There are many reasons Club Menangle hosts an annual Beersheba Day Breakfast on October 31.
Mainly though it is because the Australian Light Horse Brigade in NSW was assembled at Menangle in 1917, where men and their horses honed their skills before heading for battle in World War I.
They did not know it then, but they were destined to take part in one of the most famous cavalry charges in human history.
More importantly, it proved to be a crucial victory for the Allies, who weren’t going too well three years into the first ever global conflict.
Ten years ago, Menangle resident Sue Peacock started talking to marketing man Steve Wisbey about the historic links between Menangle and the Australian Light Horse Brigade.
Two years later in 2014 – and after a fair bit of research – the first Beersheba Day breakfast was held.
This morning, Steve Wisbey, whose great grandfather Fred was a member of the famous Light Horse Brigade, could not be there.
Ms Peacock was in attendance and told the South West Voice in Macarthur it was wonderful to see that Club Menagle continued to hold this great annual event and thanked them for their generosity.
The entry of the 7th Light Horse Regiment Menangle Historical Troop started the proceedings held in front of the Beersheba Centenary Wall.
It was followed by wreath laying and the reading of The Ode by Iain Evan, president of the Camden RSL sub branch.
After the haunting sounds of The Last Post and The Reveille had subsided everyone stood up for the singing of the national anthem accompanied by the stirring sounds of the Ingleburn Pipes and Drums band, who are pictured below.
The guest speaker this year was the director of the Australian War Memorial, Matt Anderson, who gave a detailed presentation about Beersheba and took questions from the floor.
Also in attendance this morning was Angus Taylor, the federal member for Hume, Nathan Smith, the member for Wollondilly, while Campbelltown councillor Karen Hunt was there representing Greg Warren, the MP for Campbelltown.
As part of today’s event, Club Menangle also unveiled the Beersheba tribute in the foyer of the Miracle Mile restaurant on level one.
“When this was downstairs only racing people saw it,’’ explained Club Menangle CEO Bruce Christison.
“We decided to move up it here where the general public could see this tribute.’’
It is a great collection that is on display, and it’s highly recommended for anyone visiting Club Menangle; pictured above is just one of many items.
