Equine Heroes of WWI

The Desert Mounted Corps Memorial is a piece of public art that most people would probably miss, as it is almost hidden, set back into the south west external wall of the Royal Botanic Gardens.


It is a memorial to the 140,000 horses that served in the desert campaign in World War One, only one of which was able to return to Australia. The memorial was erected on Anzac Day 1950 by the friends and members of the Desert Mounted Corps. It was unveiled by Lady Chauvel, whose husband General Sir Harry Chauvel commanded the Desert Mounted Corps.

The memorial consists of  horses with ammunition pouches around their necks and reins held by a trooper in short sleeves, hats and boots, with ammunition pouches across his chest.

Like the Shakespeare Memorial this was also moved to its present location in the mid 1960's due to the construction of the Cahill Expressway.