Portrait of Brigadier General Granville de Laune Ryrie, General Officer Commanding, the 2nd ...

Portrait of Brigadier General Granville de Laune Ryrie, General Officer Commanding, the 2nd Australian Light Horse Brigade, mounted on his horse, ‘Plain Bill’. [This image is a colour Paget Plate. The same image is available in black and white and is held at B01682.] Born in Michelago, NSW on 1 July 1865, he served in the Boer War with the 6th NSW Imperial Bushmen and reached the rank of Honorary Major. After the war, he served in the NSW Legislative Assembly and the Federal Parliament. At the outbreak of the First World War, he took command of the 2nd Light Horse Brigade with the rank of Brigadier General and served at Gallipoli where he was wounded twice. He then went on to serve in the Middle East at Gaza, Beersheba and Palestine. After the war Major General Sir Granville de Laune Ryrie KCMG CB VD resumed his political career serving as Honorary Assistant Minister of Defence from 1920-21. He retired from the Army in 1927 and later that year was appointed High Commissioner to London. After returning to Australia in 1932 he lived in Sydney where he died on 2 October 1937.