The proud ability that Queenslanders have always had for self-reliance was commemorated on Sunday with a unique ceremonial mounted parade.
Organised by the Queensland Mounted Infantry Historical Troop, the event honoured the 160th anniversary of the forming a defence force for the fledgling colony of Queensland.
Comprising both mounted and dismounted troops of the 2/14 Light Horse Regiment plus Light Horse troops from a wide area of Queensland and NSW, and the Queensland Police Mounted Unit, it was a spectacle rarely seen, of civilians and the Australian Defence Force parading together under a single command.
QMIHT president Jed Millen said the event had been a significant one for many reasons, not least that the 2/14 Light Horse Regiment commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Tom McDermott CSC DSO, and the regimental sergeant major, led the parade of 67 horsemen and women mounted on Historical Troop horses.
"Occasions like this are one of the ways the young of today are learning about their heritage and how our wars were fought," he said.
In 1860 when the colony was barely a year old, with the Crimean War that Britain and her allies had fought against Russia fresh in the minds of administrators, Governor Sir George Bowen decided to do something about it.
According to Queensland's current Governor Paul de Jersey, who addressed the parade on Sunday, Governor Bowen observed that the new colony was "entirely defenceless".
With ongoing concern about the imperial Russian navy's intentions in the Pacific, right beside the colony of Queensland, Bowen quickly called for the formation of a volunteer corps.
"The response was equally rapid, with the formation in 1860 of mounted rifle volunteer units in Ipswich and Brisbane," Mr de Jersey said.
"In raising a Queensland defence force, Sir George Bowen and the first volunteers laid the military foundations for army units that have since played a proud, crucial and much-honoured and respected role in Australia's defence."
The Colonial Defence Force were the antecedents for 9th Battalion, Royal Queensland Regiment and 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment (Queensland Mounted Infantry), current units of the Australian Defence Force Order of Battle.
Both identify those early volunteer units as contributing to their own distinguished military DNA, Mr de Jersey said.
'The combined list of campaigns and battles in which these two modern regiments and their predecessor units have served is a definitive list of notable feats of arms by Australians.
'They include the Boer War, Gallipoli, Beersheba and the Western Front, the major theatres of conflict in World War Two, and more recently, Iraq and Afghanistan."
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On Sunday the two regiments paraded their regimental guidons and colours, escorted by a 100-strong guard as well as the Army Band - Brisbane drum corps.
"The presence of the Queensland Mounted Police Unit, which also has a very long history in our state, has added further great distinction to the day," Mr de Jersey said.
"And the wonderful Queensland Mounted Infantry Historical Troop, impeccably turned out with uniforms and equipment thoroughly researched and meticulously recreated, have today brought our military history vividly to life."
Wearing period uniform of the Australian Light Horse and from the Boer War, mounted troops came from the QMIHT in Brisbane, Toowoomba, Lockyer, Laidley, Emu Gully, Cooroy, Woombye, Maleny, Gympie, Central Queensland, Rockhampton, Mt Morgan and Roma troops, as well as from Gunnedah and Guyra in NSW, and the Australian Army Veterinary Corp.
Mr de Jersey congratulated Jed Millen and organisers for their foresight, commitment and hard work in organising what he described as a "very special, indeed spectacular event".
Mr Millen said it had been wonderful to have Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll and local government representatives acknowledge the significance of the day with their presence.
"How proactive was our colony to look after itself," he said.
"In 1860 we were made up of Scots and Irish more than Queenslanders but we were the first to stand up for ourselves.
"A police force in Queensland wasn't established for another four years, in 1864, and the old Government House wasn't built until then either."
He said they were keen to keep the profile of the Light Horse before the public and were now looking at ways they could be part of the 130th anniversary of the 1891 Shearers' Strike next year.
Mr de Jersey said the parade had been fitting in advance of Anzac Day in reminding the population of the service and sacrifice of those who followed, and follow in the footsteps of Queensland's first defence force.