The Light Horse

Joining the Lancers meant a chance to compete in monthly parades and military tournaments. Up until the outbreak of the Boer War, these tournaments included tent pegging, tilting the ring with lances, lemon cutting and cutting the Turks head which involved galloping past a cabbage post and splitting it with a sword. The cliffs around Yellow Rock received a plastering of shellfire during these years. Sham fights were also held against neighbouring towns.

The Illawarra Light Horse Corps was engaged in home service during the maritime strike of 1890 when Sydney shipping was paralysed and great riots broke out. The Corps consisting at that time of 11 Gerringong men, 17 Albion Park men and 7 Wollongong men, under command of Captain Weston, left by train to keep order in Sydney and render signal service.

In 1892 Captain Weston and the Illawarra Cavalry resigned, however, the Corps was soon re-formed and carried on through the years until the outbreak of WWI in 1914. Officers of the Light Horse Corps included Colonel Colin Fuller of Dunmore, Theodore James Grey of Albion Park and Hector and Jack Raftery of Albion Park. Colonel Fuller went on to command the 6th Australian Light Horse during the First World War. During the war the Light Horse Company camped at Sydney Showground; only 24 days after the war had been declared. In 1917, a further 250 Albion Park men went into camp with the company.

Military officers representing the Australian Light Horse have been here during the week making arrangements for the removal of the headquarters from Albion Park to Kogarah. Adjuvant JA Raftery, Lieutenant C Ziems and Sergeant W H Mood of the headquarters staff here will probably resign their positions if arrangements can be made to do so at the present time. (South Coast Times 24.12.1914).

During war years, newspapers were the only means of communication and rumours spread throughout the region. Spy scares forced the local (at home) regiment out on bivouac to look for the enemy. The local regiment remained at almost full strength and continued its parades as in peacetime. There was public outcry about this when reinforcements were so desperately needed in the trenches overseas, however it was recognised that most of the members were sons of dairy farmers, and when war broke out many of their farm hands rushed off to enlist. In such a labour intensive industry, someone had to stay on the farm. Some of the older sons had already enlisted leaving younger brothers to run the farm and incidentally to join the local cavalry.

For some years after the end of WWI the regiment again went into limbo, people had had enough of military things until interest was revived by young men in their twenties who had been schoolboys during the war but were fired by the glamour attached to the wartime exploits of the Albion Park Light Horse.

During the course of WWII, the Light Horse Company carried out patrols, rifle drills and trained new horses from their camp at Oak Flats.

Sources:

1. Tongarra Tales info & Albion Park Saga.

2. Illawarra Historical Society Bulletin September 1975

3. Recollections from Bert Weston Shellharbour City Museum collection.