Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

1st King Edward's Horse- Peter Nemaric

Although our main focus on this memorial has naturally been on the commemoration of Australians who fought in Australian forces, one group that we must never forget is that of Australians who fought in allied forces. These people, who mostly joined up with British forces during the world wars, deserve to be remembered just as much as those who bravely fought under Australian command.

In our database, we have many Australians who joined up while they were in the United Kingdom, often to study. It is important to remember that at the time, the distinction in people minds between service in the British and Australian forces was less clear.

In fact, there was even a specific unit set up by the British Army to house so called “Colonials” who were in the United Kingdom at the time of their enlistment.

This unit was known as the King Edward's Horse (The King's Overseas Dominions Regiment) and was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1901 in the context of the Boer War and went on to fight in the First World War.

King Edward’s Horse was composed of four squadrons of colonial volunteers who were resident in the United Kingdom - one of Asians, including Indians (British Asian Squadron), one of Canadians (British American Squadron), one of Australasians (Australasian Squadron), and one of South Africans and Rhodesians (British African Squadron). A New Zealand squadron was later formed, with the Australasian squadron being redesignated as Australian. During the Great War, as demand for manpower was critical, a second regiment was set up.

Uniforms of the regiment evolved over time, initially consisting of a rather tall slouch type hat with a scarlet plume, by the time the Great War broke out in 1914, these had been replaced by more conventional British army hats.

An early uniform of the King Edward’s Horse Regiment.[i]

the wartime uniform.

The motto of the Regiment was “Regi Adsumus Coloni”, Latin for “Colonials in Service of the King”.

Although there were well over 100 Australians in the regiment during the First World War, their war time story has been, unfortunately, largely unknown by the Australian public at large.

King George the Fifth with the King Edward’s Horse Regiment before the war.
The History of King Edward's Horse (The King's Oversea Dominions Regiment) / edited by Lionel James ; with a foreword by General Sir Herbert A. Lawrence. 1921

On the outbreak of war in 1914, the regiment was mobilised at the Duke of York's Headquarters in Chelsea, London, and remained in the capital until April 1915. At this point, the regiment was dispersed, and the four squadrons were sent to the Western Front with separate divisions. They were reunited in June 1916, the regiment serving as corps troops, and moved to Italy in December 1917. The regiment returned to France in March 1918, serving until the end of hostilities. Some reports suggest that the final British casualty of the war was a private in C squadron, which was the designation for Australians.

“From the London Annual Register, quoted in David Mitchell's 1919: Red Mirage:

On most parts of the front, fighting continued during the six hours' interval between the signing of the armistice and the moment when it came into operation... It was said that the last shots of the war were fired by a troop of King Edward's Horse, who were proceeding to capture a field gun a few minutes before eleven o'clock.

They shot two of the crew and were about to rush the gun when the officer in charge, watch in hand, stopped the operation.”

The Battle Honours awarded for the Great War were Loos, Ypres, Pilkem, Cambrai, Lys, Estaires, Hazebrouck, Pursuit to Mons and Italy.

It is interesting to particularly note that through the King Edward’s Horse Regiment, Australians fought in the Italian campaign, one of the war’s lesser-known theatres.

From 1915, Italy had been fighting a war in its north-eastern alpine region with the armies of Austria-Hungary. From the beginning of 1918 British and French troops, including the King Edward’s Horse began to arrive to provide support to the Italians.

Montello, Italy. c. 1918. A group of British Army dugouts on the Italian front.
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/H10211

Each squadron of the regiment wore badges representing their home colony.

“...I have just bought one of my own a very smart affair riding breeches and now have collar badges of Australian birth... the Kangaroo. Every man in our troop has the distinctive badge of his Colony - India an Elephant, Africa an Ostrich, Canada a Beaver and so on.” - 13 December 1914, Lt Allan Wettenhall Lade[ii]

Several of the members of King Edwards Horse were recognized with honours and medals for their actions during the war and quite a few of these were Australian including, Lieutenant Richard Ernest Noel Twopeny, who was born in South Australia and received the Military Cross and Bar for his actions.

Richard Ernest Nowell TWOPENY MC and Bar

Lieutenant William Burnett McCulloch from Deniliquin, New South Wales, was awarded a Military Cross “For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty at Maulde on 9th November 1918. He covered the advance with his troop with good judgement, sending back useful information, and charging a party of twenty infantry, with his twelve men, he killed three and routed the remainder, shooting the leading man with his revolver.”[iii]

William Burnett McCulloch as a cricket player for Geelong College, 1906

Basil Hastings Barber, another member of the King Edward’s Horse Regiment who was born in Australia lived a particularly interesting life. Before the war he was a member of the colonial police in India, joined the King Edward’s Horse in 1911 while studying at Oxford and went on to be attached to the British mission to French headquarters, where the French President awarded him the Croix de Guerre. He was also recognised with a Military Medal for his actions in France and Belgium. After the war he served in several British Foreign Office appointments in Eastern Europe before passing away from scarlet fever in Poland in 1925, aged 35.

One Australian who served in the King Edward’s Horse Regiment, Lieutenant Allan Wettenhall Lade, helpfully wrote a series of letters home giving details of his experiences. Lieutenant Lade was born in Tasmania and throughout the war he recorded his movements and daily life. Alan’s brother, John, known as Sam, was also a member of the King Edwards Horse, but he was sadly killed in 1917.

Allan and John (Sam) Lade

An example from Allan’s writings home is below:

“01 January 1918

Lt Allan Wettenhall Lade

Italy.

I have a nice peaceful hour all to myself in the mess and have been just thinking of you all and wondering what your plans and doings are. I have been thinking of all the past sundays that I can remember - and memory goes a good way back. What funny little beggars we must have been.

The most vivid picture of Sammie that I have is of a white haired kid in pinny the day we put a white chalk mark on the kitchen chimney - marking the day he hadn't cried - do you remember that and then I think he wept because we pocked fun at him.

I hope his photo is as much to you as it is to me. I see him always first thing when I wake up and invariably touch the frame myself and devote a few minutes to his memory.

Italy is such a peaceful quiet country all the time we have been here despite the intense cold the sky's have been so blue and never a breath of wind.

The ground is frozen at least 9 inches deep and we have difficulty in exercising the horses for fear they go lame. I have to go a long way yesterday on the old mare Swanee and was expecting her to be lame this morning but she is as fresh as a daisy.”[iv]

Although the King Edward’s Horse Regiment has been somewhat forgotten in modern Australia, at the time it was even advertised in Australian newspapers as an opportunity for young men keen to serve in the war effort but may have been rejected by the Australian authorities. Recruits were encouraged to sign up all the way from Australia and New Zealand.

Reading between the lines, I think a fair interpretation is that many of these advertisements may not have been intended for an Australian audience but rather for an audience of British people living in Australia, trying to encourage them to return to the motherland and help fill the need for manpower in the British forces.

KING EDWARDS HORSE REGIMENT. (1917, March 23). Daily Herald (Adelaide, SA : 1910 - 1924), p. 4. Retrieved October 14, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105397779

In conclusion, while we rightly remember the exploits and personnel of Australians who fought under the Australian Imperial Force and other Australian units, we must never forget the service and sacrifice of the Australians who fought under allied command. Many thousands of people born in Australia found themselves in the United Kingdom at the time that the war and their exploits deserve to be celebrated and commemorated just as much as everyone else.

Those who joined the King Edward’s Horse Regiment did so in order to serve their King and Country in the same manner as those who joined the Australian Imperial Force back home.

A collection of badges associated with King Edward’s Horse Regiment from their bulletin. Showing Australia, New Zealand, British American, British African and British Asian insignia.
https://kingedwardshorse.net/old_comrades.html

[i] KC (2024). The King’s Colonials. [online] The King’s Colonials. Available at: https://www.kingscolonials.com/kings-colonials-kc-... [Accessed 17 Oct. 2024].

[ii] Nemaric, Peter (2020). King Edwards Horse | History in Chronological Order. [online] Kingedwardshorse.net. Available at: https://kingedwardshorse.net/history.html [Accessed 17 Oct. 2024].

[iii] Nemaric, Peter (2020). King Edwards Horse | Honours & Awards. [online] Kingedwardshorse.net. Available at: https://kingedwardshorse.net/honours_awards.html [Accessed 17 Oct. 2024

[iv] Nemaric, Peter (2020). King Edwards Horse | History in Chronological Order. [online] Kingedwardshorse.net. Available at: https://kingedwardshorse.net/history.html [Accessed 17 Oct. 2024].

The History of King Edward's Horse (The King's Oversea Dominions Regiment) / edited by Lionel James ; with a foreword by General Sir Herbert A. Lawrence. 1921