Monumental creation: Sculptor Peter Corlett creates the memorial that will be placed in the Park of the Australian Soldier at Beersheba. Photo by Susan Gordon-Brown
CONSTRUCTION has begun in the Israeli city of Beersheba on a memorial and park paying tribute to the Australian Light Horse and its famous charge against Turkish forces at Beersheba on October 31, 1917.
Melbourne-based philanthropic organisation the Pratt Foundation is behind the initiative.
Pratt Foundation Chief Executive Sam Lipsky said the city of Beersheba had provided the land for the Park of the Australian Soldier.
“Within the park there will be two central features. There will be a 300-seat amphitheatre with a catafalque and a life-size sculpture of a light horseman on his horse. At the other end of the park there will be a purpose-built playground for children with disabilities,” Mr Lipsky said.
The project will not be finished for this year’s 90th anniversary of the famous charge, but will be unveiled on April 28 next year.
Sculptor Peter Corlett has been working on the sculpture and its design since last October.
“I chose to do this sculpture partly because my uncle was in the 9th Light Horse during the First World War. So there was a connection there, which made it interesting for me,” he said.
He was recommended for the job by the Australian War Memorial and the Australian War Graves Office.
“I have created two World War I memorials in France, and several that are featured at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra – Simpson and his donkey and Weary Dunlop, which are positioned out the front of the building and a number of other works that are inside,” Mr Corlett said.
He gained inspiration for the memorial’s design when he travelled to Beersheba in October last year for the 89th memorial service of the charge.
“I actually designed the sculpture sitting up in bed of the Tel Aviv Hilton at 3am, as I had a bit of jet lag and couldn’t sleep,” he said. “I was concerned, as is everyone is in the Middle East, about the situation of the clash between the three great religions. I wanted to address that in the sculpture to some degree.”
His design includes a triangular-shaped pool overlaid by a triangular slab, which he said represented the three main religions.
The main sculpture is of a rider and his horse that have just leapt a pile of sandbags.
“Both will be cast in bronze separately and, after being transported to Beersheba, they will be welded and pinned together,” Mr Corlett said.
“The height of the rider on the horse will be about 2m and together they will weigh a total of between 1-1.5 tonnes.
“I have used reference photographs from the period, of real horses and of a friend dressed in the light horse uniform.”
