"At a mile distant their thousand hooves were stuttering thunder, coming at a rate that frightened a man - they were an awe inspiring sight, galloping through the red haze - knee to knee and horse to horse - the dying sun glinting on bayonet points..." Trooper Ion Idriess
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Thursday, 31 July 2008
Kadina Day, 24 July 1915 Topic: Gen - St - SA
On Saturday, 24 July 1915, the leading town of South Australia's "Copper Triangle", Kadina, celebrated its annual day. This day, however, was different in one major aspect. The crowd that turned up to demonstrate their patriotism was the largest gathered outside of Adelaide.
Miss L. Kempster singing "Only a scrap of paper"
Adelaide Observer, 31 July 1915, p. 29.
One of the hightlights was the performance of Miss L. Kempster as she sang "Only a scrap of paper" to the enthusiastic crowds. Even though she looks like a mere whisp of a young lady, she must have had a powerful voice for there were no microphones or amplifiers in view. The crowd were entertained by Miss Kempster leading them into singing various patriotic songs. Afterwards there was a motorcade called the "Bulldog and his allies." The cars may be seen lined up at the rear of the picture. Another item of entertainment was the Wallaroo Gymnastics club performing their various activities while the Kadina Rifle Club gave a shooting demonstration. It was a most enjoyable day.
As time went on, Kadina Day lost its lustre. New people came up with exciting ideas. Instead of Kadina Day, the Cornish heritage is now celebrated with the Kernewek Lowender, or Cornish Festival. One of the popular pieces of real estate are the quaint Cornish miner's houses which now sell for fabulous amounts of money. Kadina remains a beautiful town in South Australia.
The following weeks will see the various pages of the Hotchkiss Machine Gun Pack for Cavalry. The Hotchkiss Gun was introduced in the Light Horse formations during the early months of 1917. The introduction of this robust and portable gun gave the Light Horse Regiments additional mobile fire power which considereably added to their ability to sustain light combat situations and defend against vastly numerically superior forces. Apart from being an excellent weapon, it was in much demand by the Turkish forces who considered the capture of a Hotchkiss Gun well worth any risks involved in the process. This is a manual produced in 1917 and illustrates the method by which the Hotchkiss Gun was packed and moved throughout the Palestine campaign.
Desert Mounted Corps Routine Orders - 3 October 1917 Topic: AIF - DMC
Apart from the War Diary which presents a reflected view of Regimental history, one of the best sources of understanding the immediate challenges facing a regiment is to be found in the Routine Orders. They are a wealth of detail.
Desert Mounted Corps Routine Orders - 3 October 1917
Desert Mounted Corps Routine Orders, 3 October 1917, p. 1.
Another entry from the book written by Lieutenant Colonel Hüseyin Hüsnü Emir, called Yildirim. Every day, one page of the book will be posted. This is Page 24.
The following entries are extracted and transcribed from the 9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary, the originals of which are held by the Australian War Memorial. There are 366 entries on this site. Each day has entries as they occurred from 1914 to 1919. In addition to the 9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary, when appropriate, entries from the 3rd Light Horse Brigade War Diary and other regiments with the Brigade will also appear. Entries from the unit history, Darley, TH, With the Ninth Light Horse in the Great War, Adelaide, Hassell Press, 1924 will also appear from time to time. The aim is to give the broadest context to the story and allow the reader to follow the day to day activities of the regiment. If a relative happened to have served in the regiment during the Great War, then this provides a general framework in which the individual story may be told.
3rd Light Horse Brigade War Diary - Considerable amount of firing from trenches.
Casualties:
8th Light Horse Regiment, two wounded.
9th Light Horse Regiment, three wounded.
Wellington Mounted Rifles to provide eight men as a bodyguard to Commander in Chief, Imbros.
Lieutenant AM Anderson, 8th Light Horse Regiment, to hospital sick.
Preparing operation orders for assault on Nek by 3rd Light Horse Brigade. 650 Bayonets in four lines - objective Baby 700. Turkish trenches in complete state of defence and fully manned.
Today Brigade shows 433 away in hospital, 196 away wounded and 15 men in lines sick = 643 away from duty. Effectives of 1180 of whom in large proportion are sick.
Represented to Headquarters Division.
Preparations for attack actively proceeding. Water, ammunition, food are being taken on to left flank at No.2 Point.
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Tel el Marakeb
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Siekmann, Major TA, returned from leave. Hargrave, Lieutenant LMS; and, four Other Ranks marched in from 3rd Light Horse Brigade Training Squadron, Moascar.
The Regiment undertook routine work for the day.
Training as per syllabus.
1918
Wednesday, July 31, 1918
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Madhbeh
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - 0430, “C” Squadron return to bivouacs and report all clear.
Kildea, Lieutenant FJ; and, 30 Other Ranks marched in from Moascar.
2200, “B” Squadron moved out on G Section Patrol duty.
1919
Thursday, July 31, 1919
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - SS Oxfordshire
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Normal routine work.
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