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1st Australian Horse and the Australian Light Horse War Memorial, Harden

1st Australian Horse and the Australian Light Horse War Memorial, Harden
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Description / Background

Local artist and stone mason, Carl Valerius, designed and created this imaginative memorial consisting of a large granite block with bronze statue and reliefs, together with a wall of remembrance and an allegorical garden.

A bronze 1st Australian Horse hat badge embellishes the rock face and a full sized statue of Corporal William Bradford of the 1st Australian Horse stands along side. The western face features a sculptured relief depicting hand-to-hand fighting for the Wells of Beersheba, on 31 October 1917.

A nearby stone wall has bronze plaques listing the names of original recruits to the 1st Australian Horse, 1897. At the centre of the wall is a horse trough-shaped fountain created from black granite which is reflective, and from which water overflows at each side, representing a renewal of life. Below the wall is an allegorical water garden symbolic of the coming together of people from the cities, the farms and the bush to go to war, the futility and violence of war and the eventual peace.

Planting throughout the space consists of Australian plant species, together with plants native to South Africa and the Middle East.

Note: The list of names below is a compilation of 1897 volunteers for the 1st Australian Horse, many of whom were later to fight in the Boer War, 1899-1902.

Inscription

Plaque

On August 28, 1897 these men answered a recruitment call for enrolment into the 1st Australian (Volunteer) Horse.

The muster at the Harden-Murrumburrah racecourse was the very first to take place in the formation of this famous unit. Many fought in the Boer War.The 1st Australian (Volunteer) Horse was one of the founding units which made up the Australian Light Horse when all mounted troops were amalgamated in 1903 as a result of federation.

Honour roll plaques

[List of 1897 recruits for the 1st Australian (Volunteer) Horse]

Plaque

To the memory of the [600] men and 1100 horses of the 2/1 North Australia Observer Unit under the command of Major Wm. Stanner who patrolled our northern Australian coast during the war against Japan 1942-1945.

50 horses drowned, were taken by crocodiles, or were destroyed after injury and other causes. To these must be added their foals which could not be reared. They gave their lives for Australia

Lest We Forget.

Plaque

Engaging the Turks 31st October 1917 Hand to hand fighting between men of the Australian Light Horse and the Turkish defenders of the Wells of Beersheba.

Sculptors:

Carl Valerius: Men and equipment

Anne Marie Ingham: Horses

Casting: Garage Art Foundry

Plaque

Retreat at Romani 4th August, 1916 Major Michael Shanahan, D.S.O. and 'Bill the Bastard' rescued four men who had lost their horses and faced certain death under fierce fire from the turks

Sculptors:

Carl Valerius: Men and equipment

Anne Marie Ingham: Horses

Casting: Garage Art Foundry

Plaque

To the everlasting memory of all those men and horses of the 21st Riverina Darwin, Bogainville, New Britain, Borneo

Their most honoured member Reg Rattey V.C.

Lest We Forget

Laid by comrades 20 - 03 - 2004 1st and 3rd Pack Transport Coys 2nd A.I.F. Moresby Kokoda Track, Milne Bay, WAU New Guinea 1942 - 1945

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Address
Cnr Bathurst and Albury Streets
Harden NSW 2587
Local Government Area
Hilltops Council
Setting
Garden/park
Memorial type
Board/roll/plaque/tablet
Statue/sculpture/artwork
Wall
Recorded by
Mr David Roden, NSW Premiers Dept. and Peter Levarre-Waters
Year of construction
1997-2003
Dedication date
30 August 2003
Conflict/s
South African War (Boer War), 1899–1902
First World War, 1914–18
Second World War, 1939–45