In this update we cover several important developments that will have an impact on both the Foundation and the wider community interested in the commemoration of the Australian Light Horse.
This month:
President’s Message
A letter from Sir Harry to his wife Sibyl: attack on the Suez
Light Horse Memorial unveiled in Wagga Wagga
Book review: The Last Charge of the Light Horse by Peter Fitzsimons
Book Review: Cedar
Freedom of Entry to Bright, Victoria
Centenary of the Grafton War Memorial
The Man from Snowy River Photo Story Awards
Old Vets Stomping (Murray River)
The Chauvel Light Horse Trail
President’s Message
It was a great pleasure to be elected President of the Chauvel Foundation late last year and I would like to thank Graeme Smith for the work he did as the inaugural President. He and his Committee provided some sturdy rungs on the ladder for the new Executive Committee to climb.
As a relative newcomer to the Foundation, it might be appropriate to give a summary of my life so far. I am a Sydney sider by birth, a graduate and Sword of Honour winner from RMC Duntroon, a graduate of the University of NSW, the Australian Army Command and Staff College and the Joint Services Staff College. A RAAC officer, I served in Australia, in the British Army of the Rhine, in the Middle East, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. I retired as a Colonel in 2001 after 31 years’ service and for the next 15 years worked in the Defence industry sector in French and US companies. I now manage a retirement village in the leafy North Shore suburbs of Sydney. Married to Jill, we have three sons, two daughters in law and three grandsons, spread between Sydney, Copenhagen and New York.
That’s me! Now the important stuff about the Foundation. It is a privilege to lead an organisation that acknowledges the life and personal characteristics of General Sir Harry Chauvel GCMG KCB, the brilliantly successful, but arguably under-recognised, Commander of a Brigade on ANZAC Cove, the Desert Mounted Corps in World War I, Chief of the General Staff and Inspector General in Chief of the Volunteer Defence Corps from June 1940. Our objectives are noted later in the newsletter, but they were well summed up by the General’s granddaughter, DR Honor Auchinleck, at a recent Executive Committee meeting – “we want to recognise Sir Harry’s leadership and resilience and nurture them in young Australians”.
To achieve that, the Foundation needs a concise and focussed Constitution and objectives. We are working on both and have recently tightened the governance with a revamped Committee supported and advised by an Advisory Group. In the work to date, we are grateful for the assistance of Major General Roger Powell AM (Retd), late RAAC.
In the change of leadership, we have inherited the General Chauvel Light Horse Trail, described later. It will become one of the first very tangible achievements of the Foundation. Work on the Online Anthology continues, and we should be grateful for the on-going voluntary work of Honor, John Boyce and Tony Stevens. It would also be remiss not to acknowledge the contribution that Tony makes in the production of our newsletter.
Our challenge is to garner the financial support we need to see the objectives realised. Our financial goals and plan will be published later.
I am very mindful that we are all volunteers sharing the common goal of recognising and perpetuating the achievements of the General.
I hope that many of you will become part of the journey.
Yours aye,
Rob Shoebridge
On 16 February 1915 just under two weeks after the Ottoman attack at the Suez Canal Colonel Harry Chauvel wrote to his wife Sibyl Chauvel. He described his journey to Kantara and Serapeum:
The transcript reads:
Feb 16th “I had a most interesting day yesterday. A party of twenty of us went down to the Canal. We left Cairo by train at 7am, had breakfast on the train & got off at Kantara. We then crossed the Canal & visited the scene of the fighting there, being shown over it by an officer of the Indian Army who was present & was slightly wounded there. We then boarded the train again, had lunch en route, & got off at Ismailia. There we saw all the pontoons which were taken from the Turks, – huge boats of galvanised iron, each one big enough to carry 40 men. It was a marvellous achievement to bring them across the Sinai Desert. They were simply peppered with shrapnel. At Ismailia we got on a steam launch to Toussoum, where we landed & walked through the scene of the main attack to Serapeum. We saw the graves of a German officer & hundreds of Turks who were not too well buried & the spot where the pontoons were launched. We rejoined the boat at Ismailia where caught the train back to Cairo, arriving there at 11pm, dog-tired.”
The Ottoman attack 109 years ago on 3 February 1915, the Suez Canal was in response to the build up of the British Expeditionary Force in Egypt.
February 2025 will be the 110th anniversary of the first action in the Palestine Campaign. Once again the Suez Canal is a contested area. Rather than the Ottomans trying to cross the Suez Canal on pontoons, the Houthis are attacking international shipping with drones.
The General Sir Harry Chauvel Foundation Online Anthology is looking for articles bringing fresh revelations about the early actions in the Palestine Campaign. Visit this link if you have a contribution.
The Unveiling of the Wagga Wagga Light Horse Memorial
On 16 September 2023 the Honourable Michael McCormack MP, Federal Member for Riverina, and Mayor Cr Dallas Tout unveiled the Light Horse Memorial in Wagga Wagga. There was a light-hearted ripple of laughter during the unveiling as the orange parachute caught on the Light Horseman’s hat and the horse’s ears.
No hitches could dispel the crowd’s delight in sculptor Brett (Mon) Garling’s equestrian statue of a Light Horseman rescuing his mate in battle. The theme is as apt in historic battles as it is in peacetime in contemporary Australia.
Reminding his audience of what summer was like during the First World War for the Light Horsemen serving in the Jordan Valley, in his speech Michael McCormack struck a poignant note in his reading from H S Gullet’s Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18:
‘At the height of summer the grim, still atmosphere, bearing always its dense cloud of dust, seemed to the exhausted troops to possess a sinister note of doom. Perhaps it was fortunate for the brigades that their front line was usually active, and that there was so much manual labour to occupy the troops in support. From both sides of the river the enemy persistently shelled the advanced positions, as well as the headquarters in their rear, and so kept the British alert and active. With that amazing spirit which sustains troops in the most grim situation, the light horsemen faced the ordeal with a brave show of good humour. They took a sporting interest deeper in each fresh “record” temperature, in the dust as it became deeper and more blinding, and in the “willy-willies, of whirl winds, always in sight, which sometimes rose in vast, dense columns to the height of the range on either side of the gorge. Stings from scorpions, which were extremely painful and necessitated medical treatment, were the subject of infinite jest. Champion combats between rival scorpions and black spiders would be surrounded and cheered by scores of dusty men behind the lines.’
The link to Michael McCormack’s speech can be found on YouTube.
Credit for the Light Horse Memorial must also go to the Wagga Wagga and Western Slopes Light Horse and those who worked behind the scenes raising funds. Our host and Foundation Ambassador Dr Anne Flood explained that the ‘focus and passion’ of her work for the Memorial and her writing was the commemoration of 130 years of the Light Horse in the Riverina and Southern Slopes. Dr Flood’s publications include In The Footsteps of the First (2012) and The History of the 1st Light Horse Regiment A.I.F. 1916 – 1919 (2019).
The pity was that ‘Mon’ Brett Garling had been called home to Wongarbon (near Dubbo) and could not be with us for the unveiling. He would have seen for himself the wonderful pleasure his equestrian statue is giving, and will continue to give the people of Wagga Wagga and the city’s visitors for years to come. Dr Anne Flood described Mon as a very creative and humble man who crafts monuments in an ‘impressionistic’ style – he said to us ‘if you want a smooth static monument you have come to the wrong man.
The Light Horse Memorial adds another facet to the Victory Memorial Gardens’ commemorative landscape. Thanks to the work and planning of Thomas Kerr, Chief Landscape Gardener from the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, the 2.2-hectare area has become a green recreational oasis heart in the city. Its story and its memorials teach a commemorative history which is often not taught in educational institutions.
Since its founding ninety-five years ago the Gardens memorial function has developed from the Cenotaph erected in 1916 and Memorial Arch in 1922 to include memorials to the subsequent conflicts in which Australian service personnel have been involved. With the Army Recruit Training Centre at Kapooka and the nearby RAAF Base at Forest Hill, in ‘the home of the soldier’ it is fitting that the city should have one of the most beautiful regional commemorative spaces.
The Last Charge of the Light Horse: A review by John Boyce
“The Last Charge of the Australian Light Horse’ is the latest book by popular author Peter Fitzsimons. This is an interesting and engaging narrative aimed at the general reader. It relates the exploits of these exceptional Australian soldiers from the time of their enlistment around Australia, through their training, the blooding on Gallipoli, and then their mounted skirmishes and major battles in the Egyptian desert, Palestine and Syria, including that famous charge at Beersheba in October 1917.
It wasn’t actually the last charge of the desert campaign, and Fitzsimons does acknowledge this. His research team have provided him with much background and sufficient detail to help him create a vibrant and fast-moving tale. The book has much of the narrator’s usual dramatic style, even offering a few sound effects of battle but these are (thankfully) muted.
He weaves in quotes from individuals’ diaries and letters, plus imagined “re-creations” of conversations long ago in the Middle East. during the Great War. Many of the usual famous incidents and anecdotes are here, including those about Banjo Paterson, Ion Idriess, ”Galloping Jack” Royston, cricketer Tibby Cotter, pilot Ross Smith, un-ride-able horse “Bill the Bastard”, and Guy Haydon’s beloved horse Midnight.
It is gratifying to see that Fitzsimons’ descriptions of the Australian Light Horsemen’s exploits are generally accurate, and that in his observations about their leader, General Sir Harry Chauvel, he has captured much of the essence of Sir Harry’s astute approach to soldiering. Sir Harry’s calm, thoughtful leadership stands out and is repeatedly praised.
It was disappointing to see that Fitzsimons succumbed to temptation with the old legend about shooting all the horses left behind at war’s end (despite his having cited historian Jean Bou, who has clearly laid that one to rest). Military historians may also struggle with his repeated references to the disastrous accidental ‘Valley of Death’ charge of the (British) Light Brigade in the Crimean War, such a contrast to the bold, deliberate, all-or-nothing final effort by Australians at Beersheba.
Nevertheless, this is a popular account which deserves a wide audience. It will definitely enhance community understanding of the Australian Light Horse and of their fine leader, General Sir Harry Chauvel.
By Peter FitzSimons (Hachette Australia, 2023)
512 pages. ISBN-10 0733646670 ISBN-13 978-0733646676
Cedar by Kim Winter: A Review
Just days after author Kim Winter launched her debut novel Cedar, readers were asking for the sequel. Set during the First World War and the first post war decade in outback Queensland and southern New South Wales, Cedar has page-turning qualities.
Kim is brave. Her heroes Matty Watson, Jack and Sammy grapple with World War One with Matty and Jack serving in the Palestine Campaign and Sammy serving on the Western Front. Kim doesn’t shy away from confronting difficult issues. When many writers are concentrating on the impact of colonialism, Kim brings out an under-recognised reality. While recognising the effects of discriminatory government policies and people who treated the indigenous people badly, Kim’s fictional Watson family co-exist with the local indigenous families living on their farm. They respect one another’s culture and recognise one another’s strengths and needs. They are qualities upon which the deepest and most treasured friendships are forged.
Matty discovers that surviving the war is one thing, but peace brings its own difficulties. There is romance, but it comes with tragedy and sadness. Readers are now anxious to know how her heroes navigate the challenges of peace and possibly another war.
For Kim, Cedar has been a project of passion lasting over forty years. Her book reflects her painstaking research. Another proof read would have highlighted some minor errors. Cedar is a highly recommended!
Well done Kim!
Honor Auchinleck
Freedom of Entry Ceremony – Bright, Victoria
On 28 October 2023 several Foundation members attended the ceremony of Freedom of Entry to the Alpine Shire in Bright (north-east Victoria), which was exercised by the 4th/19th Prince of Wales’s Light Horse Regiment, a modern-day Army Reserve unit. The local community not only has a strong Light Horse history (unit predecessors included the 8th LH in that region) but the links had been strengthened by the Regiment’s valuable assistance to the Shire’s recovery in the aftermath of the devastating 2019/20 summer bushfires.
The ceremony included a march down the main street, led by the Indi LH re-enactment troop, modern armoured vehicles, and with the musical support of the Australian Army Band Melbourne.
That evening a formal dinner was held in the community hall, attended by Regimental members, Association supporters and many local dignitaries.
Interestingly, the same day the 12/16th Hunter River Lancers exercised their Freedom of Entry to Armidale, NSW and the following day the School of Armour exercised its Freedom of Entry to central Victoria’s Broadford.
On 28 October 2023 several Foundation members attended the ceremony of Freedom of Entry to the Alpine Shire in Bright (north-east Victoria), which was exercised by the 4th/19th Prince of Wales’s Light Horse Regiment, a modern-day Army Reserve unit. The local community not only has a strong Light Horse history (unit predecessors included the 8th LH in that region) but the links had been strengthened by the Regiment’s valuable assistance to the Shire’s recovery in the aftermath of the devastating 2019/20 summer bushfires.
The ceremony included a march down the main street, led by the Indi LH re-enactment troop, modern armoured vehicles, and with the musical support of the Australian Army Band Melbourne.
That evening a formal dinner was held in the community hall, attended by Regimental members, Association supporters and many local dignitaries.
Interestingly, the same day the 12/16th Hunter River Lancers exercised their Freedom of Entry to Armidale, NSW and the following day the School of Armour exercised its Freedom of Entry to central Victoria’s Broadford.
The Man from Snowy River Bush Festival
In previous years we have covered The Man from Snowy River Bush Festival. Last year saw the presence of some ADF personnel at another successful event. The event is a reminder of the origins of many of our light horsemen and their links with the land. This year, a feature competition is inspired by his daughter Elyne Mitchell’s legacy as a famed Australian Author. The focus for this competition is on Photo Stories. The graphic below is drawn from the event web page and there is a link below for those who may be interested in entering the competition.
Commemoration of the Grafton War Memorial
Some thoughts and a note of appreciation sent by Honor Auchinleck on behalf of the Foundation at the invitation of Steve Tranter, President of tyhe Clarence River Historical Society.
Years ago a relative and I decided to travel in our grandfather Chauvel’s footsteps. It was our way of putting him in the context of the era in which he had lived and beginning to understand a man who, despite his reserved personality has left an immense legacy to the Australian Army and in national defence. In a sense he was one of the humanitarian trailblazers of his era.
When we were talking about our route, I had already visited Sir Harry’s birthplace at Tabulam. Many years earlier I had been to Grafton and to Yamba. Grafton was a key town in the young Chauvel boys’ lives. It was a town through which they rode on their horses to the ship that took them to boarding school in Sydney. Grafton was the family’s go-to town for stores. It is a town on my family map.
We wanted to accept your kind invitation to the Remembrance Day commemorations of the centenary of your Cenotaph. Unfortunately we are unable to leave our farm.
As you know your Cenotaph was unveiled on 11 November 1923 at a time when memories of war and lives lost and of the injured were still very raw. Despite this, Grafton managed to put aside the money and to construct a fine memorial. Poignantly but appropriately the mothers and relatives of the 35 men who died in during their WW1 service unveiled the Memorial.
Grafton also produced two other great leaders who contributed to the lives of many. Lieutenant General Sir Iven Mackay KBE, CMG, DSO & Bar, VD served in both World Wars. He was not only an educator who became Headmaster of Cranbrook School in Sydney. During the Great War Sir Earle Page was an Army doctor and he went on to serve the nation in politics. General Sir Iven, Sir Earle Page and General Sir Harry Chauvel are just three of the many from Grafton and the surrounding district who rose to a need in defence of their country and then went on to serve their communities in different ways.
They were boys from the bush whose lives continue to set a pattern of service. Service is as relevant today as it was a century ago. Remembrance is about those who led the way, but it is also about reflection about the human qualities it takes to serve and to serve well. Remembrance Day is not simply a day that inspires us to learn more about events and people who have defined us, but it also inspires our own courage to meet our challenges. For you, flood brings terrible memories just as the 2020 bushfires do for us. This year bushfires came to many early and others are preparing for a summer of high fire risk.
Lest we forget
Old Vets are Stomping on the Mighty Murray
Old Vets Stomping have just completed the first leg of their inspiring ten week long kayak paddle from the Upper Murray’s Bringenbrong Bridge to Goolwa a distance of 2,400 kilometres. Their brave adventure aims to raise funds for two veterans’ charities – Soldier On and Mates Hero Help. On 13 February before we left for afternoon tea in Towong with the Old Vets we heard Sally Sara on Radio National interviewing Ross Boyd and Ian Errington. It is a huge undertaking for two veterans and their paddling team.
In 2022 Old Vets Stomping walked the 1200km South Australian Hans Heysen Trail. Yesterday over tea and then an evening meal in the local pub, they described some of the remarkable landscapes in the Flinders Ranges and their plans for the Murray River Paddle. With service in Afghanistan, Indonesia and Vietnam behind them, it is not as if these veterans haven’t dealt with the peaks and troughs of service life, they have done jobs for which the rest of us are neither trained nor have the inclination, nor are fit enough to do. Yet they are going the extra distance to help others.
As one would expect of Army veterans they are superbly organised. We joined them at about 7.30am for their 8.00am paddle-off. Tony Turner is the one man back up team combines all the characteristics of a first rate quarter master and sergeant major. He explained how the paddlers have their side of the support trailer for their “junk” while the other side belongs to him and contains all the supplies. We were left in no doubt that he sorts them all out and keeps them in line with immense humour and authority.
Mark and I represented the Chauvel Foundation ensuring they had a colourful send off with a large jar of commemoration plum jam to help maintain their energy supplies and a bottle of Tahbilk’s special sparkling wine to mark the end of their journey. Expedition quartermaster Tony disappeared with the bottle while Mark gave the paddling vets a musical send off blowing “Gone Away” on his hunting horn, a family heirloom given to him by his cousin Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck. What a marvellous achievement and experience the teams’ ten-week expedition will be. Perhaps Tony deserves a bottle of his own! Their well organised press coverage along the route will ensure successful fundraising and show communities throughout Australia what can be done to help others.
The Chauvel Border Light Horse Trail
Work on creating the trail map is proceeding well, with the image below reflecting the current status of the base map shown below. The Google Maps version of the trail currently has 1,330 views. Visit the live version of the map on Google Maps here.
