Ceremony befitting of the 52-light horse men of Maules Creek

The Maules Creek community will gather for their annual Anzac Day commemoration this Tuesday, April 25 at 11am.

In keeping with the tradition which started in 2011, the commemoration will also honour the 52 Light Horse Men of Maules Creek who served in WWII.

A mounted escort provided by the Campdraft club will make their way along Harparary Road to Maules Creek Memorial Park, where the service will take place.

Recreation Reserve Trust member Steve Bradshaw APM will guide the procession, in Australian Light Horse uniform, leading a horse in military tack with boots backwards.

The Anzac Day service, only interrupted once due to COVID, sees up to 70 community members in attendance.

When held the same weekend as the campdraft in 2021, the service was attended by 500 horsemen and women, with a 100-horse procession to mark the event.

The Maules Creek Memorial monument of a Light Horse and mounted troop will be the focal point for the ceremony, and the timeless reminder of the service Maules Creek men and all Anzacs provided for home and country.

While every small community has its own deep connections to those who gave their lives to Anzac, Steve Bradshaw encapsulates what the honourable service of the 52 Light Horse brigades’ men means to Maules Creek.

“What commemorating Anzac means to the people of Maules Creek is freedom and community,” said Mr Bradshaw.

“To be able to live in a free society, well-removed from the tyranny and dictatorship that was fought for by our ancestors, 52 of whom in WWII came from Maules Creek.”

“In 1942 when Pearl Harbour was bombed, it became apparent that the war was too mechanised for horses, so most of the 52 joined sections of the army and navy, many saw action in the Middle East, New Guinea, Europe, and various Pacific Islands,” said Mr Bradshaw.

The passionate horsemen and women of Maules Creek commissioned the Light Horse monument for the Light Horses and soldiers, purchasing and erecting the monument in 2019.

The Maules Creek memorial precinct is also home to an avenue of trees, 52 Kurrajong and Silky Oak trees, one planted by the students at Fairfax School in 1946 for each of the 52 Maules Creek soldiers.

In 2019, three remaining students came home and planted a pine tree, a direct descendent of the Lone Pine of the Gallipoli battlefield, beside the memorial monument.

Currently standing at about four feet tall, the lone pine of Maules Creek memorial will one day provide shelter for the Light Horse monument, and future Anzac remembrance.

After the ceremony at the Memorial precinct, the Maules Creek Hall will open its doors for a community gathering, including BYO food and drinks.

There will be barbecues available for those who choose to cook their own meat.