Anzac centenary celebrations as Light Horse riders re-enact ride

RIVERFIRE isn’t the only show in town this evening. If you’re in the Brisbane CBD at 5pm you should check out this blast from the past.

BRISBANE’S CBD will receive a blast from the past this evening as about 100 horses and riders in World War I uniforms take to the streets in commemoration of the Anzac legend.

The ride, held by the Australian Light Horse Association, brings together enthusiasts from around the country and marks 100 years since the first Queensland Diggers left Australian shores to join the war effort.

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It will be the biggest group of horses to have marched through the city in almost 75 years, with the route taking the march down Adelaide St and into Anzac Square at 5pm in the lead up to tonight’s Riverfire celebrations.

The event is part of the lead up to the Anzac centenary next year, and coincides with an exhibition at the Courier-Mail Piazza at South Bank to commemorate 9th Infantry Battalion.

More than 1500 men from the 9th Infantry Battalion and the 2nd Light Horse Regiment joined other units to form the Queensland contingent of the First Australian Imperial Force, and were among the first to land at Gallipoli in 1915.

Colonel Chris Austin, president of the 9th Battalions Association, said today’s events were about remembering the lessons from 100 years ago.

“It was this week 100 years ago that soldiers of the 9th Battalion and the 2nd Light Horse left Queensland at Pinkenba on the OMRAH and the Star of London to travel to Egypt essentially,” he said.

He said Australians’ interest in Gallipoli and the Anzacs was growing enormously in the lead up to next year’s centenary.

“There is a growth in popularity and a growth in interest of what happened 100 years ago, (and) it’s history worth reflecting upon because we can draw lots of lessons out of that,” he said.

“We can draw lessons of the positive things — the courage, the mateship, all of those Anzac traditions, and we can also draw the lessons of the brutality of war.”

The encampment at South Bank features 30 actors dressed in period costume and World War I uniforms, and includes re-enactments and education about life and service during the era.

Originally published as Anzac centenary celebrations as Light Horse riders re-enact ride