Light Horsemen headed to Israel for memorial dedication

SEVEN World War II veterans will attend the dedication of the Park of the Australian Soldier at Beersheba in Israel next week, the site of a famous World War I battle involving Australian Light Horse regiments.
The WWII veterans, in their 80s, will attend because there are no surviving light horsemen from WWI.
The centrepiece of the Israel park is a sculpture of a light horseman leaping the trenches, designed by Australian sculptor Peter Corlett.
It marks the charge of the 4th and 12th Light Horse Regiments against Turkish posts at Beersheba on October 31, 1917.
It will be dedicated by Governor-General Michael Jeffery and Israeli President Shimon Peres. Alan Griffin, the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, will also attend.
Dale Robertson, now 86, is one of the WWII veterans attending the dedication. He served in Papua New Guinea and Bougainville for 12 months, beginning in 1944.
"I'm very, very honoured," he said. "Light Horsemen were all very close companions, (who) respected one another for their horsemanship and their abilities."
Mr Robertson enlisted in the 2nd Light Horse Regiment in 1940.
The party travelling to Israel will also attend an Anzac Day dawn service to be held at Mount Scopus War Cemetery in Jerusalem.