Horsemen on Parade

The mounted men are on the move, to bivouac out West,
Light Horsemen from the regiments, who stood there with the best.
Memories come flooding back, to people of my age,
Of emu feathered youngsters, parading as on stage.
They were the cream of manhood, as they trained as if for war,
To have instilled the knowledge, from those who went before.
Learning of the desert war, from men who fought the Turk,
They wore the colours of the King, their duties they’d not shirk.
When war broke out in thirty nine, they were the few prepared,
They were in the vanguard, of men who really cared.
The horses left behind them, they trained with steeds of steel,
In Carriers and Armoured Cars, with horsemen at the wheel.
Later they were scattered, to units far and wide,
Some fought in the desert, with the British by their side.
While others trained for battle, in the jungles to our north,
To meet the vicious Japanese, these young men ventured forth.
Our history tells the story, of how they fought and won,
Of the struggle in the jungle, where they seldom saw the sun.
Bougainville the island, where the nip stood strong and bold,
many of the stories from there, will not be told.
But the tide was slowly turning, as each advance was made,
With the Stewart tanks at Buna, Light Horsemen on parade.
The struggle in New Guinea, at last had gone to plan,
As Aussie troops have landed, to fight at Tarakan.
Then the bombs had fallen, on the cities of Japan,
To force capitulation, they surrendered to a man.
The jungle war had finished, as the weary troops returned,
To their homeland of Australia, to the peace they all had earned.
The horsemen of the Regiments, had fought among the best,
Scattered through the units, from docks to mountain crest.
I wish them luck on this parade, on through the Central West,
To finish up at Trundle, where they’ll meet the very best.