1st Light Horse Regiment   (New South Wales)  [1st Light Horse Brigade] Formed New South Wales August 1914 for 1st Light Horse Brigade.   Badge displayed either unofficial or CMF.

All that was left of the 1st Australian Light Horse. Only 42 of the Regiment returned after the charge at Anzac. 1915-08.
		Left & right handed colour patches (unofficial brooch shown) with Anzac A. For details of why there were 2 badges see Colour Patches

Served in Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Desert, Sinai, Palestine

• Departed Sydney on Star of Victoria 19 October 1914. 
  • 1st Reinforcements departed Sydney on Boorara 20 December 1914, 
  • 2nd Reinforcements departed Sydney on Clan McCorquodale 6 February 1915, 
  • 3rd Reinforcements departed Sydney on Anglo-Egyptian 8 February 1915, 
  • 4th Reinforcements departed Sydney on Shropshire 17 March 1915, 
  • 5th Reinforcements departed Newcastle on Bakara 22 May 1915, 
  • 6th Reinforcements departed Sydney on Clan McEwan 30 June 1915, 
  • 7th Reinforcements departed Sydney on Marere 16 August 1915, 
  • 8th Reinforcements departed Sydney on Runic 9 August 1915, 
  • 9th Reinforcements departed Sydney on Argyleshire 30 September 1915, 
  • 10th Reinforcements departed Sydney on Pera 13 October 1915, 
  • 11th Reinforcements departed Sydney on Mashobra 4 October 1915 
    • and Hawkes Bay 23 October 1915,
  • 12th Reinforcements departed Sydney on Hawkes Bay 23 October 1915 
    • and Beltana 9 November 1915, 
  • 13th Reinforcements departed Sydney on Aeneas 20 December 1915, 
  • 14th Reinforcements departed Sydney on Osterley 15 January 1916, 
  • 15th Reinforcements departed Sydney on Armidale 21 March 1916, 
  • 16th Reinforcements departed Sydney on Anglo-Egyptian 12 May 1916, 
  • 17th Reinforcements departed Sydney on Port MacQuarie 26 April 1916, 
  • 18th Reinforcements departed Sydney on Hororata 2 May 1916, 
  • 19th Reinforcements departed Sydney on Mongolia 18 July 1916, 
  • 20th Reinforcements departed Sydney on Malwa 22 July 1916, 
  • 21st Reinforcements departed Sydney on Mooltan 19 August 1916, 
  • 22nd Reinforcements departed Sydney on Katuna 23 November 1916, 
  • 23rd Reinforcements departed Sydney on Karmala 3 February 1917, 
  • 24th Reinforcements departed Sydney on Itria 28 February 1917 
    • and Boorara 10 May 1917, 
  • 25th Reinforcements departed Sydney on Boorara 10 May 1917, 
  • 26th Reinforcements departed Sydney on Morea 17 February 1917, 
  • 27th Reinforcements departed Sydney on Port Lincoln 19 May 1917, 
  • 28th Reinforcements departed Sydney on Port Lincoln 11 June 1917, 
    • Sydney on Kyarra 3 September 1917 
    • and Melbourne on Commonwealth 2 November 1917, 
  • 29th Reinforcements departed Sydney on Kyarra 3 September 1917, 
  • 30th Reinforcements departed Melbourne on Commonwealth 2 November 1917, 
  • 31st Reinforcements departed Melbourne on Commonwealth 2 November 1917, 
  • 32nd Reinforcements departed Melbourne on Commonwealth 2 November 1917, 
  • 33rd Reinforcements departed Sydney on Canberra 16 November 1917, 
  • 34th Reinforcements departed Sydney on Ulysses 19 December 1917, 
  • 35th Reinforcements departed Sydney on Ormonde 2 March 1918.

Battle Honours:  

1st Light Horse Regiment

The 1st Light Horse Regiment was raised, from recruits from New South Wales, at Rosebury Park in Sydney in August 1914. It was one of three regiments of the 1st Light Horse Brigade – the first mounted formation committed by Australia to the First World War. The regiment sailed from Sydney on 19 October and disembarked in Egypt on 8 December.

The light horse were initially considered unsuitable for the Gallipoli operation, but were soon deployed without their horses to reinforce the infantry. The 1st Light Horse Regiment landed on 12 May 1915 and was attached to the New Zealand and Australian Division. It played a defensive role for most of the campaign but mounted an attack on the Turkish position known as “the Chessboard” as part of the August Offensive on 7 August – 200 men were involved, 147 became casualties. The regiment left Gallipoli on 21 December 1915.

Back in Egypt, the 1st Light Horse Regiment joined the ANZAC Mounted Division. Between January and May 1916, it was deployed to protect the Nile valley from bands of pro-Turkish Senussi Arabs. On 14 May, it redeployed with its parent brigade to join the forces defending the Suez Canal. The 1st Light Horse Brigade played a significant role in turning back the Turkish advance on the canal at the battle of Romani on 4 August. In ensuing days the regiments of the Brigade participated in the immediate follow-up of the defeated Turks, but were soon withdrawn to rest.

The 1st Light Horse Regiment rejoined the Allied advance across the Sinai in November 1916 and was subsequently involved in the fighting to secure the Turkish outposts on the Palestine frontier – Maghdaba on 23 December 1916 and Rafa on 9 January 1917. A stint of protective duty along the line of communications through the Sinai followed. The 1st Light Horse Regiment’s next major engagement was the abortive second battle of Gaza on 19 April. Gaza finally fell on 7 November, after a wide outflanking move via Beersheba, in which the regiments of the 1st Light Horse Brigade played a part.

With the capture of Gaza, the Turkish position in southern Palestine collapsed. The 1st Light Horse Regiment participated in the advance to Jaffa that followed, and was then committed to operations to clear and occupy the west bank of the Jordan River. It was involved in the Amman (24–27 February) and Es Salt (30 April–4 May) raids and the repulse of a major German and Turkish attack on 14 July 1918.

The final British offensive of the campaign was launched along the Mediterranean coast on 19 September 1918, with the ANZAC Mounted Division taking part in a subsidiary effort east of the Jordan aimed at Amman. Turkey surrendered on 30 October 1918. The 1st Light Horse Regiment sailed for Australia on 12 March 1919 without their horses, which were either shot or transferred to Indian cavalry units. Text from AWM

• 222 killed, 679 wounded
• Decorations
  • 5 DSO
  • 10 MC
  • 2 DCM
  • 18 MM
  • 42 MID
  • 8 foreign awards