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AUSTRALIA IMPORTANT MILITARY AUTHOR&SOLDIER BOOK,"YEOMANRY AND MOUNTED RIFLE"

$ 79.18

Availability: 74 in stock
  • All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
  • Condition: Excellent for age

    Description

    AUSTRALIAN COPY OF BRITISH TRAINING MANUAL FOR THE MOUNTED RIFLES,IRISH HORSE AND YEOMANRY.
    PERSONAL COPY AND INSCRIBED BY AUTHOR AND SOLDIER.
    FATHER AND SON.
    BOOK ONE ONLY
    "Pre-WW1 Yeomanry And Mounted Rifle Training 1912 Parts 1&2"
    Vintage Military, Yeomanry and Mounted Rifle Training. Parts one and two, 1912 (1915). Book is in great shape. No stains or tears. Spine is tight when book is open. K J Hawkey was the previous owner. See photos . 250+ PAGES. LINE DRAWINGS.
    We have in our archive  2 books relating to the Hawkey family . K.J. Hawkey has written about the 21st Light Horse and another Major J.M. Hawkey A.I.C. owned a second book from the hand of K.J. Hawkey. K.J. seems to be from Wagga Wagga
    Book one is Yeomanry and mounted rifle training 1912 corrected to 1915 , signed
    Book two is Mind and Method in Minor Tactics 1919 , signed
    ·
    The AIC was the Australian Instructional Corps, which means that Major J.M. Hawkey was a permanent officer involved with administration and instructional duties at time when almost all the Australian forces  were part-time militia (Australia did not have a regular army until after the Second World War).
    ·
    In line with this the 21
    st
    Light Horse Regiment was a militia light horse regiment and while many individuals may have had wartime service in the First World War, the regiment did not serve overseas. It may have been partially mobilised for home defence early in the war, but the militia mostly withered during the war.
    ·
    The force created for overseas service during the war was the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). Many militia soldiers and officers volunteered for this in 1914–18. It was created because of provisions in the Defence Act that made use of the pre-war militia for overseas service impractical. The AIF was raised as an all-volunteer force and attempts to introduce conscription during the war failed at the ballot box, so it stayed that way throughout.
    ·
    J.M Hawkey did, however, serve in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) overseas during the First World War. He did not enlist until 1916, as a 2
    nd
    Lieutenant (at 38-years-old!), meaning he did not serve at Gallipoli (which was in 1915). He served with the 36
    th
    Battalion (so infantry, not light horse) on the Western Front and was a major by the end of 1917, and was awarded a Military Cross .
    ·
    His AIF service record is digitised and available through the National Archives of Australia website .
    ·
    There is no AIF service record for a K.J. Hawkey (spelled that way, or he enlisted under a pseudonym etc), so I cannot say anything about this chap. He may have served in the militia or some other Australian military establishment at some point, but seemingly was not in the AIF.
    ·
    Yeomanry and mounted rifle training
    , 1912, was the standard British Empire training manual for part-time (militia, citizen forces and the like) mounted troops of the period – British Yeomanry, Australian Light Horse, New Zealand Mounted Rifles etc. It was used for the AIF light horse units during the war and the militia units back in Australia until the late 1920s, when it was replaced by something more up to date.
    ·
    British military doctrine and standards were used as a matter of course in Australia then.
    ·
    Both these publications would the sort of things the an AIC officer would possess in order to support and conduct training for militia units like the 21
    st
    Light Horse Regiment.
    As a final point, a regiment in the Australian system (being a British pattern army) is different from in the US system. A light horse regiment would be the equivalent to a US cavalry squadron in size. It was a ‘unit’ under the command, usually, of a lieutenant-colonel.
    COPYRIGHT CSA 2020