13th Light Horse Regiment ( Australia ) The 13th Light Horse Regiment was a mounted infantry regiment of the Australian Army during the First World War . The regiment was raised in March 1915 , and eventually assigned as the mounted regiment for the Australian Corps . During the war the regiment fought against the forces of the Ottoman Empire , at Gallipoli , and against the German Empire on the Western Front . For its role in the war the regiment was awarded twelve battle honours . Formation . The 13th Light Horse Regiment was raised in Victoria in March 1915 . Being the thirteenth regiment they were soon given the nickname the “ Devil ’ s Own ” regiment . and comprised twenty - five officers and 497 other ranks serving in three squadrons , each of six troop s . Each troop was divided into eight Section s , of four men each . In action one man of each section , was nominated as a horse holder reducing the regiment ' s rifle strength by a quarter . All Australian Light Horse regiments used cavalry unit designations , but were mounted infantry armed with rifles , not swords or lances , and mounted exclusively on the Australian Waler horse . Operational history . Gallipoli Campaign . In May 1915 , the 13th Light Horse Regiment left Australia for the Middle East , arriving in Egypt in June . When the Australian infantry units were dispatched to Gallipoli , it was thought the terrain was unsuitable for mounted troops , and the light horse regiments remained in Egypt . However casualties resulted in the deployment of the 13th Light Horse Regiment in September 1915 . The regiment was deployed defending the trenches at Lone Pine , a strongly contested stretch of the ANZAC front line . Two months later in December , the regiment was withdrawn back to Egypt . Western Front . Two squadrons ; " B " and " D " which had originally been part of the 4th Light Horse Regiment took part in the Battle of Messines , the third battle of Ypres , the Battle of Broodseinde , the Battle of Passchendaele , the Battle of the Lys , the Battle of Kemmel , the Second Battle of the Marne and the Battle of Tardenois . The two squadrons together with a squadron from New Zealand were eventually amalgamated and renamed the I Anzac Corps Mounted Regiment . and together earned nine battle honours on the Western Front . The Australian infantry formation was expanded to five divisions . The 13th Light Horse Regiment was broken up to provide a reconnaissance squadron for the 2nd , 4th 5th Divisions . The squadrons then moved to the Western Front in France between March and June 1916 . They were soon reunited however as the I ANZAC Mounted Regiment . The static nature of the fighting along the Western Front , limited the use of mounted troops and they were mostly in a secondary role ; doing traffic control , rear area security , escorting prisoners and during an attack reconnaissance and probing the German rear areas . The pinnacle of the regiment ' s service on the Western Front was following the Hundred Days Offensive when they led the advance of the Australian Corps . When the war ended the regiment was resting , and gradually its manpower were returned to Australia . There total casualties during the war were 57 killed , and 328 wounded . Battle honours . Gallipoli 1915 – 1916 Egypt 1915 – 1917 Somme 1916 Somme 1918 Pozières Bapaume 1917 Arras 1917 Ypres 1917 Albert 1918 France and Flanders 1916 - 1918 Gallipoli 1915 - 1916 Egypt 1915 - 1917