The Light Horse Brigade came to Torquay for a training camp during WW2.
Entrenched in history is the fall of Beersheba which changed the course of the war in the Middle East. The mounted infantrymen from the 4th Light Horse Brigade and their superb walers carried out one of the most successful cavalry charges in history.
Horses have always played an important role in the history of Australia. As the only means of transport across our vast country, riding was a basic skill.
As early as 1804 the redcoats mounted horses to pursue convicts from Castle Hill Prison Farm. They were also used by a special mounted unit of the British infantry regiment in the attack on the Eureka Stockade at Ballarat in 1854. The Australian bushmen with their slouch-hat gained the respect of British Generals for their ability to match the Boers of South Africa in 1899. They proved themselves to be expert rough-riding horsemen and good shots from their experience in the Australian bush. Again during WW1 the light horsemen proved themselves throughout the war.
Twenty-two years later with the outbreak of World War Two the Light Horse Brigade came to Torquay for training. While thousands of the brigades were training on horses, machines were also part of training and the new way of war fare. For Torquay though, the light horsemen certainly rose again with their involvement in saving the town from the 1940 bushfire.
Learn more about the Torquay Light Horse Camp here.
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