Light Horse

A History of Australia's Mounted Arm

Jean Bou

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN:
  9780521197083
• eBook ISBN:
  9781107272941
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

The mounted soldier is one of the most evocative symbols in Australian military history. Now a celebrated part of Australia's army heritage, the role and very existence of mounted troops in modern warfare was being called into question at the time of its most crowning military moments. Light horse regiments, particularly those that served in South Africa, Palestine and the trenches of Gallipoli, played a vital role in Australia's early military campaigns. Based on extensive research from both Australia and Britain, this book is a comprehensive history of the Australian Light Horse in war and peace. Historian Jean Bou examines the place of the light horse in Australia's military history throughout its existence, from its antecedents in the middle of the nineteenth century, until the last regiment was disbanded in 1944.

Table of contents

• Cover
• LIGHT HORSE
• OTHER TITLES IN THE AUSTRALIAN ARMY HISTORY SERIES
• Title
• Copyright
• CONTENTS
• MAPS
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• AUTHOR'S NOTE
• ABBREVIATIONS
• INTRODUCTION
• CHAPTER 1 ANCESTORS: Australia's colonial mounted troops, 1803–99
• CHAPTER 2 TOUGH LESSONS: South Africa, 1899–1902
• CHAPTER 3 THE HUTTON ERA: Founding the light horse, 1901–05
• CHAPTER 4 UNFULFILLED PROMISE: The militia light horse, 1905–20
• CHAPTER 5 THE LIGHT-HORSEMEN 1: Citizen mounted troops and Australian society
• CHAPTER 6 MOUNTED RIFLES: The light horse at war, 1914–17
• CHAPTER 7 CAVALRY: The light horse at war, 1917–19
• CHAPTER 8 THE LIGHT-HORSEMEN 2: The light-horseman at war
• CHAPTER 9 THE FINAL YEARS: The light horse at home, 1921–44
• CONCLUSION
• EPILOGUE
• APPENDIX: THE 'BEERSHEBA CHARGE PHOTO'
• NOTES
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• INDEX