Today we remember and pay tribute to Trooper CHARLES LYLE YOUNG.

Charles Lyle Young was born on 12 March 1893 in Barnawartha, Victoria. He attended Geelong College as a border in 1909 and 1910 where he was part of the 1^st VIII rowing team. After leaving school he worked as a station overseer at Bell Plains Station, Corowa where his father was the station manager. He also worked in a stock and station agent’s office and was a station manager when he enlisted as a single man on 29 January 1915. Prior to enlistment he had 4 years military experience with the Senior Cadets and was well-known throughout the Riverina as a good horseman and cricket and tennis player. He was assigned to the 8^th Light Horse Regiment embarking for Egypt on 25 February 1915 from Melbourne on HMAT A16 ‘Star of Victoria’.

The 8th Light Horse arrived in Egypt after the bulk of the AIF had sailed for the landing on Gallipoli. It underwent an intense training regime over the next few weeks and, where possible, the men took in the local sights.

Following the Gallipoli landings, it was decided to send the light horse regiments to the peninsula, unmounted, to reinforce the infantry battalions there. In May the 8th Light Horse embarked for Anzac Cove, where it moved up to Walker’s Ridge into front-line positions opposite the Nek, and spent the following months rotating between front-line duty, supports, and rear areas. On June 27, 40 days before Birdwood began his August offensive, the Turks began shelling the trenches at Walker’s Ridge held by the 8^th Light Horse Regiment. The Turkish barrage was part of a softening up of the Australian line for a frontal attack. Three days later, the Turks came hurtling down the hill from the Nek but were repulsed by the 8^th and 9^th Light Horse. A few days later, Charles was killed on 3 July. He is buried at Ari Burnu Cemetery.