KEYNOTE ADDRESS: ‘FROM THE AUSTRALIAN BUSH. MADE TOUGH.’ Chauvel Anniversary Light Horse Memorial Ride. Victory Memorial Gardens, Wagga Wagga

E&OE

Start: 11.06am

Ends: 11.13am

MICHAEL McCORMACK:

The Mayor just said: “Hold on to your paper!”

I normally don’t write speeches out as such … I normally do speeches off the top of my head … off the cuff. But (Master of Ceremonies) John Ploenges has asked me to deliver a keynote address and he is someone I hold in the utmost respect and I want to make sure I get this right and do a good job because this requires the very best of jobs. John says keynote, he means something a little special. And this is a special occasion.

I want to thank John, and Maria Flinn standing here and Pat Leary, sitting astride one of those horses, because without the efforts and work of Maria, John and Pat and others, this fine Lighthorse statue behind me would not have been possible.

Servicemen and women, Veterans, Commandant of Ist Recruit Training Battalion, Colonel Gerard Kearns, Mr Mayor Councillor Dallas Tout, Mr Pat Leary, organisers of the Chauvel Anniversary Light Horse Memorial Ride, Wagga Wagga RSL Sub-Branch president Rod Cooper, Doug Conkey from Legacy – an important organisation – ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys …

A warm welcome to you all. And it is warm. Wagga Wagga has turned on one of its finest days for us.

We gather here today at this place of remembrance and respect to honour both the gallant soldier and his mighty warhorse.

This is a special area.

Land for the Victory Memorial Gardens was set aside in 1925 as Wagga Wagga’s way of saying to our First World War heroes: “Thank You For Your Service.”

One hundred years later, the words Lest We Forget have just as much meaning, perhaps even more.

In an era when we often bemoan how society has slipped and wonder where it will all head, at least ANZAC Day remains sacrosanct.

The 25th of April is as important now as it was on its first anniversary, as our young Commonwealth was still trying to come to terms with such a dreadful loss of young life in 1915 at Gallipoli.

8,709 men dead.

So many more injured. Forever scarred.

Amongst the casualties were brave Australian Lighthorsemen.

Many of them mere lads … just boys.

Farriers, farmers, shearers, stationhands – from all walks of rural life and from all country areas across this wide, brown land – including the Riverina.

From the Australian bush. Made tough.

They did not have their trusted steeds in the Dardanelles but they fought with such vigour and vim at places such as the Nek.

They relished the opportunity when reunited with their beloved horses in the Middle East.

Another date etched in history is 31 October 1917 – the Battle of Beersheba.

Those were remarkable days – moments in time which shaped our military history.

Wagga Wagga is so very fortunate today to have a leg of the Chauvel Anniversary Light Horse Memorial Ride visit our fine city.

How privileged we are!

We are also blessed to have all three arms of the Australian Defence Force – Army, Air Force and Navy – based in this town.

The price of peace is eternal vigilance. We all know that and this city and the training done here plays a vital role in securing our nation in troubled times.

I say again, Colonel Kearns – you have the most important job in the Australian Army, because you are running that Kapooka base –Blamey Barracks.

Thank you to all wearing a uniform and those of you who are Veterans here today, we honour you, we admire you and we are grateful for what you did and what you continue to do to keep the ANZAC spirit alive and for keeping us safe.

To the Australian Army Band Kapooka – they are not here today but we always say thanks and Colonel, if you could pass that on, please do so.

As always, they are magnificent and our community is so indebted to their precision, their professionalism and, of course, at most community events, their presence.

You’re right, My Mayor … (pages blowing) … I’ll just hand those to my able assistant, Maria (Flinn).

To any youngster here today and there are a few of you … it is your duty and role to keep the ANZAC legacy going. A big job but one I know you will fulfil.

The biggest thanks of all today goes to the riders and especially their horses.

It is hot work traversing the 842 kilometres from Shepparton to Harden-Murrumburrah, from Young to Tallangatta.

But you’re all built for it, you’re well prepared and you look superb.

Please put your hands together for the riders and particularly their horses!

Applause.

Congratulations Pat Leary, of Coolamon, for coming up with this initiative to raise awareness and funds for the Lighthorse movement.

Australia shipped more than 120,000 horses overseas during The Great War of 1914-18 – and we know that no war is great but that’s how termed it. They served with Australians and other Allied troops in Egypt and the Middle East.

The Army preferred Waler horses because they were well suited to the desert conditions in Egypt and Palestine.

Walers had been used by stockmen and mounted units in Australia for a long, long time.

Durable, sturdy, resilient, four-legged wonders.

From the Australian bush. Made tough.

Australian Light horsemen usually fought dismounted.

They were considered to be “mounted infantry” rather than “cavalry”.

Soldiers rode horses to a battlefield where they engaged with the enemy on foot and then departed quickly on horseback when disengaging.

Using horses made the force more mobile and faster than infantry units and horse-drawn artillery.

During combat, they rode in sections of four light horsemen with one trooper holding the reins of all four horses. The other three men in his section dismounted and then fought and engaged with the enemy on foot. The horse handler had a dangerous task because enemy aircraft could target him.

Sometimes the light horsemen fought from horseback. In the famous Battle of Beersheba, the Light Horsemen rode in with their bayonets.

One Australian we pay particular homage to today is General Sir Henry George (better known as “Harry”) Chauvel GCMG, KCB.

He was the very first Australian to rise to the rank of Lieutenant General and later General and the first to command an entire Corps.

His name is a constant in the annals of World War I and especially the deeds of the Light Horse.

Chauvel was born, as the Mayor has said, 160 years and 12 days ago in Tabulam, a tiny regional village in the far north east of New South Wales, so he was a country boy.

From the Australian bush. Made tough.

Chauvel’s life is now legendary and far too full to do it justice here.

Read all about him in your programme.

But, in conclusion, let me just add this … the great war historian Charles Bean, whose vision it was to erect the Australian War Memorial, had this to say:

In 1945, on the death of Sir Harry at age 79, Bean wrote to Lady Sibyl Chauvel, saying:

“In 1941 when General Cyril White died in that tragic (air) crash at Canberra, I happened to be speaking with the door keeper at the Army Department at Headquarters in Melbourne, who was saying that “they would never get another one like him” and then he added: “Do you know, the best loved man that ever we had here was General Chauvel.”

I might say, he was loved for a reason.

Great leaders are revered.

Great men are remembered.

Harry Chauvel was one of our greatest.

And we pay tribute to him on this day and with this ride.

Stay safe and ride well, dear friends.

Lest We Forget.

 

Emma Sullivan