During World War I, Spencer Sherwell was a part of the 4th Lighthorse Brigade and was part of the charge of Beersheeba, the last cavalry charge in the history of warfare. He joined services in 1916 at the age of 17. The age requirement was 18 but like many young men he was interested in the adventure and glory that was warfare.

Spencer was only 5 feet 2 inches tall but that did not undermine his ability to ride a horse or shoot a rifle. Like most war veterans he was reluctant to share any stories of battle and death but these are some of the parts of his time in service of which he was most proud and willing to share.

When a man joined any lighthorse brigade you would receive an ostrich feather in your hat however there was a shortage of ostriches in Australia so he got an emu feather instead.

Spencer would also talk of camouflaged watering holes in the desert for horses which could not be seen by enemy reconnaissance planes. Then there was the time he and his brigade camped near the Jordan River and were ordered to scrub the rocks clean of mosquito eggs to prevent malaria. Despite their best efforts, Spencer eventually caught malaria late in the year 1917. You could imagine how much worse that was made by blistering hot days and freezing cold nights.

When he did talk about his experience in battle, he shared his most honourable moments. Such as when he and his unit were off of their horses and in the trenches they were pinned down by enemy gunfire and had ran out of mills bombs. Spencer being shortest and least likely to get hit by bullets moving between trenches volunteered to go. He crawled through a small depression between trenches and dropped down into the empty trench which had plenty of crates of grenades. He grabbed two boxes of grenades and started back to his trench but it was taking too long and his people were getting shot at. So he stood up and dragged the boxes back with bullets whizzing past his ears and bouncing off of rocks beside his feet. Finally he made it back with the mills bombs and no injuries and helped get his unit out of danger.

One other act of bravery which he was proud of was when his company was ordered to retreat shortly after one Private McIntosh was shot through the stomach. Private McIntosh told Spencer to leave him be and go with the rest of the company. Instead, Spencer along with another lighthorseman put the Private on a piece of rug and held that rug between their horses and rode off with great speed to the nearest medical tent.

Although Private McIntosh lived only a forty minute drive down the road of Spencer's hometown, they never saw each other again.

On the 1st of October, 1918, Spencer was in the charge of Beersheeba - one of the very last cavalry charges in the history of warfare. After the war was finished, Spencer went back to his hometown of Nhill, Victoria. A few years later he got married to his love in the uniform he had worn during The Great War.