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8th Light Horse, Australian Imperial Force
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| Want to know more about 8th Light Horse, Australian Imperial Force? There are:-1 items tagged 8th Light Horse, Australian Imperial Force available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
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Those known to have served with8th Light Horse, Australian Imperial Force during the Great War 1914-1918. - Campbell Sydney James. Capt. (d.14th Jul 1915 )
- Knuckey Verner Gladders. Pte.
- Lees Vivian Worthington. Tpr. (d.7th Aug 1915)
- Maygar VC. Leslie Cecil. Lt.Col.
- Maygar VC, DSO, VD. Leslie Cecil. Lt.Col. (d.1st Nov 1917)
- Maygar VC, DSO, VD, Leslie Cecil. Lt.Col. (d.1st Nov 1917)
- Rice Edgar George. Tpr.
All names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please Add a Name to this List
Records of 8th Light Horse, Australian Imperial Force from other sources.
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Tpr. Edgar George Rice 8th Light Horse Regiment My Grandfather, Edgar Rice enlisted for duty in Bendigo on the 12th of September 1914. Trooper 439 C Squadron, 8th Light Horse Regiment.
He returned to Australia on the 17th of December 1917.
He was an extremely brave man.
Edgar is my Mother's father, & unfortunately,
he passed away when my mum was very young on 6th of May 1945.
My mum Marie therefore, left school and went out to work to do her best to earn a few pounds, so the family could survive.
Mum told me that when she was a young girl, Edgar would take her to a park in Melbourne, where there was a statue of Simpson and his donkey, and tell her stories of how he knew him during many conflicts early in WW1, and his brave deeds.
Edgar suffered a gun shot wound to the hip as he arose from the trenches on the morning of 7th of August 1915 during
The Battle of the Nek.
That morning, the 8th Light Horse Regiment were the first two waves of brave men that jumped out of the trenches, with pure Aussie bravery, but were unfortunately hit with a huge amount of gunfire.
Many brave Diggers passed away instantly.
It must of been devastating to see your mates lose their lives, in front of your own eyes that fateful morning.
Edgar, somehow, made it back to the trenches, before he was hit by more gun fire.
To be honest, it's a miracle that I am writing this right now.
If it wasn't for the courage and bravery of my Grandfather,
I wouldn't be here to tell his amazing story.
Unfortunately, so many men lost their lives, and never came home.
Each and every one of them fought for our freedom.
God Bless Our ANZAC'S
"LEST WE FORGET"
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Lt.Col. Leslie Cecil Maygar VC, DSO, VD, 8th Btn. Australian Light Horse (d.1st Nov 1917) Leslie Maygar was the son of Edwin Wills Maygar and Helen Maygar, and a native of Dean Station, Kilmore, Victoria, Australia.
He received the V.C. during the Second Boer War 1901. An extract from the London Gazette, dated 11th Feb., 1902, records the following:- "At Geelhoutboom, on the 23rd November 1901, Lieutenant Maygar galloped out and ordered the men of a detached post, which was being outflanked, to retire. The horse of one of them being shot under him, when the enemy were within 200 yards, Lieutenant Maygar dismounted and lifted him on to his own horse, which bolted into boggy ground, causing both of them to dismount. On extricating the horse and finding that it could not carry both, Lieutenant Maygar again put the man on its back and told him to gallop for cover at once, he himself proceeding on foot. All this took place under a very heavy fire."
He was killed in action on the 1st November 1917, aged 42 and is buried in the Beersheba War Cemetery in Israel
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Tpr. Vivian Worthington Lees 8th Btn. Light Horse (d.7th Aug 1915) Ralph Lees epitomized the Aussie Digger. He was a 29 year old horse dealer from Corryong, Victoria. He enlisted
It is likely he met his two mates at the Broadmeadow's training camp in Victoria. They were Stanley Edmiston and Reginald Wallace Richardson. They travelled together on HMAT Wiltshire as part of the 4th reinforcements and were assigned to the 8th on the same day at Gallipoli. The three of them died on the 7th August 1915 at the Battle of the Nek. Their bodies were never recovered. By good fortune they are commemorated on adjoining panels on the Lone Pine Memorial.
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Lt.Col. Leslie Cecil Maygar VC, DSO, VD. 8th Btn. Australian Light Horse (d.1st Nov 1917)  Lieutenant Colonel Leslie Cecil Maygar served with the 8th Battalion, Australian Light Horse during WW1 and was killed in action on the 1st November 1917 age 43. He is buried in Beersheba War Cemetery in Israel. he was the son of the late Edwin Wills Maygar and Helen Maygar. Native of Dean Station, Kilmore, Victoria, Australia.
An extract from the London Gazette, dated 11th Feb., 1902, records the following:
At Geelhoutboom, on the 23rd November 1901, Lieutenant Maygar galloped out and ordered the men of a detached post, which was being outflanked, to retire. The horse of one of them being shot under him, when the enemy were within 200 yards, Lieutenant Maygar dismounted and lifted him on to his own horse, which bolted into boggy ground, causing both of them to dismount. On extricating the horse and finding that it could not carry both, Lieutenant Maygar again put the man on its back and told him to gallop for cover at once, he himself proceeding on foot. All this took place under a very heavy fire."
He had received a V.C. during the Second Boer War in 1901
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Lt.Col. Leslie Cecil Maygar VC. 4th Light Horse Regiment  Leslie Cecil Maygar was born near Kilmore, Victoria, on 27 May 1868. He was farming at Euroa when he volunteered for service with the Victorian Mounted Rifles and served in the South African War. It was during this conflict that Maygar was awarded the Victoria Cross for the rescue of a fellow soldier under heavy fire. After the war he returned to farming and once again volunteered for military service when the First World War broke out, enlisting with the Australian Imperial Force on 20 August 1914. Maygar departed Melbourne with the 4th Light Horse Regiment aboard HMAT Wiltshire on 19 October 1914.
Whilst serving on Gallipoli in 1915 Maygar was promoted to the rank of major and in October that year was appointed to command the 8th Light Horse Regiment. In December 1915 he began to document his experiences in a series of letters home, recalling in great detail the evacuation from Gallipoli, which he deemed "a marvellous piece of military strategy probably never equalled in all the annals of history." Maygar was in command of the last party to withdraw from the trenches at ANZAC Cove.
Rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel, Maygar distinguished himself as a fine leader and horseman in the desert campaigns of Sinai and Palestine, during which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. Maygar continued to document his experiences, in particular the extensive preparations for the second battle of Gaza in April 1917. He died on 1 November 1917 from wounds sustained at the battle of Beersheba the day before. Leslie Maygar is buried at the Beersheba War Cemetery in Israel.
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Pte. Verner Gladders Knuckey 8th Light Horse Regiment, Australian Royal Flying Verner Gladders Knuckey was born at Cobar, New South Wales on 8th July 1886. When he enlisted, he listed his profession as a clerk in the Commonwealth Treasury and was living in East Malvern, Victoria. Knuckey had previously spent two years with the Light Horse Regiment before enlisting as a Private with the 8th Light Horse Regiment on 16th July 1915.
Knuckey left Melbourne for Egypt on 10th November 1915 aboard HMAT Ascanius. Since the Light Horse Regiment was considered unsuitable for the initial operations at Gallipoli, they were deployed without their horses. The 8th Light Horse Brigade formed the first two waves for the disastrous attack on the Nek on 7th August 1915 and left the Gallipoli Peninsula on 20th December.
Knuckey returned to Egypt and with the 8th Light Horse Brigade defended the Suez Canal and participated in the advance which eventually turned the Turks at Romani. In January 1917 Knuckey volunteered for the 2nd Squadron of the Australian Flying Corps in Egypt as an electrician because he wanted to see England and France. He later trained as a wireless operator. The 2nd Squadron was initially drawn from 67 Australian Squadron and supplemented by volunteers from the light horse regiments from Australia. From England Knuckey went to France on 6th May 1918 before returning back to England in February 1919. Verner Knuckey returned to Australia on 23rd September 1919.
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Capt. Sydney James Campbell 8th Light Horse Regiment (d.14th Jul 1915 ) Sydney James Campbell was born on 19 July 1887. He was educated at Geelong Church of England Grammar School, Ormond College and the University of Melbourne.Campbell worked as a medical practitioner in Portland, Victoria before the First World War.
Campbell joined the Australian Infantry Force on 29 November 1914 and was assigned to the 8th Light Horse Regiment. He departed Melbourne with the 8th Light Horse Regiment aboard HMAT Star Of Victoria on 25 February 1915.
Campbell suffered severe shell wounds at ANZAC Cove on 14 July 1915 and died aboard HS Sicilia. Sydney Campbell was buried at sea and is commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial, Turkey
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