My Waler and Me

MY WALER AND ME

Words and music (Trad arr G Seal) © Graham Seal 2005

(Walers were the specially bred and trained mounts of the Australian Light Horse units)

When the war first started

In nineteen-fourteen

We enlisted in the Light Horse

My waler and me

We fought in the desert

In the sun and the sand

We charged at Beersheba

Where the Turks made their stand

And when the fighting was over

We called it a day

They said we could go home

But your horses must stay

Now Egypt is a hard land

For a fine horse to be

So we took a long ride

My waler and me

My rifle was loaded

With a single round

And my old companion

Went to his last stamping ground

So pin the feathers to my hatband

Let the bugler play

Turn my boots in the stirrups

And lay me away

Put my rifle and saddle

Alongside me

And we’ll again ride together

My waler and me