Western Light Horse was a shortlived unit being raised in 1902 by Major C.G. Dennison and disbanded after the end of the war.

A good account of the formation of the unit and its services can be found in Dennison's 'A Fight to a Finish' (1904).

Justin

Good morning Justin,
That is a very rare little book, took me ages to find a copy!
Frank
JustinLDavies wrote:

Hello Percy,

A warm welcome to the forum, looks like you have had some interesting information.

Paul

Thanks all for your helpful suggestions, and the warm welcome to the forum. You've been a great help.

I spent an enjoyable part of yesterday evening perusing Major Dennison's Fight to the Finish - this is now available online, which saved me having to wait to order a copy. The section on the Western Light Horse is relatively short, which I guess is natural given its brief history, but interesting nonetheless. All in all, Major Dennison seems to have quite an eventful war! He certainly seems to have had some strong feelings about it.

The history of the Colonials who fought for the British is not something I knew much about previously, so it's been great to learn a little more about this side of the conflict.

One further question I have about G F Wells is as follows.

His regimental number of the Western Light Horse appears to have been 22. Does that suggest he was the 22nd man to join the regiment, or were regimental numbers typically ascribed on some other basis?

Many thanks again,

Percy

Hello Percy
Well you would like to think so, but even a very brief look at their nominal roll does tend to dispel this theory as you could have a man who joined a month after another man and yet it is he who has a lower number! having said that, some of the men with low numbers did join on the same day!
Regards Frank
Percy wrote:

Hello Frank,

Thanks for your helpful reply.

The nominal roll for the Western Light Horse indicates that a few of its members were appointed in 1901 - e.g. William Moore (12.12.01) - which was before Major Paris received the order from Kitchener to form the Western Light Horse, according to Dennison's Fight to the Finish.

I guess these individuals enrolled as part of Dennison's earlier efforts to raise a local cavalry corps.

Best,

Percy