3 June - 9 June

Enter text here...

EXPLORE / TŪHURA learning intentions:

• We are EXPLORING the animals involved in the wars and thier effect on World War I
• We are EXPLORING historical narratives and perspectives by interpreting various kinds of sources such as primary documents, survivor movements, bystanders and collaborators.

WAR HORSES ANIMALS IN WORLD WAR ONE - PART ONE

A mule team stuck in the mud during  the battle of Passchendaele (IWM) 

In the First World War, horses, mules and  donkeys were considered vital to the war  effort. They carried troops, pulled artillery  and hauled supplies to and from the front.  The animals experienced terrible hardships  and many died from wounds, exposure,  exhaustion and disease. 

The call up 

When war broke out, the British military, like all armies  at the time, relied on horsepower. Motorised transport  had only recently been invented, and the army, which  had few lorries, relied on horses and mules to move  troops and equipment.  

In 1914, the army purchasing officers were sent to  towns and villages to obtain more horses for the rapidly  expanding military forces. Some horses were taken from  farmers, hunt stables and businesses, but many were  voluntarily sold to the government for use in the war  effort. In just two weeks,140,000 horses were drafted  into the army, to add to the 25,000 horses they already had. 

The role of horses 

Horses and mules in the British army in 1918 

Source: BBC website - What was the Real Story of War horse? 

ANIMAL AID INFORMATION SHEET ANIMAL AID INFORMATION SHEET 

The Royal Scots Greys practising a charge 

(National library of scotland) 

Cavalry 

On 13 August 1914, one division of cavalry and their  complement of 25,000 horses set sail for France with  the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). It was thought by  many that they would be a decisive factor in the coming  conflict. 

It was not to be. Towards the end of the opening year  of the war, the way the armies fought changed. On the  Western Front in Europe, the two sides dug trenches  and the short distance between them, called ‘No Man’s  Land’, became a killing ground strewn with barbed  wire, shell holes and dead bodies. Cavalry horses stood  no chance against weapons such as machine guns,  high-explosive shells and barbed wire.  

On the few occasions that cavalry were sent charging  into battle, they suffered terrible losses. 

On 30th March 1918 during one of the last ever cavalry  charges, the Canadian Cavalry Brigade was ordered to  retake the German hilltop position on Moreuil Wood.  Three Troops of the Royal Canadian Dragoons charged  up the hill towards the German position into murderous  machine gun fire.  

The position was taken, but at great cost. Of the 150  horses who went into the fray, only four survived the  charge. At the end of the day the Brigade had lost 300  men and more than 800 horses.  

Charge of Flowerdew’s Squadron  

Moreuil Wood, 1918 

Painting by Alfred Munnings 

Artillery 

Horses were yoked in teams of three pairs to pull light  field artillery, and as many as 10 pairs to haul heavy  howitzer guns. 

Early in the war, Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and Royal  Horse Artillery (RHA) units fought forward with the  infantry, close to the enemy where they sustained heavy  losses. In these early battles, horses did not retire to  relative safety, but stayed with the batteries (guns)  during the engagements. 

Artillery horse train pulling an 18-pounder field gun (IWM) 

During the retreat from Mons in 1914, Captain Douglas  Reynolds of the 37th Battery RFA wrote: 

‘seeing that all the horses attached to a number of guns  had been killed, we brought up two new teams in the  hope of rescuing the guns. Driven by volunteers, and  within a hundred yards of the enemy, the teams attempted  to hitch up two guns to drag them away. Under a hail of  fire, one whole team was shot down.’ 

Albert George, Artillery Sergeant, recalled: 

‘We could see ammunition wagons trying to replenish,  getting about half-way to the gun, then a couple of shells  would burst blowing the drivers and horses to smithereens,  it was a terrible sight...’ 

Hauling supplies 

The majority of horses and mules were used by the  Army Service Corps (ASC). They had the job of supplying  water, food and ammunition to the troops at the front. 

The ASC teams faced many hazards. The journey to and  from the frontline could be fraught with danger. The  enemy would frequently shell known key supply routes  and junctions. Supplies had to get through, so men and  horses had to risk their lives – often at night – running  the gauntlet to supply the troops. 

In the book A Call to Arms, Joseph Murray describes one  such road: 

‘There was no shelter at all over the newly captured  ground. The road to Beaucourt was a graveyard of many  of the ration parties that had attempted to get through to  us. When we reached the village, it was a dreadful sight:  mutilated bodies of men, horses and mules everywhere  among which we had to shelter while waiting a chance to  run the gauntlet known to us as ‘suicide corner’. The road,  the only one, and the only way in or out of the area of our  attack, had been in enemy hands for years and now they  were free to concentrate all their fire on this narrow strip  of activity.’ 

After heavy rainfall, the constant shelling turned the  battlefield into a treacherous muddy swamp, which  took the lives of many animals. Sidney Smith, a private,  recalled his experience in 1916 on the Somme:  

There was ‘nothing the eye could see except waves rippling  the mud as the wind blew, I had the terrible experience  to witness three horses and six men disappear completely  under the mud. It was a sight that will live forever in my  memory. The last horse went to a muddy grave, keeping  his nostrils above the slush until the last second. A spurt of  mud told me it was all over’. 

3

A shell explodes near a team of artillery horses (IWM) 

Galloping horses run the  gauntlet at ‘hellfire corner’ 

(Source: Simon Butler) 

Six-horse teams pulling general service  (GS) wagons (Source: Simon Butler) 

Bandaged horse at a British Army  veterinary hospital (IWM) 

Casualties 

What happened to the horses when war ended? 

There was no ‘heroes’ return’ for the majority of horses  at the end of the war. Only those owned by officers  were guaranteed to return to Britain. The fate of the  others depended upon their age and fitness. 

25,000 horses remained in the British army while  between 60,000 and 100,000 were returned to Britain  to be auctioned. The remainder were sold in the country  where they were stationed at the end of the war – to  farmers as work animals or to butchers to be killed for  meat. 

A fortunate few were rescued by the RSPCA and  Blue Cross Fund and retired to live out their lives on  sanctuaries.  

Casualty rates were high. By the  end of the war there were 1,300  veterinary surgeons in the British  Army Veterinary Corps working  in 20 veterinary hospitals.  

725,000 horses were treated  and three-quarters survived.  Many were not so fortunate. 

It is estimated that a total of  8 million horses, mules and  donkeys lost their lives in the war. 

Many animals were killed by shellfire, but most died  from the terrible weather and appalling conditions.  On the Western Front, the loss of British horses due  to cold, hunger, exhaustion and disease was about  

200,000 - four times more than the 58,000 killed by  enemy action.  

German horse-drawn ambulance  hit by shellfire (Source: Simon Butler) 

The Brooke Hospital for animals was founded by Dorothy Brooke  (second from the left) to care for horses abandoned in Egypt after WWI. 

Heroes or victims? 

Some people say that the animals who saw action in  the First World War were heroes because they were  brave. Other people argue that the animals who died in  combat were victims because they did not agree to take  part in the war. What do you think? 

War Memorial in Hyde Park, London, dedicated to animals who have  died in war. The inscription says ‘They had no choice’.