Australians at War: We salute you!

The Aussie service men and women we salute you. You have demonstrated the grit, the  determination, and the majestic bravery to hold  the enemy at bay.

You brought out the tiger in the den. You fought in all wars to save a nation, our continent, again all odds. In the air, on the sea or on the ground, the tiger was unleashed.

Understandably, during World War 1, the Royal Flying Corps and the RAN grew considerably in size and fought in many notable actions; and, of course, there were many deaths.
We salute you! – FM.
 

Main: The battle cruiser HMAS  Australia leading the Australian Fleet into Sydney Harbour on October 4, 1913.

 

The Great War: Melbourne Cup 1914 - bewildered Australians found themselves at war!

The start of the first Melbourne Cup, Flemington, November 1861.
 

When the 1914 Melbourne Cup was run, several boatloads of Aussie troops were already ensconced at war. 

It was a subdued Cup Day in 1914. It was the dark days. It was tame in colour, in movement and even in the meeting and greeting of old friends.

The attendance was nearly 100,000. It was a sobering reminder that the world was at war.

There had been some agitation to suspend racing for the duration … but the VRC had promised to donate one-third of its profits for its Spring Meeting, or 5000 pounds – whichever was the greater – to patriotic funds.

The first war-time Melbourne Cup was by won Kingsburgh, a comparative outsider at 20-1; the horse was popular with the crowd because they admired the owner, VRC committeeman, L.K.S. Mackinnon.
 

A soldier takes cover at the entrance to the Ypres battlefield.
 

Mr Mackinnon had made several previous attempts to win the Cup and had at times supported his horses very seriously. Originally, he used the nom-de-course of “K. S. MacLeod” but Kingsburgh was the first horse he raced under the correct name.

He did well over Kingsburgh’s success. He took early odds and his horse won 1400 pounds for an outlay of only 78 pounds.

Kingsburgh’s form had not been particularly impressive before his cup win. The horse’s previous success had been the Carlingford Mile at Rosehill as a 3-year-old. Nevertheless, there was no element of luck about his Melbourne Cup win; he accomplished it in the record time of 3.26.
 

Separated by half the globe from the place where trouble
had been fomenting, most Australians had believed that 
all was well with the world. Nonetheless, the young nation 
followed the Prime Minster, Mr Fisher, when he said, 
“Australians will stand alongside our own to help and defend 
her to our last man and our last shilling.” Australians rallied 
to the cause.

Bred at Shipley stud, Kingsburgh was purchased by Mackinnon under advice by trainer Charles Wheeler for 700 guineas. Wheeler took charge of Kingsburgh in the early stages of his racing career, but the young horse raced poorly on Melbourne tracks.

Mr Mackinnon took him to Randwick where he was trained by Isaac Foulsham, the former Victorian who had gone to Sydney for health reasons.

Foulsham was a skilful trainer with a well-liked dry humour. He had won the Melbourne Cup thirty years ago with the versatile Malua. He won it for a second time with Kingsburgh.

Young apprentice G. Meddick, who rode the winner, was trained by Bill Kelso who taught Jimmy Pike and many other great riders.

<< Adapted by Frank Morris from The Melbourne Cup by Maurice Cavanough; 1971; published by Lloyd O’Neil Pty Ltd.
 

GRAND YEARS is now a monthly feature dealing with stories of human interest. Next issue, will be on December 6.
 

Defining Moments: First Melbourne Cup