Upper Yarra
7 Tuesday, 31 October, 2017
Mayor to make way
10
Mail Covering the Upper Yarra Region of the Yarra Ranges Shire
Lorna Brown remembered
A Mail News Group publication
22-23
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Beersheba Day By Kath Gannaway As Yarra Junction woman Sally Brennan attends commemorations to mark the Centenary of the Battle of Beersheba today, 31 October, her thoughts, and no doubt tears, will be with her grandfather Brigadier Sir Murray William James Bourchier, CMG, DSO, VD. And, for Sally and her brothers who have travelled to Israel for the Beersheba services, their thoughts will also be with their uncle, Bill Bourchier, Sir Murray’s last surviving child who at 90 and now resident at Estia Aged Care in Yarra Junction, will have his own quiet thoughts of his father. Bill has been without his father for 81 years but as he clutches a photo of his dear dad it’s clear the passing of the years has not dimmed the love and admiration. Murray Bourchier joined the Light Horse as a young man in 1909 and went on to serve with them in Egypt and on Gallipoli before crossing the Suez Canal into the Turkish-held Sinai Desert in 1917. Promoted to captain, major and then lieutenantcolonel, he was given command of the 4th Light Horse Regiment and personally directed his men into their first action in Palestine, the attack on Beersheeba on 31 October, 1917. This was an heroic action, and while leading his troops into the battle he also fought on the frontline alongside them, many mates from his own home district, at full gallop over two miles to capture water wells that were crucial to the Allies if they were to advance any further. In the months that followed he was with them as they moved into the Jordan Valley to take part in the Es Salt raids. On 30 September, 1918, as part of the advance guard of the Australian Mounted Division they advanced from Sasa to Damascus capturing the enemy position at Kaukab, held by 2500 Turks with machine-guns. Leading the charge were the two regiments in his command, known as ‘Bourchier’s Force’. They opened the way to Damascus where his troops were the first to enter, capturing the town in what was to be the last-ever cavalry charge for the Light Horse. “We grew up very much with the knowledge of our grandfather,” Sally said as she and her brother Chris sat with their Uncle Bill ahead of their trip to Israel. “We had an enormous portrait by Sir John Longstaff that hung in the sitting room when we were little.” Continued to page 3
Bill Bourchier looks over a cherished photo of his father with Sally Brennan and Chris Brennan. 174511
Picture: KATH GANNAWAY
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