COURAGE UNDER FIRE
A young farm horse thrust into the brutality of World War I is being honoured for her bravery, more than 100 years after galloping on to the battlefield.
Bess, one of four New Zealand horses to return from WWI, will receive a posthumous Blue Cross Medal on Anzac Day.
It’s one of the highest honours an animal can receive for serving in military conflict.
The black thoroughbred, originally named Zelma, was allocated to the Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment and selected by Colonel Charles Guy Powles, who renamed her Bess.
The medal is awarded by Blue Cross, an animal charity founded in the United Kingdom in 1897, which treated more than 50,000 horses at animal hospitals duringwwi.
Originally awarded to people who saved animals, the medal is now bestowed to animals that demonstrate bravery or heroism.
It wasn’t just men and boys who answered Britain’s call to join the armed forces in its hour of need.
Some 10,000 horses left behind their peaceful, rural homes and made the journey to Europe to join their human comrades in the trenches.
Bulls historian Helen Cooper said there was a gathering each Anzac Day at Bess’ private grave in Bulls, which has become the default memorial to all New Zealand animals that served at war.
Powles and Bess fought together in Egypt, Sinai, Palestine and France.
Powles says in his book, The New Zealanders in Sinai and Palestine: ‘‘He who has once ridden into action with the bullets whistling past his ears and the shells bursting around him will never forget his horse.’’
A dark brown filly with a white star on her head, Bess required shrapnel to be removed from her hindquarters after an incident on the Western Front in 1918, Cooper said.
She was part of the victory parade in Berlin, Germany, later that year.
Upon her return to New Zealand in 1922, Bess continued to help Powles at Flock House, an agricultural training school near Bulls.
She died while being ridden by Powles in 1934.
Powles buried her where she fell, aged 24. Bess’ feats have attracted international attention.
Australian researchers Sue Buckingham and Joy Bradley have visited the Bulls museum twice to learn more about her.
They planned to attend themedal presentation at Bess’ ceremony on Anzac Day, but were forced to cancel due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The duo are working with Returned and Services’ Associations in Western Australia on a proposal to install information billboards on Mt Clarence detailing the history of the war horses.
They intend to include Bess’ story.
‘‘She became something of a celebrity,’’ the duo said. ‘‘She produced four foals and remained active right up until her final days.
‘‘Her passing was even reported by the national press.’’
Other recipients include Juliana, a great dane, who received the medal in 1941 for extinguishing a German incendiary bomb by urinating on it.
More recently, Jake, a police explosives dog, was given the honour after clearing out the London Underground after the London bombings in July 2005.
‘‘He who has once ridden into action with the bullets whistling past his ears and the shells bursting around him will never forget his horse.’’
Colonel Charles Guy Powles