Smeared Type

"War Horse" Production London

There is a new memorial statue in Hyde Park in London honoring animals that went to War.  As is well known, the English adore their animals, particularly dogs and horses and the memorial has received favorable reviews and public support.

There is also a new play called “War Horse” produced at the National Theatre and now transferred to the West End.  “War Horse” follows the life of a farm horse rounded up and sold to the British Army at the beginning of World War I, much to the regret and opposition of the farmer’s son, who had nurtured, trained, and loved the horse.  With the aid of incredible puppetry, we follow the horrors of the First World War and the mass destruction of animals in their last hurrah before mechanical warfare took over.

The well known author and journalist, Max Hastings, wrote about the incredible contribution and suffering of over a million horses sent to France between 1914 and 1918.  Only 62,000 returned.  Throughout the centuries until the First World War, men had always relied on animals to provide an indispensible military advantage, and the Calvary in various forms had since the Middle Ages, become the “striking force” of armies of the period.

We’ve all seen those glorified paintings of the Calvary charging into battle with swords drawn as their wild-eyed mounts surge full tilt towards the enemy.  What has never been depicted however, were battlefields in which abandoned, maimed, or severely wounded animals wander in agony and bewilderment.  Armies have also listed their losses in men and guns.  Rarely, is there mention of the horses that gave their lives in the service of victory. 

World War I with its trench warfare, gas attacks, and gradual conversion to mechanical warfare was particularly cruel to those poor horses, as they suffered bullet and sword wounds and the torture of wire and mud. Even more horrifying were the Calvary charges, attempted particularly in the first few months of the war, which ended in total disaster in the face of raking machine gun fire.

Throughout the following years of the trench warfare on the Western front, horses worked in the most deplorable conditions, pulling guns, ambulances and supplies.  Thousands were left dying by nails and blades from the battlefield.  In the two-year period prior to the Armistice in November 1918, the British Army recorded the death of 58,000 horses and the wounding of a further 77,000.

What madness, that such things should happen during a 20th Century War.  Horses and other animals unable to comprehend the horrifying circumstances of their lives, died by the hundreds of thousands and few returned to a normal life for these unsung heroes.

Ellis M. Goodman, author of Bear Any Burden: www.bearanyburden.com

Tags: The Calvary, World War I, “War Horse”

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 3:59 pm and is filed under Ellis Goodman. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.