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Landships II -> Landships WW1 Forum -> References -> "The Lighthorsemen" Replicas
Post Info TOPIC: "The Lighthorsemen" Replicas
James H


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"The Lighthorsemen" Replicas
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Sorry to answer my own question, but I can't believe what I've come across. Apparently, The Lighthorsemen was filmed near the intriguingly-named Coffin Bay, South Australia.

There is a settlement nearby called Koppio, where can be found the Koppio Smithy Museum (proprietor, until his death in Jan 2012: Mr. Norman Jericho). One of the exhibits is described thus: "And nearby a replica World War One Tank, used in the movie The Light Horsemen. Norm found it in the sand hills of Coffin Bay and you guessed it, trucked it into the Koppio Smithy Museum."

"Found" it? Can any of our Australian friends confirm that this is the normal usage of the expression?

There are a couple of clips from the film on Youtube. Three Tanks are shown. Two seem to be static dummies that have a few flames licking round them to indicate that they've been hit. Nutty is moving, by one means or another. I doubt it would be a full working replica for such a cameo appearance - possibly more elaborate than the other two and maybe muscle-powered.

Vehicle shown in situ below.

-- Edited by James H on Monday 6th of February 2012 08:24:51 PM

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James H


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I could be making a fool of myself here, but I've only just discovered that replica Tanks appear in this film, and AFAIK they haven't been discussed on the forum.

Haven't seen the film, but have a horrible feeling that the list of inaccuracies of all kinds will be lengthy. I enclose a still that suggests this will be the case.

Anyone know anything about the replicas?

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Rectalgia


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James H wrote:

...
"Found" it? Can any of our Australian friends confirm that this is the normal usage of the expression?...


Presumably abandoned in the sand dunes and rediscovered during incidental peregrinations. In theory I suppose it still belongs to the film production company and could be theirs again if they but paid the littering fine to the local shire council.

Coffin Bay named after some worthy English admiral who unaccountably escaped execution for the encouragement of the others (unlike poor old John Byng).

The (almost) full account of weaponry in the film is showcased in http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Lighthorsemen,_The. "Almost"? Well, since the climax was presumably the charge at Beersheba (I haven't seen the film) an alert/aware documenter would surely have given pride of place to the P 1907 bayonet but it appears there not at all.



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CharlieC


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Unlike the replica Mark IV, where the ownership may be moot, the attached replica FK 96 n.A was given by the production company to the town of Hawker, SA. The replica is outside the Gem Museum at Hawker and looked after by the Hawker Development Corp. (Image from Kevin Browning).

"Found" is good Australian usage - it implies that an object doesn't have an owner therefore available to anyone who wants it. There is a practice around Brisbane for people to put furniture and other stuff they don't want on the roadside for anyone who wants it - "found" would be good way to describe picking things up from the roadside.

Regards,

Charlie



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James H


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Crikey. A second-hand sofa is one thing, but I fear the late Mr. Jericho might have found himself done for "theft by finding" in the Mother Country. However, I shall give him the benefit of the doubt.

There is a joke about the bloke who left a fridge-freezer outside his house with a notice saying "Perfect working order. Excellent condition. Free to anyone who can use it." A week later it was still there. So he put another notice on it that read, "Fridge-freezer for sale. £10." It was gone the following morning.



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James H


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I am delighted to say that the very kind Ms Jo Casserley, Assistant Secretary of the Koppio Smithy N.T. Museum, has supplied the following information about the Tank:

"The replica tank used in 'The Lighthorsemen' that we have in our museum . . . was made exactly to scale from the original tank in Canberra. The main body is constructed of wood, with metal tracks. There is nothing inside of the tank and it has no self propulsion, but it was the one that was moving, as they used a cable to pull it along. They had 4 men inside using the gun turrets."

I have asked her if she is prepared to elaborate on the "finding" of the vehicle, and await a response.



-- Edited by James H on Thursday 29th of March 2012 12:34:26 PM

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Rob


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Absolutely superb film, I cannot reccomend buying it highly enough - the climatic charge on Beersheeba is very well done, watchable on YouTube too

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