Thursday, 4 September 2014

Australia

THE ANZAC MEMORIAL TO THE LIGHT HORSE ALBANY WEST AUSTRALIA.

Albany : WA.   (Journey #2 )     ANZAC LIGHT HORSE MEMORIAL  ALBANY .WA.

 This place to visit was very special for me as This Memorial high up on Mount Clarence and overlooking King Georges Sound in Albany Western Australia for this is where all the ships gathered in " The Sound" to load the 30,000 Troopers of The Australian Light Horse (ALH ) and New Zealand Light Horse . Also being loaded were some 7,477 horses and many thousands of tons of  supplies, stores and ammunition for the task ahead."The Great Convoy"( of over 40 ships)  as it was known  was to take some of the  biggest and the best boys from both Australia and New Zealand as it steamed out of King Georges Sound that day at dawn on the 1st November 1914.This was the last view that the boys would ever see of Australia.as over 8,000 never returned. This magnificent Memorial that is dedicated to all those boys stands as a silent reminder of their and their special (whaler) horses endurance. The Memorial shows an Australian light Horseman bending down from his horse to offer assistance to a New Zealand "cobber" who is wounded along with his horse.
    This Monument was originally erected in 1932 at Port Said in Egypt but was destroyed at the huge riots in 1956. The Lovely stone base was saved and transported to Albany. There was good fortune when the replica of the statue was recast and the Memorial was reconstructed on its present site in 1968. There was conjecture over it being placed here but as most of the monies that were needed for reconstruction was by military personnell's donations..as the Government of the day wanted it placed  in Canberra..but this idea was quickly quashed.. As I said this was a very special place to visit on my journey as my father was one of the Light Horsemen that was to go to Egypt and, allover the Middle East with the (A.L.H.). Anyone visiting this site can also,  in Albany visit the Military Museum..
  The tradition of ANZAC Day " dawn service" was started by Padre Arthur White who, on the 25th April 1930 led a small group here to the top of Mount Clarence to commemorate the many fallen from that "great war". He wrote in his church register ."this was the "First dawn Service held in Australia"
I might mention that in World War II Albany was the secret Allied submarine base of operations.
A special visit to Albany on my Road-trip in the south west of Western Australia. this was another stop on my "Around the World by Train journey . Albany was a special visit on my road trip SW.

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