Mess jacket : Lieutenant A Chisholm, 13 Light Horse Regiment (Queensland Mounted Infantry)

Light horse officer's Pattern 1903-1912 khaki wool mess jacket with white wool shawl or roll collar. The white wool shoulder straps are sewn down. The cuff are white wool and pointed and there are no buttons on the jacket. The shoulder straps bear silver bullion and coloured silk embroidered rank pips for lieutenant. Each side of the collar bears silver badges for 13 Light Horse Regiment (Queensland Mounted Infantry). The body of the jacket is lined with light brown polished cotton. A small welt pocket is set into the right inside lining. The sleeves are lined with cream cotton printed with a pattern of fine lines and dots. There is a cream coloured cotton hanging loop attached to the collar. The silver metal collar badge depicts an emu surrounded by a wattle wreath, surmounted by a King's crown. Around the emu are the words" AUSTRALIAN LIGHT HORSE REG. XIII QMI.' The motto in a scroll under the emu is 'FORWARD'.

Worn by Lieutenant Alexander Chisholm, (later lieutenant colonel, DSO, OBE, VD). Chisholm was born in Brisbane in 1878. He was a company director at Gympie, Queensland, when he enlisted as a lieutenant on 20 August 1914. He had previously served in the militia with 13 Light Horse Regiment (Queensland Mounted Infantry). Chisholm was appointed to 2 Light Horse Regiment (LHR) but transferred to 1 LHR while serving on Gallipoli in August 1915. He was appointed Brigade Major of 1 Light Horse Brigade in March 1916, and from September 1918 served as a staff officer with the Australian Mounted Division. He returned to Australia on 26 July 1919. Between 1921 and 1924 Chisholm, as lieutenant colonel, commanded 5 LHR (militia) in Queensland. He died in 1945.

During World War 1 the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 27th Light Horse Regiments (QMI) continued to serve at home in Australia, however in 1914 a volunteer expeditionary force, the Australian Imperial Force, was formed. The 2nd LHR served on the Gallipoli Peninsula where it distinguished itself at Quinn's Post, Sari Bair and Suvla and later served in Egypt, Palestine and Syria.