The efforts made to stabilise the equine population post-war Returning horses
What happened to the horses repatriated during World War I? Historian Dot Broady-Hawkes investigates the efforts to stabilise the equine population
THE figure of 484,000 has been put on the number of British Army horses and mules killed in action or lost through disease during the Great War of 1914-1918. Others were lost during the sea journey across the Atlantic from North America — those animals didn’t even reach England for training. Yet more died during the harsh winter of 1914-15.
It took the initiative of Derbyshire Circus owner Fred Ginnett to prevent more horses perishing from exposure. He donated huge shelter tents to the Army Remount Service, which made a vast improvement on the losses.
From the first few months of World War I, the British Army set up large remount depots in the UK, close to the major ports. The army acted swiftly in sending their Army Remount Service horse buyers to North America and Canada to secure huge numbers of wild horses. These horses were rounded up, taken to railheads and then shipped to the coastal ports of Virginia. From there they were transported across the Atlantic, being stabled in temporary shelters often on the deck of a ship. These ships were, of course, a legitimate target of the German U-boats patrolling the Atlantic and several ships were sunk, with huge losses of men and horse.
Some of the wild horses and mules shipped over, the number being 428,600 horses and 275,100 mules, were at first deemed to be cast-offs as they were too wild to train and gave the army grooms a tough time. Fred Ginnett again saved many of those animals from being discarded as he brought in his Mexican trick riders from his circus who were able to train the horses sufficiently for easy handling by the grooms. Every horse that passed fitness and training was given a stamp on its right front hoof to enable a regimented identification of every single animal and, as they left the depots for service at the front, the grooms lined up to salute them as they were loaded on to trains.
THE army had an establishment of 165,000 horses in the first few weeks of the war but, by the end of hostilities, 900,000 horses and 270,000 mules had been mobilised. Much of the work and commitment by individuals such as Fred Ginnett would have a huge impact on the number of equines returned to the UK both during the war and after hostilities ceased.
Without the tireless work of a number of animal charities, the number of horses and mules lost would have been a lot higher. Even in pre-war peacetime, the statistics showed that the average life of a cavalry horse was just five years and an army draught horse seven years.
During the first couple of years of the war that would “end by Christmas”, horses were vital for transport, more capable of getting through the deep rain-sodden mud than any motor vehicle. The domestic supply of heavy draught horses at the start of the war, which accounted for 17% of the horses in use on farms, by carters, canal boat operators and other trades, did not recover to pre-war levels for a long time and, although surplus or unsuitable horses were sold in small numbers to the public throughout the war, these did little to alleviate the loss to those businesses dependent on horsepower. Horses unfit for service in Eastern Europe, however, were not necessarily treated with such care and the British Army was selling its unfit animals to locals without considering their care or wellbeing — and it was stopped by Lord Derby once the practice was brought to his attention in 1916.
By the spring of 1919, it is recorded that 158,000 British Army horses had been sold at auctions across the world and this had raised almost £13m by the early summer that year.
In Italy, Salonika and Mesopotamia, the highest prices were paid for demobilised horses and mules, averaging £75 for a light draught horse and £47 for mules. In the UK, the prices for repatriated horses were far lower: £34 for a draught horse and £17 for the much less valued mule. Some of the Canadian mules brought over were 16hh, though, and quite an unknown quantity for the British farmer or carter. The heavy draught horses were in great demand in the UK and these could make £80 to £100, but they were scarce — Shires, Clydesdales and Percherons were bought as soon as they were passed fit for sale. Auctions were held across the country, offering hundreds of ex-army horses for sale.
MANY of the horses and mules returned to the UK during and after the war, whether injured or suffering from fatigue, would not have made it back if not for the care and expertise shown towards these animals by two particular organisations, the RSPCA and the Blue Cross Fund.
‘Even the most scarred
and traumatised horse would be treated with such care that recovery was speedy’
The RSPCA was fundraising throughout the war to buy horse ambulances, shelters, blankets and woollen bandages for use at the Front. They were approved by the
Army Council and ran extensive newspaper campaigns, headed by their chair, the Duke of Portland. The Duke owned the Clumber Park Stud Farm in Nottinghamshire, two Derby winners and a winner of the Ascot Gold Cup, and he had been Master of the Horse to both Queen Victoria and Edward VII.
From as early as August 1914, the Blue Cross Fund, formerly known as “Our Dumb Friends League”, was making preparations for the need to care for the army horses on both sides of the Channel. The Fund raised a staggering £170,000 during the war, (valued at more than £6.5m in today’s money) to supply horse ambulances, horse hospitals and veterinary supplies to the front lines.
The overseas sales reported in early 1919 were of great concern to the Blue Cross Fund. The concerns were regarding the sale of British Army stock abroad and the Fund committee expressed their concerns for the welfare of cast-off horses in various countries. The War Office had, however, made a list to justify the sales.
There were 25 times more horses in the British Army in 1919 than were needed for civilian use in the UK — due to the numbers shipped over from other countries specifically for the war and the advance in motor vehicle sales. The number of army horses to be repatriated would bring the total to that existing before the war — otherwise the domestic market would be drastically low on fodder during the winter.
The horses to be disposed of abroad were unfit for army service, but too good to destroy with humanity. France and Belgium had been denuded of horses throughout the war and they needed horses for the reconstruction of their devastated countries — and had asked the British Government for this help. If it was denied, they would have to buy horses on the British market or other markets of the world.
The War Office assured the Blue Cross
Fund committee that in East Africa and Mesopotamia, there were no horses of British origin. This conflicts with early reports of sales of army horses in Mesopotamia, but none were sold after the Blue Cross concerns were raised. In the Eastern Theatre (Macedonia, Salonika, the Baltic Stages and Eastern Europe), all British horses were to be repatriated. This followed Lord Derby’s directive of three years earlier. The Egyptian Army was ordered to return to the UK all horses of British origin apart from those to be retained for reconstruction. The Blue Cross Fund committee was also able to obtain reassurance from the War Office that periodical inspections would be carried out across the various countries of any horses sold out of the British supply.
EACH of the five large remount depots in England had a veterinary hospital, and horses returning from the Western Front throughout the war and after the armistice were treated there for injury, sickness or fatigue. A grading system put in place to assess the animals on arrival back to the depots was so well set up and efficient that even the most traumatised and physically scarred horse would be treated with such care and attention that the recovery was speedy.
From the end of the war, repatriated horses could be boarded out. Riding horses from the cavalry were boarded out free of charge, the horse could be called up once every two years for a month’s training and, after seven years, the horse could be bought for a fixed rate of £10. Draught horses were part of a similar scheme, but an annual fee of £7 and 10 shillings was payable in advance. All vet fees were included in the boarding schemes, plus all railway transport and, after six years, the horse automatically became the property of the borrower without further payment.
For a full account of the remount story of World War I, a publication by Lathom
Park Trust entitled Horses For the War is an excellent read.