at Dunkeld, Western Victoria
What do you do when you have an interest in Light Horse memorabilia? Dave Tyson created a Heritage Collection and put it on display in his local rural community, as well as creating a Facebook page online (click here to visit).
Dave Tyson tells the tale: It all started on the day that a lonely old figure shrouded in mist stood on the bluestone steps of Anzac Hostel in Brighton, Melbourne waiting to share his wartime memories.
Dave, who has a remarkable display of Australian Light Horse memorabilia now located at Dunkeld (250 kms west of Melbourne), met the man while an ambulance officer in Melbourne more than thirty years ago.
‘I was tending this lovely old chap in the ambulance, trying to cheer him up. He was well into his 90’s and somehow our conversation got around to his service days’.
‘All of a sudden, he stared off into the distance with a fixed gaze, his arthritic old hands rose up clutching imaginary reins in one hand and a bayonet in the other and spurring on his horse; reliving some wild dash over trenches’.
Dave, who at the time knew nothing about the history of the Australian Light Horse, asked the man if they could meet again for a cuppa and a chat to record some of his wartime memories.
‘He was a great old chap; we talked for hours and finally he said ‘Son, can you lift that box down off the top of the cupboard?’ – which I did.
‘Have a look inside’ – and there was an old slouch hat with magnificent Emu plumes.
‘It was a strange feeling just holding that hat. I knew I was holding something very special; an Australian icon and I needed to learn a lot more about it,” said Dave.
The meeting with the old Digger unleashed a passion to find out more about the history of the Australian Light Horse.
Since then, Dave has recorded about 50 interviews with war veterans and is in the process of compiling a book titled ‘Kangaroo Feathers; Personal glimpses from Australian Light Horsemen’.
His main focus has been on the Australian Light Horse after 1903 and the militia Light Horsemen of the 1930’s between the Wars. Australia’s Light Horse units officially disbanded in the 1940s during the Second World War and the troops were transferred to motor vehicles and tanks.
Dave has also found himself providing help and advice to relatives of Light Horse members. He said people often wonder how to search about a grandparent via the National Archives or online in the War Memorial website. He agreed that there were many families who had found “treasures” amongst the belongings of elderly relatives and wanted information as to their significance. There are also young students finding out about their local history. He has been happy to help where he can, or at least steer them in the right direction to a museum or other group.
Dave said: “While living in Beechworth, Victoria for ten years, I was blessed to make a dear (now deceased) friend in Ian Jones – he was an expert about Ned Kelly and a much-respected Light Horse historian. He was an author, a screen writer, a director and producer for Crawford Productions.”
Among Ian’s production credits were the well-known TV series ‘The Sullivans’, ‘Homicide’, ‘Matlock Police’, ‘Division 4’, ‘Against The Wind’ and (significantly for us) ‘The Lighthorsemen’ film in 1987.
Dave said that Ian Jones gifted some very important items to Dave’s Light Horse Collection, including a 4thLight Horse officer’s tunic from a ‘Beersheba Charger’ and a 1916 Light Horse uniform from the Western Front in France.
Dave later moved to his present location in Dunkeld and set up the current collection there. He says: “Without Ian’s help we may not have been able to present our display so soon. To honour Ian’s memory, we have made public admission to the Collection free of charge.”
Contact: Australian Light Horse Heritage Collection
Dave & Leonie Tyson
26 Parker Street
DUNKELD, VIC. 3294
Mob. 0457-674-926
