Australian Light Horse

Australian Light Horse were mounted troops similar to both cavalry and mounted infantry. They fought in the Second Boer War and World War I.


By the outbreak of World War I, there were 23 light horse regiments within Australia's part-time military force, consisting of 9,000 personnel. These were organised as follows:

World War I

Formation and organisation
Light horse were like mounted infantry. They usually fought on foot. They used their horses as transport to the battlefield. A famous exception to this rule though was the charge of the 4th and 12th Light Horse Regiments at Beersheba on 31 October 1917. In 1918, some light horse regiments were equipped with sabres, so they could fight in a conventional cavalry role in the attack on Damascus. 





Popular culture

Literature
 The Wells of Beersheba (1933) by Frank Dalby Davison
 The Desert Column (1932) by Ion L. Idriess: the only known published account by a participant who was not an officer.
 As if He Knows (2001) – song by Eric Bogle

Movies
Several movies include the charge at Beersheba in 1917:
 40,000 Horsemen (1940)
 The Lighthorsemen (1987)
 The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Daredevils of the Desert (direct to video, 1992)
 Gallipoli Directed by Peter Weir

References
Citations

Notes









More reading




Category:Military of Australia