The Lighthorsemen - Ambushing the Ambushers

Facing attacks from Turkish cavalry along Beersheba, the Lighthorsemen plan to play the Turks at their own game.

"DROP 'IM!"

From the movie "The Lighthorsemen."

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• The
• Lighthorsemen
• Australia
• World
• War
• One
• Turks
• Turkey
• Turkish
• Cavalry
• Mounted
• Infantry
• Ambush

[seoden]

A tactical question: why didn't all cavalry units adopt the lance considering it's not a substantial financial burden, and yet gives a bonus against enemy cavalry especially against enemy cavalry? Even dragoons could benefit from from having lances. Even with rifles, enemy cavalry could still reach your infantry lines so a wooden pole with a sharp bit on the end would have still been useful. Just an interesting thought

[HenryvKeiper]

@seoden Once you get past the sharp, pointy end of the lance, it's pretty much useless.

[bofts]

Excellent

[cheechnchongsbong]

@AlexSDU hi Alex...it might be of interest to you to know that the Light Horse were sent to Gallipoli and fought as infantry where they were decimated in such actions as "The Nek" and "Quinns Post"...you're right...shooting from the mounted position can be very ineffective - most of the Australian Light Horsemen were bushmen and farmers sons - they had learned to ride and shoot in their youth...they were tough and hard people who proved to be outstanding soldiers at war...

[AlexSDU]

@cheechnchongsbong & @truffyt

Thanks for the interesting facts, mates. But actually I was referring to the one in this scene, 3:32, where the officer ordered them to halt and dismount. It take time to from dismounting from the horse until ready they to fire, even if it only take them less then a minute.

[cheechnchongsbong]

@AlexSDU The Australian Light horse were one of the most effective cavalry forces in history...40,000 horsemen ran riot across the holy lands in WW1 - the charge at Beersheeba was the last great and successful cavalry charge in history. The Light Horse were really mounted infantry but under the command of Harry Chauvel they became the scourge of the Turkish army and the pride of the British Empire

[aszkanfederation28]

the turkish general is bold but stupid .

[truffyt]

@AlexSDU Because it's incredibly difficult to take propper aim, manouver the bolt, etc from a horse. You'd have to stop the horse as well if you'd like to actually hit, and that would make you into a easier target. The main reason this charge was successful was that they moved in on the Turks so fast that they panicked and failed to adjust the range in their sights, meaning that they overshot the Australians rather soon in the charge.

[ThePalaeontologist]

I love their uniforms...proper soldiery.

[AlexSDU]

Why don't they just shoot while mounting, instead of having to dismount 1st?

The Native American did it, as seen in most movies, and so does the Arabs(Lawrence of Arabia & Lion of the Desert).

[rpsmith221]

one thing to consider in this use of the lance discussion is the range factor. Its range is pretty limited and rigid. Where as machine guns and rifles pretty much made them useless. Take WW2 for example. The whole idea of cavalry was pretty much a has been idea with the advent of tanks ans armoured vehicles. The polish cavalry at that time was wiped out by the Germans for that reason. The Russians used cavalry during WW2 but mainly to get forces behind the entrenched German positions. Look it up

[liverpoolmatt87]

@seoden what you have to remember is that australians were not europeans and the creation of the light horse was created by their own idea. even lord kitchener highly respected the lighthorse because he can see how tactifully useful they became.

[liverpoolmatt87]

@gnarkillkicksass I dont see how you can equate real life war to a computer game because they're both different.