians beat and beat and beat. The pick-axe handles rising and falling like some vast threshing machine. Soon the village was ablaze. The contents of the stone-walled houses burned fiercely, bathing the whole scene in a lurid glow. As their men fell, the women up on the sandhill began a high keening. The children, seeing the fathers and brothers being beaten to death, sobbed uncontrollably. By the time the troopers tired of their grim sport, thirty Palestinian men lay dead or wounded on the bloody sand. As the rising wind swirled the smoke and cinders into the night sky, the New Zealanders and Australians formed up in ranks and, without a backward glance, marched out into the darkness of the sandhills. The village of Surafend had ceased to exist. NO New Zealand or Australian soldier was ever charged as a result of the Surafend Massacre. The British High Command was furious at what could only be considered a diplomatic disaster in terms of the British Empire’s relations with the Arab peoples. The borders of the Middle East were in the process of being redrawn, and the gentlemen at the Foreign and Colonial Office in London were determined that this process should not rebound to the Empire’s disadvantage. There can be little doubt that the military authorities would very much have liked to punish the ringleaders, but the troopers and the junior officers of the NZ Mounted Rifles and the Australian Light Horse closed ranks against all investigation. In the end it was left to the British Commander-in-Chief, Major-General Edmund Allenby, to state the views of His Majesty’s Egyptian Expeditionary Force. Forming the ANZAC’s into a hollow square he unleashed a tongue-lashing the like of which no British or Empire troops had heard for many, many years: I was proud of you as brave soldiers but now I am ashamed of you as cold-blooded murderers. This outburst aroused such mutinous resentment among the New Zealand and Australian troops that Allenby was soon forced to retract his words. It was a necessary concession because with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the US President, Woodrow Wilson’s, promise of self-determination for the world’s subject peoples, the British soon had their hands full keeping the Arab population of the region from breaking out into full scale rebellion. In this task the brutal reputation of the Australian and New Zealand troopers rode before them, striking fear into the hearts of the Arab population wherever they appeared. UNFORTUNATELY, there was no Nicky Hager, no Jon Stephenson, to write an exhaustive account of the Surafend tragedy for the New Zealand public of 1918. Bill Massey’s deeply authoritarian government, having expended the blood of thousands of young New Zealanders in the cause of Britain’s empire, was not about to sanction a full and independent investigation into a war crime perpetrated by his own troops. As far as Massey’s stridently imperialistic government was concerned, the boys of the New Zealand Mounted Rifle Brigade were heroes blameless heroes. The closest official New Zealand ever came to acknowledging the Surafend Massacre was in the bare summary of the event written by, Lieutenant-Colonel C. Guy Powles, author of The New Zealanders in Sinai and Palestine, the third volume of the Official History of New Zealand’s Effort in the Great War, published by the New Zealand Government in 1922. Of the bloody evening of 10 December 1918, Powles writes: WHILE THE BRIGADE WAS CAMPED IN THE VICINITY OF RICHON LE ZION A DISTURBANCE OCCURRED IN THE DIVISIONAL AREA FOLLOWING THE MURDER OF A NEW ZEALANDER, DURING WHICH A VILLAGE AND AN ARAB CAMP WERE BURNED AND SOME 30 ARABS KILLED AND INJURED .. IT APPEARS THAT THE MURDERED MAN’S COMRADES, FEELING AGGRIEVED THAT THE MURDERER WAS NOT IMMEDIATELY BROUGHT TO BOOK, WENT TO THE VILLAGE AND DEMANDED HIS SURRENDER. THEY WERE MET BY AN INSOLENT ANSWER FROM THE HEAD MAN OF THE VILLAGE SO THEY DETERMINED TO FIND HIM AND THE SEARCHING OF THE HOUSES LED TO A COLLISION WITH THE NATIVES WHICH RESULTED IN A RIOT. Powles also notes, drily: [A]t the [subsequent] inquiry it was found impossible to get any evidence as to who took part in the disturbance. Then, as now, the New Zealand military authorities preferred to bury their mistakes beneath a crushing mountain of official silence.

06.01.2022 A Little Grey-Haired Mother By Ray Searle When other chaps are talking by the light Of the campfire, of the girls they’ve left behind,... Some with golden, some with hair as black as night, Each the prettiest and the sweetest of her kind, I am thinking of a cottage in a little country town, And a little grey-haired mother who is waiting for her own. At night time when I cough upon the ground, With no other roof above me but the sky, Or with shells and shrapnel bursting all around, In the trenches full of water I must lie. Even then my thoughts like homing birds will fly across the sea, Where a little grey-haired mother prays both day and night for me. Not so long after Ray Searle had written this poem, the following tragic event happened. It was approaching 4.00 a.m., when the men on A Company settled into a relatively shallow frontline trench. Within minutes, Fritz, alerted to activity in the Anzac lines, began lobbing shells onto them. Private Ray Searle hunched close to Lieutenant Turnbull, with Chaplain Blackwood not far away. Minutes later, a shell landed right on top of the trench. There was a loud detonation, and, amid cries of alarm, a wall of earth collapsed onto Turnbull and the men nearest him. Chaplain Blackwood was one of the first to start digging with his bare hands to free buried men, ignoring shells that continued to drop all around. Where once there had been a length of trench, there was now just a mound of earth, with men beneath. Lieutenant Turnbull was hauled out, gasping for air. Six other men were dragged free, all of them injured. But one man remained unaccounted for. Where’s Ray Searle! the chaplain cried. Desperately, Blackwood resumed scooping away dirt. Others joined him. They found a pair of legs, and dragged out Ray. His face was filthy with dirt, his eyes were closed. Blackwood felt for a pulse. But Ray Searle was dead. In their Westbury cottage, sitting across the kitchen table from her husband, Elizabeth Annie Searle, her face white and drawn, read the chaplain’s letter. It is with deepest regret that I write to tell you of how your fine boy, Private R.V. Searle, of our battalion, met his death. It was a great blow to me to find him taken on the very first night in the trenches after he had re-joined us.

05.01.2022 When the chips are down and you have to get stuck in we all stand together as one Bouncers-Re-United/FOXden Team

05.01.2022 In 1943, a 16 year-old Thomas H. Begay joined the Marine Corps. The rest, as they say, is history. #HonoringVets #NavajoCodeTalkers #MarineCorpsBirthday

05.01.2022 Have I been forgotten?

02.01.2022 No 2 Company of the Australian Imperial Camel Corps, AIF, mounted and ready to move. Sollum (Salum), Western Egypt - circa 1916.

02.01.2022 A Light Horse Patrol en route to Jifjaffa. Sinai, Egypt - Circa April 1916.

01.01.2022 A mounted Sikh infantryman of the 8th (Frontier Force) Bn, The Burma Rifles, demonstrates how he fires his Lee Enfield whilst mounted. Burma. October 1941. (Alamy Photo)