10th Light Horse Regiment (Australia) - History - First World War

First World War

In October 1914, following the outbreak of the First World War, a squadron was raised in Western Australia known a "C" Squadron, and formed part of the composite 7th Light Horse Regiment with squadrons from Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. A month later, the flow of recruits meant that it was possible to form a specific Western Australian Light Horse Regiment which took the name 10th Light Horse Regiment, to serve as part of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and attached to the 3rd Light Horse Brigade. It was the only AIF light horse unit raised in Western Australia. Initially it had planned only to raise a squadron-sized unit, however, as numbers of volunteers grew the decision was made to raise an entire regiment of Western Australians drawn from the 5th Military District.

Following training in Australia, the regiment was sent to Egypt, arriving on 8 March 1915. The regiment's first action of the war came during the Gallipoli campaign. Due to terrain and the static nature of the fighting on the peninsula, it was felt that mounted units could not play a part, however, a number of light horse units were deployed in a dismounted role as infantry. The 10th Light Horse Regiment arrived at Gallipoli on 20 May 1915 and initially it was largely used in a defensive role. In August, however, the Allies attempted to break the stalemate, launching the August Offensive. The regiment's action at the Nek during this offensive was immortalised in the final scenes of the 1981 Peter Weir film Gallipoli. It was also involved in the Battle of Hill 60 later in August before being evacuated along with the rest of the Allied troops in December 1915.

Reverting to its original mounted infantry role, the regiment saw service in the Middle East for the remainder of the war, taking part in numerous actions including those at Romani and Beersheba. The regiment was later given the honour of leading the Australian Mounted Division, and accepted the formal surrender of the city of Damascus on 1 October 1918. Later, while awaiting repatriation, the regiment was used to suppress a nationalist uprising in Egypt in 1919. Following its return to Australia, the 10th Light Horse Regiment was disbanded in 1919.

During its service during the war, the regiment suffered 237 killed and 479 wounded. Its members received the following decorations: one VC, one CMG, three DSOs and one bar, one MBE, nine MCs and one bar, 15 DCMs and one bar, 15 MMs, three MSMs, 48 MIDs and four foreign awards. Hugo Throssell was the regiment's sole Victoria Cross recipient.