War Horse-The Real Story
- Thread starter newforest
- Start date
and mine, though if they thought they could get Rose to cooperate pulling a gun.... Molly would have been invalided out with shell shock within a week.
The images of those poor horses drowning in mud haunts me. Horses suffered horrifically in war - even now those bs who strap explosives to donkeys to try to kill the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. You cannot comprehend people's utter cruelty.
I know they eventually put up a memorial to the animals who went to war but the horses gave so much - the ones that campaigned in Egypt and far east and were then left there and sold on and starved, and were ill treated - that was the start of the Brook Hospital, many of the officers shot their horses rather than leave them to that fate. Even then governments took the cheap option.
Today on Armistice Sunday, it would be nice if one horse paraded in memory of the thousands who had no choice and gave their lives.
The images of those poor horses drowning in mud haunts me. Horses suffered horrifically in war - even now those bs who strap explosives to donkeys to try to kill the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. You cannot comprehend people's utter cruelty.
I know they eventually put up a memorial to the animals who went to war but the horses gave so much - the ones that campaigned in Egypt and far east and were then left there and sold on and starved, and were ill treated - that was the start of the Brook Hospital, many of the officers shot their horses rather than leave them to that fate. Even then governments took the cheap option.
Today on Armistice Sunday, it would be nice if one horse paraded in memory of the thousands who had no choice and gave their lives.
OH and I were discussing horses in battle the other day. Not difficult to see how good an asset they were in battles like the ones Ghengis Khan would have taken part in, but I really don't think they had any place later on in history. I remember reading about the cavalry charge when they knew there were trip wires set up - didn't matter they were still told to advance - most would probably be shot en route anyway. How dreadful and sad. Indeed, The Brooke is a marvellous charity - always makes me cry when I read the story of how it all began.
Indeed they were an asset. The British and American armies abandoned their horses by the mid 1930s.
But that was not the case elsewhere. The Germans were banned from re-arming after their defeat in WW1, but they were not barred from breeding military horses. As soon as the Germans invaded Poland they took over the Polish military studs too and requisitioned all available horse power.
The German army used about 3 million horses and mules in World War 2. A French friend of mine remembers the German victors (cavalry) riding into his home town on horseback. Horses were of enormous importance to German army transport on both fronts. But especially on the Eastern front, in the war between Russia and German. They had 750,000 horses ready for the invasion of Russia and there was constant pressure on the breeding studs to provide more.
So that UK documentary drives me mad - gives the wrong impression entirely. More horses were killed in WW2 than in the First World War.
But that was not the case elsewhere. The Germans were banned from re-arming after their defeat in WW1, but they were not barred from breeding military horses. As soon as the Germans invaded Poland they took over the Polish military studs too and requisitioned all available horse power.
The German army used about 3 million horses and mules in World War 2. A French friend of mine remembers the German victors (cavalry) riding into his home town on horseback. Horses were of enormous importance to German army transport on both fronts. But especially on the Eastern front, in the war between Russia and German. They had 750,000 horses ready for the invasion of Russia and there was constant pressure on the breeding studs to provide more.
So that UK documentary drives me mad - gives the wrong impression entirely. More horses were killed in WW2 than in the First World War.
The conditions must have been pretty horrible tho - I read somewhere they fed them sawdust cakes because of lack of food supplies.
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pinkheather
Guest
If you think about the reason horses have a much better life now is down the invention of the internal combustion engine. I suspect if we were still dependent on horse power in this country their lives would be pretty harsh. But now that they are not required to work and make money [out side racing] their welfare is provided and regulated and in general they have good lives. Most of the horsemen in the campaigns in the middle and near east shot there horses rather than leave them to the local inhabitants. God knows how many horses suffered horrible times and ends during both wars and what has it proved, not much really. Since the end of the second world war there has only been one year in which a British soldier has not been killed on active service. [sobering thought on mankind]
Took my son to the Somme and Ypres as he was studying it for his Higher HIstory exam. Just about every museum had a bit dedicated to the horses and animals of WW1. One horse fought in WW1 and 2 and was the most highly decorated horse in the British Army.
But the ones that go for slaughter have not been thought the trenches and horrors of WW1. It's not the death of an animal that upsets me so long as it's quick and humane....it's suffering I cannot stand.
But the ones that go for slaughter have not been thought the trenches and horrors of WW1. It's not the death of an animal that upsets me so long as it's quick and humane....it's suffering I cannot stand.
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pinkheather
Guest
I couldnt agree more with the last comment it not the death its suffering that is not acceptable.
My grandad was at Mons during WW1 (that's the one they DON'T talk about 
) and he never disclosed what happened to his horse. He knew but wouldn't tell me
I like to think some farmer went out to his horses one day and found a tall skinny chestnut with a thick blaze among his herd, but somehow I doubt it.
) and he never disclosed what happened to his horse. He knew but wouldn't tell me I like to think some farmer went out to his horses one day and found a tall skinny chestnut with a thick blaze among his herd, but somehow I doubt it.
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