A rare life-size statue of an Australian Light Horseman was unveiled while guns still fired. The monument was erected in riverside Mowbray Park in August 1917, and is the first of Brisbane's WWI memorials.

Initiated by the East Brisbane Cadet Committee, it set out to honour the 520 early enlistments from Kangaroo Point and East Brisbane. Additional plates bearing more names were added during and after the war.

Annerley monumental mason Alfred Batson carved the soldier statue from Helidon sandstone. The memorial is flanked by two cannons, reputedly part of Thursday Island's 19th century defences.

To enable the expansion of the Bowling Club, the memorial was moved in 1974 to its present position to the east on the central path at the Lytton Road end of the 3.2-hectare park.