"The Light Horse at Lone Pine"
Nov. 11th, 2013 11:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xenithThis is a page from the second edition of Aussie: the Australian Soldiers Magazine: printed in the field by the AI.F. Printing Section, from February 1918. I shared some excerpts a few weeks ago, but kept a page for today.
THE LIGHT HORSE AT LONE PINE
When the Lord Mayor of Bristol gave his address to the men gathered at the Bristol Art Gallery, as guests of the city, to celebrate Gallipoli Day, he told a story concerning the Light Horse which, if authentic, opens up a nice theme for investigation. The story, which the Lord Mayer said had been communicated to him by one in constant touch with Australian soldiers, was briefly this that during the night following the day upon which the Light Horse made their never-to-be-forgotten charge at Lone Pine, their horses, which of course had been kept behind in Egypt, stampeded into the desert, and a big proportion of them lost.
Quite by accident I came across a book in which the incident is referred to in some detailed. The book is entitled The Coo-ee Contingent, by an unknown author, published by Messrs. Cassell & Co. This is how the writer records the weird matter:-
"The sergeant came in white-face. 'Sir,' he stammered, 'those--horses--well it's the horses of the chaps that are at Gallipoli; they're going mad.'
"'Very well,' I said, 'let each man mount his own horse and lead the horse of the man who is gone. But if they get too restless--well, we'll have to do our best.'
"We rode out at 3.30. For a mile or so we went steadily. Then the storm rose and lashed the horses' eyes; lightning came over the sky in a manner to terrify them. I heard a noise behind me, my sergeant pulled me to one side. From out of the ranks the led horses came dashing; they formed up, riderless, neighing, stamping, foaming at the mouth.
"'Let them go,' I shouted, scarce knowing what I was saying.
"They went, a host of them, dashed on--and on--and on.
"Next morning we collected what was left of them twenty miles away. All day stragglers came back to camp.
"And within twenty-four hours the tragic charge of the 8th Light Horse at Line Pine was known to us, and the dead horses were equal in numbers to the dead men."
Of course, there are plenty of sceptics who will scorn the idea of there being any connection between the two events; just a mere coincidence, they will say.
IN MEMORY, by EDWIN HARDY A.I.F
To a brave hero of the many gone before,
Who for the cause his noble life he gave,
For England dear, and those he loves yet more,
Who cannot place sweet flowers o'er his grave.
No gold-emblazoned scroll, in craven marble, tell
The love and sorrow of his dearest friend.
The simple words, "Killed in action," spell
Upon a wooden cross his glorious end.
Then dedicate the verse or epitaph above,
To those who did not hesitate to give
Their young and noble lives at Anzac Cove
That England, and her honour, both might live.
WHERE THE BRAVE SLEEP AT ANZAC
When the Lord Mayor of Bristol gave his address to the men gathered at the Bristol Art Gallery, as guests of the city, to celebrate Gallipoli Day, he told a story concerning the Light Horse which, if authentic, opens up a nice theme for investigation. The story, which the Lord Mayer said had been communicated to him by one in constant touch with Australian soldiers, was briefly this that during the night following the day upon which the Light Horse made their never-to-be-forgotten charge at Lone Pine, their horses, which of course had been kept behind in Egypt, stampeded into the desert, and a big proportion of them lost.
Quite by accident I came across a book in which the incident is referred to in some detailed. The book is entitled The Coo-ee Contingent, by an unknown author, published by Messrs. Cassell & Co. This is how the writer records the weird matter:-
"The sergeant came in white-face. 'Sir,' he stammered, 'those--horses--well it's the horses of the chaps that are at Gallipoli; they're going mad.'
"'Very well,' I said, 'let each man mount his own horse and lead the horse of the man who is gone. But if they get too restless--well, we'll have to do our best.'
"We rode out at 3.30. For a mile or so we went steadily. Then the storm rose and lashed the horses' eyes; lightning came over the sky in a manner to terrify them. I heard a noise behind me, my sergeant pulled me to one side. From out of the ranks the led horses came dashing; they formed up, riderless, neighing, stamping, foaming at the mouth.
"'Let them go,' I shouted, scarce knowing what I was saying.
"They went, a host of them, dashed on--and on--and on.
"Next morning we collected what was left of them twenty miles away. All day stragglers came back to camp.
"And within twenty-four hours the tragic charge of the 8th Light Horse at Line Pine was known to us, and the dead horses were equal in numbers to the dead men."
Of course, there are plenty of sceptics who will scorn the idea of there being any connection between the two events; just a mere coincidence, they will say.
To a brave hero of the many gone before,
Who for the cause his noble life he gave,
For England dear, and those he loves yet more,
Who cannot place sweet flowers o'er his grave.
No gold-emblazoned scroll, in craven marble, tell
The love and sorrow of his dearest friend.
The simple words, "Killed in action," spell
Upon a wooden cross his glorious end.
Then dedicate the verse or epitaph above,
To those who did not hesitate to give
Their young and noble lives at Anzac Cove
That England, and her honour, both might live.
WHERE THE BRAVE SLEEP AT ANZAC
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Date: 2013-12-09 03:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-09 11:08 pm (UTC)