Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This black-and-white clip shows the Australian Light Horse in Palestine during the First World War. It opens with a long shot of Australian military horsemen coming over dunes in the desert with the distinctive emu feather plumes in their hats and carrying their bayonets. This shot is accompanied by stirring orchestral music with a martial beat. The next shot shows the men dismounting for a break and the clip concludes with a scene in which a group of three friends exchange thoughts on the subject of war and the purpose behind this specific war.

Educational value points

• This clip is from the 1940 Australian feature film Forty Thousand Horsemen produced by Charles Chauvel, which re-created the heroic exploits of the Australian Light Horse during the First World War. Chauvel made the film as a tribute to his uncle, Lieutenant-General Harry Chauvel, the hero of the Palestine campaign. It includes the famous Australian 4th Light Horse cavalry charge in 1917 on the Turkish line at Beersheba, a town now in Israel but then part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire.

• Images and sound are used to appeal to Australian patriotism in the clip at a time when Australia was involved in the Second World War. The impressive sight of hundreds of horsemen marching three abreast through inhospitable terrain is supported by stirring martial music and the opening chords of Advance Australia fair. Scenes of individual Australian soldiers draw attention to their fortitude and mateship in the harsh desert conditions.

• Elements of the mythical status achieved by the men of the Australian Light Horse Brigades are suggested in the clip. These men, many of whom had earlier served at Gallipoli, became celebrated for their horsemanship, their fortitude in the face of adversity and their mateship, as well as for their fighting abilities. The clip portrays their stoic endurance of the desert conditions, their concern for their mates and close relationship with their horses.

• The clip reveals the screenwriter’s awareness of the official account of the reconnaissance patrols of the Australian Light Horsemen in the Sinai Desert during the First World War. The official history refers to the intense heat (over 50 degrees Celsius), the inadequate allowance of one quart bottle of water per man per day (about 1 litre), the acute physical distress experienced by troops and horses and finally, the soldiers’ ponderings on the historical associations of the route they followed.

• Through the character played by Chips Rafferty the clip promotes a view of the War as defending democracy at a time when Australia was committed to defending Britain, but without the enthusiasm that had greeted the outbreak of the War in 1914. Jim’s examples of what democracy can provide its citizens are all couched in terms to appeal to the independent spirit of Australians. His speech would appear very wooden and staged to audiences today.

• Jim refers to the possibility of their exploits being in the history books. He and his friends will achieve one of the most celebrated victories in the Allied desert campaign of the First World War. The capture of Beersheba from the Turks by the Australian Light Horse broke through the enemy line of defence, secured a supply of water for the troops to advance into Palestine and avoided the sort of stalemate that had occurred at Gallipoli.

• Forty Thousand Horsemen (1940) is one of the most important films in Australian film history. Made by noted filmmaker Charles Chauvel (1897–1959), it broke all box office records in Australia when it was released and was also a major success overseas. The dramatic climax to the film, the re-creation of the charge of the Light Horsemen to take Beersheba, helped cement the film’s appeal and showed the skills Chauvel had gained while in Hollywood.

• The clip provides an example of the work of Australian filmmaker Charles Chauvel. He made nine feature films, many of which, like Forty Thousand Horsemen, pursued epic narratives with a strong sense of nationalism. The film also features the young Australian actor Chips Rafferty (1909–71). Born John William Goffage, he became a very popular actor, playing mainly 'outback’ characters who embodied typical Australian qualities, and had a long and illustrious film career.

• The music score is by composer Lindley Evans (1895–1982), who collaborated with Charles Chauvel on several films and found opportunities where he could to incorporate distinctly Australian motifs into his soundtracks. A few bars of what has become Australia’s national anthem can be heard in the clip.

Stirring music plays as the line of horses and soldiers progresses through the desert. A man falls from his horse in exhaustion from the heat and one of the soldiers gives him water to drink.
Officer Halt for ten minutes! Dismount.
Red Gallagher Oh, Blazes, you poor helpless old coot.
He pours some of his water into his hat and the horse drinks from it.
Officer Here, cut that out, Gallagher.
Red Take it all.
Officer Save your water, boys. You can all smoke. Come on, fella, don’t take your shirt off. Save the water, fellas.
Red Fancy going out for a day’s muster of sheep or cattle with a baby’s bottle. Yet we’re supposed to conquer the desert with this. Oh, well. I suppose we’ll be alright as long as the wells don’t run dry and the camel trains can keep up with us.
Larry You know, fellas, it’s funny when you come to think of it. They used to pass through this way in chariots in the early days. Now we’re covering the same track. The road of kings, they called it. Yeah. Darius, Saladin, Napoleon. They all passed through this way before us.
Jim Time don’t change much, Larry. Whether you’re wearing flowing robes or duds like these. You know, we might be in the history book ourself one of these days. That is, if there’s any room in that big book of England for a couple of extra pages.
Red Pretty big book. Blenheim. Flodden Field. Waterloo and Balaclava. We’re always fighting about something. Come to think of it, what the hell’s it all about? What are we fighting for?
Jim I suppose it’s for the right to stand up on a soapbox in the Domain. The right to tell the boss what he can do with his job if we don’t like it. And the right to start off as a rouseabout and finish up as prime minister. That’s what we’re fighting for.
Larry A pretty good reason too, Jim. God, it’s hot.