FROM FRANKI:
HOGUE, Oliver
39; Sickness 3/3/1919; 14th Light Horse Regiment.
Journalist. Parents Hon. James & Jessie Hogue., “Surbiton” Moruben Road, Mosman. Died of influenza in England.
As “Trooper Bluegum” he wrote several books and poems on the Light Horse.
One of his best known poems was:
THE HORSES STAY BEHIND
In days to come we’ll wander west and cross the range again;
We’ll hear the bush birds singing in the green trees after rain:
We’ll canter through the Mitchell grass and breast the bracing wind:
But we’ll have other horses. Our chargers stay behind.
Around the fire at night we’ll yarn about old Sinai;
We’ll fight our battles o’er again; and as the days go by
There’ll be old mates to greet us. The bush girls will be kind.
Still our thoughts will often wander to the horses left behind.
I don’t think I could stand the thought of my old fancy hack
Just crawling around Cairo with a Gyppo on his back.
Perhaps some English tourist out in Palestine may find
My broken-hearted waler with a wooden plough behind.
No; I think I’d better shoot him and tell a little lie:
“He floundered in a wombat hole and then lay down to die.”
Maybe I’ll get court-martialled; but I’m dammed if I’m inclined
To go back to Australia and leave my horse behind.
Myth? http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=15411&hl=+trooper%20+bluegum#entry118741
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AWM
Q from Donna Workman-Streater: “My grandfather came to Australia to join the Australian Army as a Lighthorseman. He gained his citizenship and did just that. He had an immense for horses, thus being a Lighthorseman suited him perfectly. The love of horses has come through to me, but mainly my daughter, who constantly asks questions on the details on why the Lighthorseman killed their horses. Through my research I discovered that the Ligthhorseman was not allowed to bring their horses home, and the soldiers felt it kinder to kill their horse than to let it run with little food. So, my question is on the details surrounding the why, how, where the Lighthorseman killed their beloved horse. I can only imagine it would of been quite an emotional time. I believe one horse came home and would also be interested in why the one horse. Is there any readings or books on the horses of the Lighthorseman? Thank you for all your time, Donna, and daughter Brielle
Australian War Memorial @Donna & Brielle – Unfortunately quarantine regulations and a lack of shipping (they were having trouble getting the soldiers home between 1918 and the 1920s) meant the horses could not return to Australia. Few Light Horsemen shot their own horses, the story that most did was perhaps influenced by a poem called ‘The Horses stay behind’ by Major Oliver Hogue, who called himself ‘Trooper Bluegum’. Most horses were handed over for disposal – either sold locally, transferred to the Indian Cavalry or, if old and in poor condition, then shot, mostly by the Veterinary Corps. The same happened with draught horses and mules, who also did amazing work in the war but this is generally forgotten about.
There are many books about the Light Horse but a relatively recent one with some interesting detail about these events is ‘Forgotten Men: The Australian Army Veterinary Corps 1909-1946’ by Michael Tyquin, published in 2011.
Sandy, General Bridge’s horse, was the one that did return to Australia. In fact, until the Unknown Soldier was interred in Australia in the 1990s, General Bridges was the only soldier whose body was returned from the war for burial, so they both received special treatment. http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/horses/sandy.asp
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The Australian Newspaper Service starts its roll-out of the Sydney Morning Herald
RELATIVES
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MOSMAN WAR MEMORIAL
Hogue F A World War 1
Hogue O World War 1 DOS
Hogue S J World War 1
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sERVICE RECORD
http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=4760942
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http://www.awm.gov.au/wartime/44/page54_bou/
ADB http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hogue-oliver-6700
awm http://www.awm.gov.au/people/216.asp
NZTEC BIO IN HIS OWN WORDS? http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/ReiKaOr-fig-ReiKaOr05-011a.html
http://archive.org/details/trooperbluegumat00hogurich
Trooper Bluegum at the Dardanelles; descriptive narratives of the more desperate engagements on the Gallipoli Peninsula ([pref. 1915])
http://archive.org/details/cameliers00hogurich
The cameliers [microform (1919)
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