Desert Mounted Corps Memorial
Desert Mounted Corps Memorial
This was the first Memorial to be constructed on Anzac Parade. The Desert Mounted Corps Memorial commemorates all the Australian Mounted Divisions, the Australian Flying Corps and every other Australian and New Zealand unit and formation that served in Egypt, Palestine and Syria from 1916 to 1918.
The Desert Mounted Corps Memorial is a free-standing, cast bronze figurative sculpture, set on a granite base. It depicts a mounted Australian Light Horseman defending a New Zealander who stands beside his wounded horse.
The original Memorial was in Port Said, Egypt. However, Egyptian nationalists destroyed it during the 1956 Suez crisis. This Memorial was created by noted Melbourne sculptor, Ray Ewers OAM. It is a second casting - a recreation - of the original sculpture by Australian sculptor, C. Webb Gilbert.