Official History of the 7th Australian Light Horse Regiment available on-line

For many military units in the First World War, the best source of information on a unit is its 'official history'. These were often written soon after the war, by an ex-officer of the unit, and produced in very limited numbers. While clearly demand for such a publication may be understandably low, time has rendered the possibility of gaining access to such books almost impossible.

This is certainly the case for "The history of the 7th Light Horse Regiment A.I.F." which was written by John Dalyell Richardson, Commanding Officer of the 7th Light Horse Regiment from 1916-1919 and published in 1919 by Radcliffe Press, Sydney. 200 numbered copies were produced.



I was offered a copy of the official history five years ago, in poor condition with half the cover torn off, for $1,000. I declined for the obvious fiscal reasons that beset any PhD student (and sanity), but a copy has since sold for over $4,000 at auction.

In the early 1980's, a second print was produced - I know little of this edition, and while I've not been lucky enough to procure one, I know that they sell for about $300.

Thankfully, the 7th Light Horse history has now been made available in digital format on-line at 'The AIF Project' (www.aif.adfa.edu.au), thanks to Peter Dennis. From the home page, scroll down on the left hand side to 'additional sources'. A number of other unit histories are also available.

So no more complaining about an inability to access the official history! If any reader has trouble finding the history, please don't hesitate to contact me and I can forward it to you by e-mail.