LIGHT HORSE RETURNS TO BRIGHT AFTER 100 YEARS

A four-man section of the 8th Indi Light Horse led the 4/19 Prince of Wales’s Light Horse when it exercises its freedom of entry to Bright on Saturday 28 October 2023. It was almost 100 years since a light horse troop was located in the township.

The riders who were all former serving members of the 8/13 Victorian Mounted Rifles. The 8/13 VMR linked with the 4/19 PWLH to form the current regiment in 1991. The last light horse in the northeast Victorian town was the Bright Troop of the Indi Light Horse, 16th and 8th regiments, which existed between 1908 and 1925.

Section of light horse commanded by Sergeant Adrian Younger leading the 4/19 Prince of Wales’s Light Horse Regiment in its Freedom of Entry march at Bright, 28 October 2023. Section is drawn from the 8th Indi Light Horse Heritage Troop located at Wangaratta.

The practice of Freedom of Entry originated in medieval Europe, when a special privilege of entry within the walls of a city might be granted to a band of armed men when it was decided by the city authorities that the group was disciplined and unlikely to engage in disorderly conduct or worse, rape and pillage. The Freedom of Entry parchment permitted the armed band to march through the town ‘with swords drawn, bayonets fixed, drums beating, bands playing, colours flying and in full panoply or regalia. The practice is now ceremonial, representing the highest honour which can be bestowed on a military unit by a city or town.

On 28 October, in addition to the light horse section, 4/19 PWLH had 50 soldiers, two Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles (PMV), and the Army Band from Kapooka. The regimental guidon with an escort of sergeants was located in the centre of the marching group.

Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle (PMV) is standard equipment for 4/19 Prince of Wales’s Light Horse. Two of these vehicles featured in the Freedom of Entry march at Bright 28 October 2023. These armoured personnel carrier vehicles are designed to carry and rapidly deploy up to 10 battle-ready soldiers. he four-wheel-drive vehicles are designed for all environments and are blast-resistant. Retired Australian Army major general Mick Ryan describes Bushmasters as a "wonderful Australian-designed and built machine". They have been used by Australian forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The regimental guidon of the 4/19 Prince of Wales’s Light Horse is one of, if not the most decorated guidon in the Australian Army. It carries campaign and battle honours from the South African War (Boer War), World Wars One and Two, and the Vietnam conflict. It incorporates the colour patches of six light horse regiments and three armoured regiments.

The current regiment came into existence in 1991 when two regiments raised in 1948, 4/19 PWLH and 8/13 VMR were linked to form one new regiment. It is now the only active regiment in the British Commonwealth with the title ‘Prince of Wales’s.

The title dates to 1862 when a regiment of volunteer cavalry in the Kyneton area adopted the title Prince of Wales’s Light Horse Hussars. The title descended to the current regiment through the 17th Light Horse (Prince of Wales’s Light Horse). The badge of the regiment reflects that association.

The badge of the 4/19 Prince of Wales’s Light Horse, an Australian Army Reserve cavalry regiment, features three ostrich feathers fanning out from a crown and two horses on a boomerang base, along with two wings bearing the Prince of Wales’s motto "Ich Dien" . The badge was adopted circa 1955 to replace the silver Rising Sun . The regimental colour patch is sewn to the puggaree. It is the patch of the 4th Light Horse AIF. The colour split is in the opposite direction from other Light Horse regiments because the 4th was the Divisional cavalry of the 1st Division AIF.

Tradition has it that the three-plume crest and motto come from the 100 Years War and the Battle of Crecy in 1346, fought between the English and French. Blind John, King of Bohemia and Duke of Luxembourg was killed fighting on the French side. The sixteen-year-old heir to the English throne, Edward the Black Prince was also present at the battle. It is believed he gathered the fallen nobleman’s helmet from the battlefield. So impressed was he with the courage and dedication to duty of the dead King John that he adopted the crest and motto as his own.

Northeast Victoria has a long association with the light horse. There were detachments of the Victorian Mounted Rifles centred on Benalla and Euroa prior to Federation. Following Federation these detachments were grouped to form the 8th Light Horse Regiment (VMR).

Following the introduction of universal training in 1912 there was a rapid increase in the numbers to be trained. Concurrently a restructure of the light horse units in Victoria resulted in the 8th being renumbered 16th Light Horse and given the territorial title ‘Indi’. With a squadron headquarters at Wangaratta, troops were formed in towns including Corryong, Tallangatta, Chiltern, Rutherglen, Beechworth, Myrtleford and Bright.

Group photograph of ‘B’ Troop ‘C’ Squadron 16th Indi Light Horse Regiment taken at Beechworth 5 August 1914 which was two days after the outbreak of World War One (WWI). The Bright Troop was a sub-unit of ‘C’ Squadron, but it is not known if it formed ‘B’ Troop.

Many men went on to serve with the Light Horse in France and the Middle East during World War One, 1914-18.

In 1920, following the war, the Light Horse regiments in Victoria were renumbered yet again. The 16th reverted to 8th Light Horse (Indi). The Bright troop however faded. Its decline mirrored the decline in population in all the old gold mining areas. After 1926 the closest unit was the troop at Myrtleford.

At the dinner following the march the 8/13 VMR Association presented a plaque to Alpine Shire commemorating the Bright Troop of the Indi Light Horse and marking the occasion of the Freedom of Entry. The plaque is to be affixed in a prominent location near the Clock Tower in the centre of Bright.