ANZAC

Why were horses used in the war?

When war began in 1914 the British army took 25,000 horse.They were used to pull heavy guns, to transport weapons and supplies, to carry the wounded and dying to hospital. In the first year of war the countryside farmers were heartbroken families who saw their finest and most beloved horses taken by the government.Transported to the ports, they were hoisted onto ships crossing the Channel before being taken into the horrors of the front line.Some men formed close relationships with the horses.They did their best to care for them in the most testing and tragic conditions. Some men became as close to their horses as to their fellow soldiers and their loss was felt as deeply. All had their own names, personalities and histories, never to be forgotten. Between 1914 and 1917 around 1,000 horses were sent from the United States by ship every day. They were a constant target for German naval attack.The horses were so important to the war that German saboteurs also attempted to poison them before they embarked on the journey. At the end of the war some of the surviving horses were sold as meat to Belgian butchers, being unfit for any other purpose. But for the few that returned home there was a joyous welcome and reunion.