One hundred years ago, on October 31, 1917, the 4th and 12th Australian Light Horse conducted the world’s last great cavalry charge.

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After trekking through the desert for three nights with little water, the town of Beersheba on the eastern flank of the of the Turkish Line stretching from Gaza had to be taken in one day to capture and secure the water supply for the men and horses.

 

The British bombarded the trenches in the morning, the New Zealanders fought gamely to take the high point of Tel el Saba, but by mid-afternoon the town was still strongly held.  General Chauvel opted for a do-or-die charge with two regiments of Australian Light Horse (about 800 men and horses).  Our brave Light Horsemen charged 6km over open rocky ground in the full face of the entrenched Turks, artillery and machine gun fire and German bomber aircraft, jumping the trenches and galloping into town just before most of the mined wells could be blown up.  Against incredible odds only 31 were killed, 36 injured and 70 horses died.  Their reckless courage stunned the opposition and secured their place forever as ‘the last great cavalry charge in history’.  This was the pivotal event in a largely successful campaign in the Sinai, Palestine and Syria which led to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the re-writing of the map of the Middle East.

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136,000 horses went to war and only one returned.  There were 32,000 Australian men and 40,000 horses in the Palestinian campaign and the casualties were 1,394 dead and 4,851 wounded. 

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Many of the young men fighting in the desert campaigns enlisted from western Queensland and 100 riders are sought for a commemorative “Ride to Beersheba” planned for Barcaldine, Ilfracombe, Longreach and Winton in September 2017.

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This is your opportunity to take part in a once in a lifetime event, to honour the sacrifices of the brave men and their mighty horses!