"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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The following weeks will see the various pages from the Hotchkiss Portable Machine Gun Handbook, the official manual issued by the company for the use of troops in the field. 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.
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 71.
Gallipoli Signal No. 3, 3 June 1915 Topic: AIF - 3B - 3 LHB Sigs
One of the most complete set of Light Horse unit signals at Gallipoli belongs to the 3rd Light Horse Brigade. Signals provide a window into the unvarnished form of history. These are the comments made by people who had important needs that required immediate attention. As such, they tell a story about a campaign that existed before the occurence of the newspaper reports leading to the Official Histories and all the other works that followed. Since they do not originate in a vacuum, it is the immediacy of the signal in a dense communication transfer that gives it a unique currency. It is a moment in time. We need all the other items such as the War Diary, Routine Orders and lastly, the published books to get a fully appreciation of the humble signal.
To ensure that this appreciation is available to many, over the coming months, a series of signals will be posted commencing from April till December.
Reconnaissance to Hod el Gedaidia, 14 May 1916, page 1. Topic: AIF - DMC - Anzac MD
Chauvel Order for a Reconnaissance to Hod el Gedaidia, 14 May 1916, page 1.
Chauvel Order for a Reconnaissance to Hod el Gedaidia, 14 May 1916, page 1.
[Click on page for a larger print version.]
The aim of this reconnaissance was to establish any Turkish presence around Hod el Gedaidia. After the Turkish raid at Romani, it was essential to discover the Turkish presence, the numbers of Turkish forces deployed and so establish their intent. In addition, with an eye on future operations, the location of water sources and potential volumes were to be discovered by this reconnaissance.
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.
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Rhododendron Hill
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - 21 Shrapnel shells burst over top trenches in the afternoon.
Signaller Sergeant Richards killed by a bullet from Sniper's ridge whilst standing near the Field ambulance.
769 Private Jarrett, Harold Norman, 24, Died of wounds
729 Signaller Sergeant Richards, Reginald Hohman, 22, Died of wounds
598 Private White, William Henry, 38, Died of wounds
1916
Saturday, September 16, 1916
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Salmana
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Regiment acted as advance guard to Column and proceeded through Bir el Abd to Salmana arriving here at 0400.
Bivouacked for the day in the Hod between 10th Light Horse Regiment and Royal Horse Artillery.
Numerous British aeroplanes hovered over the Hod to keep the enemy planes off - but an "Aviatik" appeared at about 0900 and after circling round, opened up with machine gun fire on the horses being led back from water. 1 10th Light Horseman and 1 horse being wounded.
1530 - The horses were watered at 1530 and rations and water drawn in readiness to move out at 1730.
1730 - The Column moved out and halted at a point about 3½ miles east of Salmana where the Brigade was to join up with the remainder of the Attacking Force - Consisting of 2nd Light Horse Brigade, Ayrshire Battery, Inverness Battery and other Details, under the command of Major General HS Chauvel, CB, CMG.
1917
Sunday, September 16, 1917
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Abasan el Kebir
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Hargrave, Lieutenant LMS; Smith, Lieutenant PT; and, 6 Other Ranks marched in from Imperial School of Instruction, Zeitoun.
Mueller, Lieutenant GLH; and, 19 Other Ranks marched in from Port Said Rest Camp.
Operation Order, reference to El Shellal, issued to squadrons.
1918
Monday, September 16, 1918
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Ludd area
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Syllabus of training for week ending 21st September 1918 issued.
1430 Demonstration at Richon le Zion of massed overhead machinegun fire. All officers attended. 3rd and 4th Machine Gun Squadrons and NZ Machine Gun Squadrons demonstrated with overhead and flank fire whilst 5th Light Horse Brigade carried out the charge mounted.
1919
Tuesday, September 16, 1919
9th Light Horse Regiment Location - Adelaide
9th Light Horse Regiment War Diary - Regiment disbanded.
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