4th Light Horse Commemorative Regiment

Honored to be part of our Veteran's Day/Remembrance Day ceremonies this morning.

Not everyone had a tall, handsome Waler! :)

On 31 OCT 1917, the Australian Light Horse charged the machine-guns to take Beersheba with arguably the last great cavalry/mounted infantry charge in history. Certainly worth remembering – lest we forget.

Today we celebrate the service and honor the sacrifice of our brothers-in-arms from Australia and New Zealand. From the Australian War Memorial:

"Anzac Day goes beyond the anniversary of the landing on Gallipoli in 1915. It is the day on which we remember all Australians who served and died in war and on operational service. The spirit of Anzac, with its qualities of courage, mateship, and sacrifice, continues to have meaning and relevance for our sense of national identity."

Gotta love this kid..............Mary

Exhibit at the National Army Museum (UK): http://www.nam.ac.uk/microsites/war-horse/

War Horse Exhibition at the National Army Museum, London War Horse Exhibition at the National Army Museum, London

Happy Australia Day from the States to all of our friends Downunda! Enjoy your warmth and sunshine and beach parties you bastards... :)

Another photo of the late-war reproduction walking-out uniform: Colour patches to designate unit affiliation were issued to AIF troops begining in March 1915. Prior to that, unit distinctive insignia of blackened copper were worn on the shoulder straps of other ranks' and on the collars of officers' uniforms. Insignia consisted of a unit type abbreviation (in the case, LH for Light Horse), and a numeral. Some men retained these insignia even after the issuance of colour patches and wore both simultaneously. The brass A on the color patch was authorized in 1917 for men who had served in the Gallipoli campaign. (The 4 and LH insignia are reproductions which are being made in steel with a gilt plating. After a couple experiments, I found that painting with a satin black enamel followed by baking gave a reasonable approximation of blackened copper. The AUSTRALIA shoulder title is an original for comparison of what the finish should look like.)

Late war "walking out" uniform. Metal insignia matching those of the British army were adopted by Australia in 1917 to replace the woven cloth insignia previously used. The crown and wreath is rank insignia of Warrant Officer Class 2 (likely held an appointment as Troop Sergeant Major). Overseas service chevrons were authorized in 1918. The red chevron indicates departure from Australia in the first year of the war, 1914. All subsequent years are blue. Lace chevrons on the left sleeve are essentially annual "good conduct" awards. The crossed rifles indicate a qualified marksman.