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View Full Version : The Last Great Cavalry Charge - Beersheba



Germanicus
02-06-2014, 01:47 AM
Horse Brigade (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Light_Horse) under Brigadier General William Grant (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Grant_(general)), with only horses and bayonets, charged the Turkish trenches, overran them and captured the wells of Beersheba in what has become known as the "last successful cavalry charge in British military history."[citation needed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)] On the edge of Beersheba's Old City is a Commonwealth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_War_Graves_Commission) cemetery containing the graves of Australian and British soldiers. The town also contains a memorial park dedicated to them (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Soldier_Park).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Light_Horse

The Australian Military is an important part of Israeli history.


Beersheba (/ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English)b (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key)ɪər (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key)ˈ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key)ʃ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key)iː (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key)b (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key)ə (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key)/ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English); officially Be'er Sheva; Hebrew (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language): בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_Hebrew); Greek (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language): Βηρσαβεε; Latin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_language): Bersabee; Arabic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language): بئر السبع‎ Biʾr as-Sabʿ (listen) (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Ar-Beersheva.oga) (info (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ar-Beersheva.oga)), Levantine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Levantine_Arabic) pronunciation: [biːr esˈsabeʕ] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_Arabic); Turkish (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_language): Birüssebi) is the largest city (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City) in the Negev (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negev) desert of southern Israel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOuyPGyzNVA

All the RSL clubs from where I am from have pictures of Light Horsemen. We see them at ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day. The Light Horse are an important part of Australian history.


The [B]Australian Light Horse were mounted troops who served in the Second Boer War and World War I that combined characteristics of both cavalry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavalry) and mounted infantry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mounted_infantry). This was the outcome of doctrinal debate in military circles in Australia in the late 19th century concerning the future of mounted troops. The example of the Franco-Prussian War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Prussian_War) illustrated that the battlefield had become dominated by massed land armies supported by artillery.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Light_Horse


Light horse were like mounted infantry in that they usually fought dismounted, using their horses (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse) as transport to the battlefield and as a means of swift disengagement when retreating or retiring. A famous exception to this rule though was the charge of the 4th and 12th Light Horse Regiments at Beersheba (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Beersheba_(1917)) on 31 October 1917. In 1918 some light horse regiments were equipped with sabres (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabre), enabling them to fight in a conventional cavalry role in the advance on Damascus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damascus). However, unlike mounted infantry, the light horse also performed certain roles, such as scouting and screening, while mounted.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Light_Horse

The history of the Australian Military is honourable and heroic. As an Australian I am very proud of it because it says something about Australians. About Aussie spirit.

War is part of history and the citizens should be encouraged to feel proud about their nations history. A nation should not forget the people that fight for the State and die for the State.

Australia fought for the State of Israel.

During the period of the British Mandate for Palestine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Mandate_of_Palestine), Beersheba was a major administrative center. The British constructed a railway between Rafah and Beersheba in October 1917; it opened to the public in May 1918, serving the Negev and settlements south of Mount Hebron.[13] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beersheba#cite_note-13) In 1928, at the beginning of the tension between the Jews and the Arabs over control of Palestine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine), and wide-scale rioting which left 133 Jews dead and 339 wounded, many Jews abandoned Beersheba, although some returned occasionally. After an Arab attack on a Jewish bus in 1936, which escalated into the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936–1939_Arab_revolt_in_Palestine), the remaining Jews left.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beersheba

It is a good thing for two nations to share a history I reckon. It is cool that the last great cavalry charge involved Australians and the nation of Israel.

Lest we forget.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGxhb6NmQmc


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4NtSqZcT_4
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ1NxcQUC_g


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iuWJlCThpc


Jerusalem


Jerusalem

07 December 1917 - 30 December 1917

Awarded for participation in the operations to capture and occupy Jerusalem between 7 and 9 December 1917, and its subsequent defence between 26 and 30 December 1917 .
http://www.awm.gov.au/units/event_17.asp

Lighthorse from out this way fought in the 6th.


6th Light Horse Regiment


The 6th Light Horse Regiment was raised in Sydney in September 1914 from men who had enlisted in New South Wales, and became part of the 2nd Light Horse Brigade. Sailing from Sydney on 21 December 1914, the regiment disembarked in Egypt on 1 February 1915.

The light horse were considered unsuitable for the initial operations at Gallipoli, but were subsequently deployed without their horses to reinforce the infantry. The 2nd Light Horse Brigade landed in late May 1915 and was attached to the 1st Australian Division. The 6th Light Horse became responsible for a sector on the far right of the ANZAC line, and played a defensive role until it left the peninsula on 20 December 1915.

Back in Egypt, the 2nd Light Horse Brigade became part of the ANZAC Mounted Division and, in April 1916, joined the forces defending the Suez Canal from a Turkish advance across the Sinai Desert. It fought at the battle of Romani on 4 August, at Katia the following day, and participated in the pursuit that followed the Turks’ retreat back across the desert.

The regiment spent late 1916 and early 1917 engaged on patrol work until the British advance into Palestine stalled before the Turkish bastion of Gaza. It was involved in the two abortive battles to capture Gaza directly (27 March and 19 April) and then the operation that ultimately led to its fall - the wide outflanking move via Beersheba that began on 31 October.

With the fall of Gaza on 7 November 1917, the Turkish position in southern Palestine collapsed. The 6th participated in the pursuit that followed and led to the capture of Jerusalem in December. The focus of British operations then moved to the Jordan Valley. In early 1918 the 6th was involved in the Amman (24-27 February) and Es Salt (30 April-4 May) raids, both of which were tactical failures but helped to convince the Turks that the next offensive would be launched across the Jordan.
Instead, the offensive was launched along the coast in September 1918, with the 6th taking part in a subsidiary effort east of the Jordan. It was part of the force that captured Amman on 25 September, which proved to be its last major engagement of the war; Turkey surrendered on 30 October 1918. The 6th Light Horse was employed one last time to assist in putting down the Egyptian revolt of early 1919, and sailed for home on 28 June.


http://www.awm.gov.au/units/unit_10559.asp

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Germanicus
02-06-2014, 02:17 AM
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There is as great photo of the 6th in Parramatta before they left, at my local RSL club, near the ATM.

Peter1469
02-06-2014, 08:07 AM
Not long after the Twin Towers were brought down, US Special Forces, CIA, with their allies in the Northern Alliance executed a light cavalry charge in one of the last conventional battles of the initial US attack.

And don't forget the largest cavalry charge in history: in the summer of 1683 the Ottoman Empire laid siege to Vienna- the gateway to western Europe. In mid September a relief force arrived just in time, as the Turks were tunneling under the city walls. The Polish infantry took the high ground on the Ottoman right and engaged their flank. A combined allied cavalry force under the command of King Jan III Sobieski numbering between 20 and 30K heavy horse charged the field, breaking the siege and routing the enemy. The Christian forces had crushed the Turks saving the city, and perhaps all of western Europe and Christendom.

Mister D
02-06-2014, 08:57 AM
The regiment depicted in Gallipoli was the 10th Australian Light Horse.