13th Light Horse Regiment (Victoria)   [4th Light Horse Brigade] Served in Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front Formed Victoria for 4th Light Horse Brigade.
Badges displayed either unofficial or CMF.

Departed Melbourne on Persic 28 May 1915. 

• Relieved of assignment to 4th Light Horse Brigade 26 August 1915 and assigned to 2nd Division as its Divisional Mounted Regiment. On 10 March 1916 the establishment was changed to one Light Horse Squadron per Division. A, B and C Squadrons were reassigned to 2nd, 4th and 5th Divisions respectively and Headquarters and Machinegun Section were dispersed. When the establishment was again changed to have a single mounted Regiment under Corps control, it was decided to reassemble the Regiment. 

Headquarters and Machinegun Section reformed at Tel El Kebir, Egypt in May 1916 and accompanied the 5th Division to France where the whole regiment was reassembled on 2 July 1916. 

• Assigned to I Anzac Corps from 2 July 1916 and Australian Corps from 2 March 1918. 
  • 1st Reinforcements departed Sydney on Ceramic 25 June 1915, 
  • 2nd Reinforcements departed Melbourne on Malakuta 23 September 1915, 
  • 3rd Reinforcements departed Melbourne on Kyarra 20 August 1915, 
  • 4th Reinforcements departed Melbourne on Hororata 27 September 1915, 
  • 5th Reinforcements departed Melbourne on Ballarat 9 September 1915, 
  • 6th Reinforcements departed Melbourne on Hawkes Bay 28 October 1915 
    • and Ulysses 27 October 1915, 
  • 7th Reinforcements departed Melbourne on Ceramic 23 November 1915, 
  • 8th Reinforcements departed Melbourne on Clan MacCorquodale 6 May 1916, 
  • 9th Reinforcements departed Melbourne on Ayrshire 3 July 1916, 
  • 10th Reinforcements departed Melbourne on Themistocles 28 July 1916, 
  • 11th Reinforcements departed Melbourne on Pera 23 September 1916, 
  • 12th Reinforcements departed Melbourne on Borda 20 October 1916, 
  • 13th Reinforcements departed departed Melbourne on Ulysses 25 October 1916, 
  • 14th Reinforcements departed Melbourne on Persic 22 December 1916, 
  • 15th Reinforcements departed Melbourne on Orsova 16 December 1916, 
  • 16th Reinforcements departed Melbourne on Omrah 17 January 1917, 
  • 17th Reinforcements departed Melbourne on Ascanius 11 May 1917, 
  • 18th Reinforcements departed Melbourne on Suevic 21 June 1917, 
  • 19th Reinforcements departed Melbourne on Themistocles 4 August 1917, 
  • 20th Reinforcements departed Melbourne on Themistocles 4 August 1917, 
  • 21st Reinforcements departed Melbourne on Nestor 21 November 1917, 
  • 22nd Reinforcements departed Melbourne on Ulysses 22 December 1917, 
  • 23rd Reinforcements departed Sydney on Wiltshire 2 February 1918.

Battle Honours:  

• The 13th Australian Light Horse moving up past Gressaire Wood to participate in the attack that morning near Bray by the 9th Infantry Brigade.
• Note the steel helmets worn instead of the slouch hat that the Light Horse used in Palestine.

13th Light Horse Regiment

The 13th Light Horse Regiment was formed at Broadmeadows in Victoria in March 1915; it was the third light horse regiment to have been raised in that state. Its regimental number quickly led to it becoming known as the “Devil’s Own” regiment. It left Australia on 28 May and disembarked in Egypt on 29 June 1915.

The light horse were considered unsuitable for the initial operations at Gallipoli, but were subsequently deployed without their horses. The 13th Light Horse landed on 11 September 1915. For most of its time at Gallipoli the regiment manned the trenches at Lone Pine, one of the most heavily contested parts of the ANZAC front line. The regiment left Gallipoli on 20 December 1915.

Back in Egypt, the infantry component of the AIF was expanded from two divisions to four and the 13th Light Horse was broken down to provide a divisional cavalry squadron for the 2nd, 4th and 5th Divisions. These squadrons proceeded to France with their divisions in March and June 1916, and were eventually reunited in July when the 13th Light Horse was reformed as the cavalry regiment for I ANZAC.

On the Western Front, terrain and the nature of the war there limited the roles mounted troops could fulfil, but they were still heavily employed. The 13th Light Horse carried out traffic control, rear area security and prisoner escort tasks, and, when the tactical situation permitted, the more traditional cavalry role of reconnaissance. 

It was most active during the more mobile phases of the war on the Western Front, which included the follow-up of the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line in early 1917, the stemming of the German Spring Offensive of 1918, and the allied offensive of August and September 1918. The regiment’s largest engagement was during the operations to capture the Hindenburg “outpost line” between 5 and 9 September 1918 when it provided the advance guard, along a front of 13.5 kilometres, for the advance of the Australian Corps. The regiment had become the Australian Corps cavalry regiment upon its formation in November 1917.

Like much of the Australian Corps, the 13th Light Horse was completing a period of rest and retraining when the war ended on 11 November 1918. After the armistice its personnel were progressively returned to Australia for discharge. The regiment was disbanded on 30 April 1919. Text from AWM

• 57 killed, 328 wounded

• Decorations

  • 2 DSO
  • 5 MC, 1 bar
  • 3 DCM
  • 30 MM
  • 4 MSM
  • 10 MID
  • 5 foreign awards