Click to escape. Subject to crown copyright
Category: Army Today/State Regts

Click to go up one level

3_9Colour.jpg (6914 bytes)

3/9 Light Horse 

(South Australian Mounted Rifles)

Click to enlarge

Royal Australian Armoured Corps

Colour Patch of 3/9 Light Horse

Armoured personnel carrier in action

 

3/9 Light Horse (South Australian Mounted Rifles) is an Army Reserve Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) unit located at Smithfield, South Australia.

 

The history of the Light Horse can trace its lineage back to 1840 and has served in such places as South Africa in the Boer War (note the memorial at the corner of King William Street and North Terrace next time you are in the city of Adelaide), Gallipoli and Egypt.

The unit was rewarded for its significant efforts in these conflicts and now holds two guidons. Guidons date from the medieval period, where banners where used as rallying points for Barons and there Armies. The custom grew to emblazon the guidons and standards the battle honours won by knights and barons. Modern Armies continue this tradition, although they are no longer taken onto the battlefield.

3_9Colour.jpg (6914 bytes)

To this day, the 9th Light Horse has the honour of being the only Australian unit to ever capture an enemy Standard (46th Turkish Regiment). 

This occurred on October 2nd 1918 on operations in the Middle East. 

The standard now hangs in the Australian War Memorial Canberra and is shown in the photograph to the right>>>

Click to enlarge

With the re-raising of the CMF (yesterday’s Army Reserve) in 1948, the 3rd/9th South Australian Mounted Rifles was raised to commemorate the original Regiments.

In more recent times, physical horse power has been replaced by mechanical horse power, and the 3rd/9th Light Horse (3/9 LH) of today is more powerful and more threatening than ever before.

However, the tradition of its forebears will never be forgotten and is remembered permanently at memorials around Adelaide and South Australia.

 

Statistics : Over 35 million page visitors since  11 Nov 2002  

 

Email  

 Search   Help     Guestbook   Get Updates   Last Post    The Ode      FAQ     Digger Forum

Click for news

Digger History:  an unofficial history of the Australian & New Zealand Armed Forces