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The Last Charge of the Australian Light Horse: From the Australian bush to the Battle of Beersheba - an epic story of courage, resilience and derring-do
On 31st October 1917, as the day's light faded, the Australian Light Horse charged against their enemy. Eight hundred men and horses galloped four miles across open country, towards the artillery, rifles and machine guns of the Turks occupying the seemingly unassailable town of Beersheba. What happened in the next hour changed the course of history.
This brave battle and the extraordinary adventures that led to it are brought vividly to life by Australia's greatest storyteller, Peter FitzSimons. It is an epic tale of farm boys, drovers, bank clerks, dentists, poets and scoundrels transported to fight a war half a world away, and is full of incredible from Major Banjo Paterson to Lawrence of Arabia; the brilliant writer Trooper Ion Idriess and the humble General Harry Chauvel; the tearaway Test fast bowler 'Tibby' Cotter and the infamous warhorse, Bill the Bastard. All have their part to play in the enthralling, sprawling drama of the Australian Light Horse.
Theirs was a war fought in an ancient land with modern weapons; where the men of the Light Horse were trained in sight of the pyramids, drank in the brothels of Cairo and fought through lands known to them only as names from the Bible.
The Last Charge of the Australian Light Horse traces the hard path of the Light Horse from the bleakest of starts - being deprived of their horses and fighting at Gallipoli in the tragic Battle of the Nek - to triumph and glory in the desert. Revealing the feats of the Australians who built the legend, it is a brilliantly told tale of courage, resilience and derring-do from Australia's favourite storyteller.
This brave battle and the extraordinary adventures that led to it are brought vividly to life by Australia's greatest storyteller, Peter FitzSimons. It is an epic tale of farm boys, drovers, bank clerks, dentists, poets and scoundrels transported to fight a war half a world away, and is full of incredible from Major Banjo Paterson to Lawrence of Arabia; the brilliant writer Trooper Ion Idriess and the humble General Harry Chauvel; the tearaway Test fast bowler 'Tibby' Cotter and the infamous warhorse, Bill the Bastard. All have their part to play in the enthralling, sprawling drama of the Australian Light Horse.
Theirs was a war fought in an ancient land with modern weapons; where the men of the Light Horse were trained in sight of the pyramids, drank in the brothels of Cairo and fought through lands known to them only as names from the Bible.
The Last Charge of the Australian Light Horse traces the hard path of the Light Horse from the bleakest of starts - being deprived of their horses and fighting at Gallipoli in the tragic Battle of the Nek - to triumph and glory in the desert. Revealing the feats of the Australians who built the legend, it is a brilliantly told tale of courage, resilience and derring-do from Australia's favourite storyteller.
677 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2023
About the author
Peter FitzSimons
85 books492 followersPeter FitzSimons is one of Australia’s most prominent and successful media and publishing identities. His busy professional life involves co-hosting the breakfast program on Sydney's Radio 2UE, writing weekly columns for the Sydney Morning Herald and Sun Herald newspapers, appearing on Foxtel's Back Page television show and, when time permits, authoring best-selling books. A correspondent for London's Daily Telegraph as well, he is also in high demand as a guest speaker and presenter
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 6, 2023
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
I've been waiting on this book for ages, and it was absolutely and completely worth the wait.
Brilliant from start to finish. Peter Fitzsimons, in his inimitable style, has done it again, telling the story of the Australian light horse and their epic, British Army-saving charge on Beersheba in October of 1917, extendin
g the narrative either side to take in Gallipoli before and the rest of the Middle East campaign after. Sadly, despite Beersheba being a stunning victory almost cinematic in style - mounted infantry in a last-gasp charge at daybreak to secure water for the army - it is a barely-known part of our military history.
For reasons I have never understood, Australians prefer to talk about and memorialise the Gallipoli, campaign (a failure from the get-go), than Beersheba: a stunning triumph. Hopefully Fitzsimons' brilliant narrative changes that.
I've been waiting on this book for ages, and it was absolutely and completely worth the wait.
Brilliant from start to finish. Peter Fitzsimons, in his inimitable style, has done it again, telling the story of the Australian light horse and their epic, British Army-saving charge on Beersheba in October of 1917, extendin
g the narrative either side to take in Gallipoli before and the rest of the Middle East campaign after. Sadly, despite Beersheba being a stunning victory almost cinematic in style - mounted infantry in a last-gasp charge at daybreak to secure water for the army - it is a barely-known part of our military history.
For reasons I have never understood, Australians prefer to talk about and memorialise the Gallipoli, campaign (a failure from the get-go), than Beersheba: a stunning triumph. Hopefully Fitzsimons' brilliant narrative changes that.
December 7, 2023
I really enjoy Peter Fitzsimons writing style. His sense of humour, amazing way of describing things etc. I enjoyed learning this chapter in history.
February 27, 2025
Just finished my latest read—another FitzSimons Aussie epic. This could be the last one, but let’s be honest, every now and then you spot a FitzSimons book going cheap, and you just can’t help yourself. Anyway, here’s a very Aussie review of The Last Charge of the Australian Light Horse by Peter FitzSimons.
Peter FitzSimons has once again spun a bloody ripper of a yarn with The Last Charge of the Australian Light Horse, diving headfirst into one of the most dashing, dust-covered, and downright legendary moments in Australian military history. True to form, he doesn’t just tell the story—he throws you right into the saddle, spurs digging in, dust clogging your throat, and bullets whizzing past your ears.
This is the tale of the bush-born, tough-as-old-boots Australian Light Horsemen, a mob of larrikins who knew how to ride like the wind, fight like the devil, and take the mickey out of their pommy officers when the situation called for it—which was often. FitzSimons follows their journey from the hellhole of Gallipoli (If you remember the movie Gallipoli, Mel Gibson’s character and his mates were on the shores of Gallipoli as part of the reinforcements—men from the 3rd Light Horse Brigade, sent in to hold the line.). Then to the scorching deserts of the Middle East, where they truly came into their own. The grand finale, of course, is the famous charge at Beersheba in 1917—where, against all odds and with their bayonets fixed (because they weren’t issued proper sabres, the poor buggers), they galloped straight into the teeth of the Turkish defences and won the day.
FitzSimons doesn’t hold back in dishing out credit where it’s due. General Harry Chauvel, the no-nonsense Aussie commander who knew his men and how best to use them, gets a well-earned nod. So too do the horses—especially the legendary Bill the Bastard, a beast so mean-spirited only a handful of blokes could ride him, and Midnight, whose tragic fate is one for the ages. Even Banjo Paterson pops up, because of course he does.
One of the more interesting takes in the book is how FitzSimons deals with T.E. Lawrence, the so-called “Lawrence of Arabia.” Now, while the old boy has had more than his fair share of the limelight, FitzSimons makes sure the Aussies and Kiwis who slogged it out in the Middle Eastern campaign don’t get brushed aside in favour of one plucky Brit in fancy robes. Lawrence had his role, sure, but he wasn’t the be-all and end-all, and FitzSimons does a cracking job of setting the ledger straight.
There’s also a big wrap for British General Sir Edmund Allenby, who took over the whole shebang in mid-1917. FitzSimons paints him as a proper old-school warrior—sharp as a tack, tough as boot leather, and exactly the sort of bloke you’d want in charge of a campaign going pear-shaped. Unlike his predecessor, General Archibald Murray, whose leadership at Gaza saw the troops copping a hammering, Allenby got stuck in, took charge, and turned the whole thing around. Under his command, the Australians weren’t just cannon fodder; they were a key part of the strategy, and by the time they rode into Damascus, the war in the Middle East was all but won.
Now, FitzSimons being FitzSimons, there are a few moments where the storytelling goes full theatre, with imagined dialogue, big booming action sequences, and the odd comparison to the British Light Brigade in Crimea. He also leans hard into the good old “brilliant Aussies versus clueless British brass” trope, which, while not entirely untrue, could probably do with a bit more nuance.
What FitzSimons does best is bring history to life in a way that makes you feel like you’re right there in the thick of it—sharing a joke around the campfire, cursing the officers who wouldn’t know one end of a horse from the other, and thundering towards Beersheba, bayonets gleaming, ready to make history. It’s a wild, rollicking ride that does the Light Horse proud.
Peter FitzSimons has once again spun a bloody ripper of a yarn with The Last Charge of the Australian Light Horse, diving headfirst into one of the most dashing, dust-covered, and downright legendary moments in Australian military history. True to form, he doesn’t just tell the story—he throws you right into the saddle, spurs digging in, dust clogging your throat, and bullets whizzing past your ears.
This is the tale of the bush-born, tough-as-old-boots Australian Light Horsemen, a mob of larrikins who knew how to ride like the wind, fight like the devil, and take the mickey out of their pommy officers when the situation called for it—which was often. FitzSimons follows their journey from the hellhole of Gallipoli (If you remember the movie Gallipoli, Mel Gibson’s character and his mates were on the shores of Gallipoli as part of the reinforcements—men from the 3rd Light Horse Brigade, sent in to hold the line.). Then to the scorching deserts of the Middle East, where they truly came into their own. The grand finale, of course, is the famous charge at Beersheba in 1917—where, against all odds and with their bayonets fixed (because they weren’t issued proper sabres, the poor buggers), they galloped straight into the teeth of the Turkish defences and won the day.
FitzSimons doesn’t hold back in dishing out credit where it’s due. General Harry Chauvel, the no-nonsense Aussie commander who knew his men and how best to use them, gets a well-earned nod. So too do the horses—especially the legendary Bill the Bastard, a beast so mean-spirited only a handful of blokes could ride him, and Midnight, whose tragic fate is one for the ages. Even Banjo Paterson pops up, because of course he does.
One of the more interesting takes in the book is how FitzSimons deals with T.E. Lawrence, the so-called “Lawrence of Arabia.” Now, while the old boy has had more than his fair share of the limelight, FitzSimons makes sure the Aussies and Kiwis who slogged it out in the Middle Eastern campaign don’t get brushed aside in favour of one plucky Brit in fancy robes. Lawrence had his role, sure, but he wasn’t the be-all and end-all, and FitzSimons does a cracking job of setting the ledger straight.
There’s also a big wrap for British General Sir Edmund Allenby, who took over the whole shebang in mid-1917. FitzSimons paints him as a proper old-school warrior—sharp as a tack, tough as boot leather, and exactly the sort of bloke you’d want in charge of a campaign going pear-shaped. Unlike his predecessor, General Archibald Murray, whose leadership at Gaza saw the troops copping a hammering, Allenby got stuck in, took charge, and turned the whole thing around. Under his command, the Australians weren’t just cannon fodder; they were a key part of the strategy, and by the time they rode into Damascus, the war in the Middle East was all but won.
Now, FitzSimons being FitzSimons, there are a few moments where the storytelling goes full theatre, with imagined dialogue, big booming action sequences, and the odd comparison to the British Light Brigade in Crimea. He also leans hard into the good old “brilliant Aussies versus clueless British brass” trope, which, while not entirely untrue, could probably do with a bit more nuance.
What FitzSimons does best is bring history to life in a way that makes you feel like you’re right there in the thick of it—sharing a joke around the campfire, cursing the officers who wouldn’t know one end of a horse from the other, and thundering towards Beersheba, bayonets gleaming, ready to make history. It’s a wild, rollicking ride that does the Light Horse proud.
November 18, 2024
What a wonderful book to read aloud to my middle son as part of his WWI unit study this year. I had heard bits and pieces about the Battle of Beersheba but never read or studied it in depth. Peter FitzSimons does a remarkable job of writing in such a way as to make it seem as if you are RIGHT there.
January 25, 2025
Really nice read.
Very well written. Mostly objective apparently.
I would totally recommend it to anyone who would like to know more regarding the events and personalities of that era and specifically the middle eastern theater of world war I.
Very well written. Mostly objective apparently.
I would totally recommend it to anyone who would like to know more regarding the events and personalities of that era and specifically the middle eastern theater of world war I.
Did Not Finish
March 13, 2024His other books are great, but this one just didn’t seem to have any sense of continuity. Perhaps it was just me, but I couldn’t get into it.
June 29, 2024
The content was good but I could not stand Fitzsimmons story telling. First and only book of his I will read.
July 2, 2024
Pretty good.
January 3, 2026
Another great one by FitzSimons, telling the story of the exploits of Australians in the deserts of the Middle East in WWI against the Ottomans.
February 23, 2024
While turning historical events into 'gripping yarns' is usually fairly successfully achieved by this author, the breathless enthusiasm of this work feels overdone. In addition, the obvious haste to reach the 2023 Christmas market has resulted in numerous annoying errors. Proof-reading was clearly rushed; witness the many inadvertent promotions and reductions in rank of certain individuals (even on the same page!).
Disappointing - particularly in comparison to some of his previous triumphs like Kokoda and Hubert Wilkins.
Disappointing - particularly in comparison to some of his previous triumphs like Kokoda and Hubert Wilkins.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews