Battle of Beersheba memorial - Hay, NSW, Australia
S 34° 30.380 E 144° 50.480
55H E 301825 N 6179585
This is a bronze sculpture, of a Waler, and its' soldier handler, from the Light Horse Brigade of the First World War.
Waymark Code: WMYX4K
Location: New South Wales, Australia
Date Posted: 08/04/2018
Views: 10
The memorial has a bronze sculpture of a Waler (the breed of horse predominantly used in the Light Horse Brigades), and his soldier. On one of the vertical faces are a couple of brass plaques, with the crest of the Australian Commonwealth Military Forces on one, and the insignia of the Light Horse, with '1914-1918' on it. In between is a bigger plaque, with the following inscription:
[Crest]
Commemorating the Centenary of
'The Battle of Beersheba'
(The Last Cavalry Charge)
This Memorial was unveiled on
Remembrance Day 2017
The memorial was erected by the people of Hay in memory of
those troopers who formed the Australian Light Horse,
and who fought bravely to defend our Australian way of life.
The memorial depicts a Light Horseman and his Waler
in typical battle gear.
Hay Light Horse War Committee:
President: Jim Cooper
"They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sunm and in the morning.
We will remember them."
LEST WE FORGET
From the local paper, The Land, is the following excerpt, from 7th November, 2017:
"Remembrance Day in the western Riverina town of Hay will include five Light Horse riders and a donkey in the march on Saturday to commemorate 100 years since the Charge of Beersheba.
"Two of these Light Horse riders rode in the ceremony at Beersheba in Israel last Tuesday in memory of the horses and their riders who saw action during the last great cavalry charge in history.
"There are many families in the western Riverina who have ancestors who served with the Light Horse, and the stations surrounding Hay were a source of re-mounts for the Light Horse brigades.
"The bronze statue is the culmination of the tireless effort by local resident, Jim Cooper, to have the horses and men from the Hay district remembered.
"Kapooka Military Band will lead the march from the Cenotaph to the site of the new Hay Light Horse War Memorial on the corner of Moppett and Pine streets, which will be unveiled by former Hay resident, Air Vice-Marshall Warren McDonald."
The Land: Beersheba
Address: Corner of Pine, and Morgan Streets, Hay, NSW, 2711, Australia
Visited: Tuesday, 22 May, 2018