by Anne Flood
Roland Perry tells the story of this fractious Waler – one of Australia’s greatest war horses – in his book “Bill the Bastard”. Bill left Sydney on board a troop ship: his minder was Banjo Paterson who served as an honorary vet on the troopship and even Banjo, who was an experienced horseman, was cautious of Bill. On reaching Alexandria the horses were unloaded and entrained to Maadi East of the Nile River near Cairo. After a spell, the troopers were reunited with their horses – not that Bill would belong to any one trooper – he unceremoniously bucked off any man who attempted to ride him.
“On 17 April it was announced that the Infantry forces would be going into action on the Gallipoli Peninsula. The Light Horse Brigades were not included as the rugged terrain was deemed unsuitable for mounted infantry. It was bitter news for the Light Horse Brigade. Chauvel and Godley immediately organized manoeuvres – they did not want to allow their men time to dwell on their disappointment.
Within a week of the Gallipoli landing the 1st Australian Division had lost over half of their numbers. Reinforcements were urgently required. Lieutenant–General Sir William Birdwood requested a force of 1000 volunteers from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Light Horse Brigades and the New Zealand Mounted Rifles that were located in Egypt. Colonel Chauvel and Colonel H.R. Russell, (C.O. New Zealand Mounted Rifles) strongly opposed asking for volunteers. Chauvel had witnessed firsthand the effect of the breakup of Australian units in the Boer War and was determined not to allow it to happen again. Chauvel consulted with Lieutenant General Sir John Maxwell who countermanded the order. The Light Horsemen were headed for long-awaited action, fighting not as mounted riflemen, but as Infantry on the now bloody slopes of Gallipoli.” [1]
Serving dismounted as back-up infantry the Light Horse and NZ Mounted Rifles landed at Gallipoli from 12th May onwards. Chauvel had organised a small group of horses and mules that could serve as packhorses and to carry injured men. Bill’s strength and endurance and ability to be cool amid constant shell and rifle fire meant that he was ideal for these duties.
Perry relates: “Bill worked tirelessly carrying loads up and wounded or fallen soldiers down the steep and twisting tracks … men and animals showing as much courage as they moved up the [Monash] valley retrieving the fallen … everybody noticed Bill in particular, along with a gritty yet always cheery Englishman John Simpson and his small donkey. But … on the day Simpson’s luck ran out … a spray of shrapnel hit Simpson and his animal. Without a second thought, his limp body was placed on Bill and hurried away … This wonderful and inspiring combination of fearless man and beast would no longer come to the aid of hurt comrades ” [2]
A strategic gain in the August offensive was the capture of the lower slopes of Sazli Beit Dere by the New Zealand Battalions, more than tripling the ground held by the ANZACS. The British Line now extended from Suvla Bay at the North to Gaba Tepe and Anzac Cove.
Each day a rider would carry mail and urgent dispatches from Suvla seven kilometres to British Headquarters. Turkish snipers on the ridges overlooking the beach would snipe at the riders. “It [the mail delivery] had to be done at a gallop” Chauvel wrote to his wife. “The rider was fired at from the moment he left the shelter at Lala Baba until he reached the wide communication trench near Anzac. All the Australian Light horsemen, New Zealand Mounted Riflemen and the British Yeomanry [cavalry] were tumbling over each other to get the job.” [3]
Perry tells the story of one of these rides: On 3rd October a British Yeomanry Officer, Captain Anthony Bickworth, who was an Olympic Equestrian Medalist, was “assigned the job … he had the reputation, at least among the British, as the best horseman of the invading troops.” [4] Bill was brought out for the ride. Bets were always taken as to whether the mail would get through, but on this occasion when punters found that Bill would be involved, it may have become whether he completed the run with or without the rider. After swerving to avoid bullets from Turkish snipers in the hills, Captain Bickworth was thrown off and Bill completed the seven kilometres at a gallop and delivered the mail but suffered two bullet wounds. One bullet was removed and the second remained lodged deep in his flank.
The Mounted Horse returned to Egypt and Heliopolis, out of Cairo, and served to defend the Suez Canal that was the ‘jugular vein’ of the British, bringing supplies, reinforcements and materials needed for the Western Front and the Sinai Campaign. Should the Suez be taken it could mean the end of the war for the British. In late July, 1916 it was reported that a force of thousands of the Turkish army was moving down towards the Suez Canal at Oghratina and Bir El Abd, within striking distance of Romani where the 1st Light Horse Brigade (1st, 2nd and 3rd Light Horse Regiments) were at the time stationed.
1st Australian Light Horse Regiment Diary
Friday 4th August, 1916 [5]
On the night of 3rd/4th August, the 1st L.H. Brigade took up a line of Outpost from Hod-El-Enna to No.1 Post on the Southern Slopes of Mt Meredith.
Just before midnight about 8,000 men of the German Pasha I and the 4th Ottoman (Turkish) Army attacked the Outpost held by the 1st L.H. Brigade. At 1am the silence was broken by the Turkish war cry of “Allah! Allah! And “Finish Australia! Death to Australia” followed by heavy gunfire from both sides. The Australians were ordered to limit the amount of man-to-man fighting with their bayonets to avoid being over-run. The Brigade came under very heavy rifle and Machine Gun fire, also shrapnel from a Mountain Battery.
At 2.30am the Germans and Turks raised another battle-cry and mounted bayonet charges at the Brigade on Mt Meredith. Their attempts to scale the steep, sandy heights of Mt Meredith were thwarted by a small band of 1st L.H. Regiment under Lieutenant Edwards who shot large numbers of Turks and impeded the advance on the Mount. The Brigade was forced to retreat slowly, troop covering troop, to a fall-back sand dune called Wellington Ridge.
The enemy shelled the camp and also dropped bombs, grenades and steel darts from aeroplanes.
Casualties for the 1st L.H. Regiment were: Lieutenant W. McQuiggin and 9 other ranks killed and Captains F.V. Weir, A.L. Fitzpatrick, G.H.L. Harris, 2/Lieutenant W. Nelson and 26 other ranks wounded and three missing [7].
During the battle, Major Michael Shanahan of the 2nd L.H. Regiment was leading his Squadron and working along the line on his horse “Bill” (known as “The Bastard”). Finding four Tasmanians of the 3rd Regiment without horses and open to capture, Shanahan yelled for two to jump on behind him and, slipping his boots out of the stirrups, he ordered two soldiers to mount, one on each stirrup. Bill normally would not have allowed one rider on his back at any time. He took the weight of the five men, digging in deep with all the strength that his mighty heart could muster, clambered up the slope, under heavy Turkish fire, and galloped down the other side in the soft sand to Et Maler, a village one kilometre from Romani. Thus Shanahan and Bill were inscribed in Anzac legend.
Shanahan returned to the fray and, although shot in the leg, kept fighting, going up and down the line until he collapsed on his horse. The loyal Bill gently carried his unconscious rider three kilometres back to the camp, as if knowing that any jolt or speed would dismount him. Shanahan’s leg was eventually amputated. Shanahan was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for ‘conspicuous gallantry in action … with the greatest of courage and determination … rescued men under very heavy fire. He was wounded’. The rescued men considered that both Shanahan and Bill deserved a Victoria Cross! Perry tells how Shanahan visited the Remount Squadron and rode Bill one more time but Bill was never given another rider.
After the Armistice was declared Chauvel requested that ten pack mules and/or horses be sent to accompany a special Anzac Light Horse Contingent under Lieutenant-Colonel Cyril Hughes to find and relocate graves of fallen soldiers and to collect artefacts at Gallipoli. Bill was one of the horses chosen.
In the Western Australian, Wednesday 3 December 1924, Page 9, Lieutenant-Colonel Hughes, the Deputy-Director of Works at Gallipoli wrote:
“In memory of Bill, of the Sixth Light Horse, 1914-24. aged 21; one of the best.” This is the epitaph engraved on a headstone surmounting a lonely grave under the shadow of Walker’s Ridge, at Gallipoli. ‘Bill’ was a horse. He left Australia with the original Sixth Light Horse, and after the Armistice was concluded he was shipped to the Peninsula and became the special property of Lieutenant-Colonel C. E. Hughes and his Australian associates on the staff of the Imperial War Graves Commission. ‘Bill’ saw the job through to the end, and then died.
Colonel Hughes, who has arrived in London, said today that the work connected with the graves in Gallipoli had been practically completed, and only a few headstones had to be erected. The whole of the 44 cemeteries were in splendid condition.” [8]
In August 2015, when I travelled back to Gallipoli, a second time, for the 100 year Anniversary of the August Offensive I had several things on my ‘bucket list’. First and foremost was to find and photograph Bill’s grave. From Lieutenant Colonel Hughes newspaper article I knew that the grave was “in the shadow of Walker’s Ridge”. Fortunately a Tour Guide had made efforts to find out where the grave was situated and the group walked into private property not far from the Embarkation Beach. There, between two pencil pines, in the shadow of Walker’s Ridge, I found the grave and with tears in my eyes I was privileged to tell the story and to read Hughes’ tribute.
A TRUE HERO – ONE OF THE BEST
LEST WE FORGET
References
[1] Flood, A., (2013). In the Footsteps of the First: 1st Australian Light Horse Regiment. Triple D Books: Wagga Wagga NSW. pp.63 – 64.
[2] Perry, R., (2012). Bill the Bastard Allen & Unwin: Sydney Australia. p.
[3] Ibid, p.71
[4] Ibid, p. 72
[5] 1st Light Horse Regiment Unit Diary August 1916. In Flood, A., In the Footsteps of the First: The History of the 1st Australian Light Horse Regiment 1916 – 1919. Unpublished.
[6] Major Michael Shanahan with Bill. Photo https://www.punters.com.au/news/an-anzac-day-tribute-to-australias-brave-warhorses_129696/
[7] 1st Australian L.H. Regiment Unit Diary August 1916 AWM4 10/6/16
[8] Western Australian Wednesday 3 December 1924, Page 9