Group portrait of Australian Light Horse officers. Identified are Captain Andrew Barton 'Banjo' ...

Group portrait of Australian Light Horse officers. Identified are Captain Andrew Barton 'Banjo' Paterson, the famous Australian writer and bush poet, standing 3rd from left; Lieutenant (Lt) George Richard Irving, 2nd Remounts, standing 3rd from right; Lieutenant Ernest Boscawen Ranclaud, 15th Light Horse Regiment, and later MC, standing on far right; and seated in the centre of the front row is Colonel (Col) Duncan McLeish, Commanding Officer Australian Remount Units, Egypt, 1915-1919, and later CBE. Col McLeish had previously served as an officer in the South African War (Boer War) and continued to serve in the Australian Military Forces until he enlisted in the AIF in 1915, aged around 64. Lt Ranclaud also previously served as an officer in the South African War, and was awarded an MC in 1918. Captain Paterson had proved himself a well- respected horseman, breaking and training remounts in Egypt with the 2nd Remounts. He had previously travelled to South Africa in 1899 as a special war correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald during the Boer War. In 1901 he travelled to China with the intention of covering the Boxer Rebellion, arriving after the uprising was over. He was promoted to the rank of major before the cessation of hostilities in 1919, returning to Australia to continue his work as a journalist.