The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page. To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted
The loyalty, respect and affection between many a trooper and his assigned horse became legendary, and man and horse became equally reliant on each other for their continued wellbeing and survival. These strong and hardy horses known as Walers, had been bred in Australia and like the men that rode them they had developed the strong constitution…
This was how Ion Idriess described his experience in his diary as recorded in his book THE DESERT COLUMN: ” February 10th [1917] – A whopper oasis close by the beach. The minaret of El Arish is about three miles away. How strange it is , the old sea battering the desert shore,…Our horses don’t know…
The basic unit of the Australian Light Horse was the Section, which comprised four riders and their horses. The third rider in the section was always the Horse Holder. Trooper two would hand his horse’s reins to the right hand of the horse holder then Trooper one would pass his horse’s reins between the jaw…
First he describes hearing rumours of unbelievable delights ahead, while his squadron is still in the depths of the sandy desert; “January….The whole desert column is excited. A Light Horse patrol came in saying they had ridden over miles and miles of green grass. We don’t believe it. We know no particulars; our squadron is…
The winter rains in the western Mediterranean region bring out a fabulous display of wild flowers covering the countryside; none more eye catching or abundant than the beautiful red anemones, Anemone Coronaria. Each individual flower blooms for a few weeks, and tracks the sun on sunny days. Anemones grow in a number of other colours,…
The rider wearing the identifying emu plumed slouch hat of the Australian Light Horse has obtained a cotton shirt, and the coat of his kahki woollen serge uniform is rolled and strapped behind the saddle. He has also procured for the comfort of his horse a fly veil, to help keep those ever present pests…
Because of the loss of life and casualties from this overhead terror, the Australian Light Horse soon learned that it was safest to march at night and rest by day. When an enemy plane was detecteded, all attempts were made to scatter and then stand still, for the troops and their horses were harder to spot from the…
Their purpose was to discover and prevent any incursion by the enemy behind the front line between Gaza and Beersheba. This scout patrol has come across some suspicious fresh tracks – are they Turkish enemy scouts or wandering Bedouin? Either way, they cannot be trusted, and they must discover their whereabouts quickly, for the day…
His horse has had no water for three days and gallops with a will, for she can now smell the wells of Beersheba which must be captured before the night falls. There is an urgency to this desperate charge, for if they fail to take the town by night, they will have no water for…
Pictured are just one section of two regiments of Australian Light Horse that on the 31st of October 1917, braved shell and machine-gun fire to gallop over 3 miles of open plain, and with bayonets drawn,charge the Turkish stronghold of Beersheba. The men and horses were ravenously thirsty, the horses having had no water for nearly 60 hours, which gave an urgency to the attack, for once the…
