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The Desert Mounted Corps Memorial also called the Light Horse Memorial |
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The Desert Mounted Corps Memorialis more commonly known as the Light Horse Memorial. This memorial commemorates the men of the
who lost their lives in Egypt, Palestine and Syria between 1916 and 1918. Unveiled in 1968, this memorial consists of a free-standing cast bronze figure of two troopers and their horses set on a granite base. It is a replica of the original memorial which stood at Port Said in Egypt depicting a mounted Australian Light-Horseman defending a New Zealander standing beside his wounded horse.
The original memorial was partly paid for by light horsemen, mounted infantrymen and cameleers who raised £5,000 by subscribing a day's pay towards its cost. The Commonwealth Government supplemented this by £1,300. It was designed by C Webb Gilbert who, in 1923, won the design competition. On the night of 26 December, 1956, during the Suez conflict, an Egyptian crowd attacked the Anzac monument, pulled it from its base and smashed it beyond repair. When peace returned to the area, the damaged memorial and its base were shipped to Australia. The Australian Returned Services League and the New Zealand Returned Services Association agreed that it should be erected in Albany, Western Australia overlooking King George Sound where the first Anzac convoy had assembled before departure. The New Zealand Government gave its approval and agreed to pay half the cost. Raymond Ewers, a sculptor who did work for the Australian War Memorial reconstructed the statuary in plaster and it was sent to Italy to be cast in bronze. The Albany suggestion met with opposition from the Desert Mounted Corps Associations who, all except for the 10th Light Horse Association based in Western Australia, wanted the memorial re-erected in Canberra. However, a decision was made by the Minister for the Interior, who also represented Albany in Parliament, to proceed and the re-created memorial on its original base was unveiled in Albany in 1964. Agitation continued and in 1968 another replica was erected in Anzac Parade in Canberra. There are two flagpoles in front of the memorial, on the south side of the forecourt. |
