As mentioned in the OP, some 16 million horses and other animals perished in WWI and that was only on the allied side. The so-called ‘Great War’ marked a turning point for the role of the horse in war. Cavalry were no longer effective against machine gun fire, barbed wire, trenches and mines, but horses were still the most effective means of transporting supplies, the wounded, equipment, working to pull down and transport felled trees and moving guns and ammunition through muddy and difficult terrain.
“An attitude of carelessness toward horses persisted throughout the Crimean War and, despite the formation of the centralized Army Veterinary Department in the 1870s, reached a climax during the 1899-1902 Second Boer War, in which the British Army lost an estimated 326,000 horses and 51,000 mules mostly due to negligence. In response to a public and political outcry, reforms such as the 1911 passage of the Protection of Animals Act were implemented, and the AVC [Army Vetenary Corp] came into being.” Source
Records concerning the requirements and consequences of using horses during WWI give us the last opportunity for gathering information before the horse was replaced by machinery. This knowledge can be applied retrospectively to help us make better informed decisions regarding claims made by the official mainstream narrative in cases of large military campaigns from the past.
“For hundreds of years, huge numbers of military horses had been lost through neglect. In 1796, the Army appointed veterinary officers to cavalry regiments to reduce the number of sick and injured horses lost on campaign.” Source
“Until the 1880s, cavalry regiments were responsible for buying their own horses. In 1887, the Remount Department was created to take over this role. Animals were sourced from breeders, auctions and private families. Officers at this time still supplied their own horses.” Source
“The Remount Department also looked for help overseas, spending over £36 million (about £1.5 billion in today’s money) buying animals around the world, especially from America and Canada. More than 600,000 horses and mules were shipped from North America.
“Traveling by sea was as dangerous for horses as it was for humans. Thousands of animals were lost, mainly from disease, shipwreck and injury caused by rolling vessels. In 1917, more than 94,000 horses were sent from North America to Europe and 3,300 were lost at sea. Around 2,700 of these horses died when submarines and other warships sank their vessels.
“On 28 June 1915, the horse transport SS ‘Armenian’ was torpedoed by U-24 off the Cornish coast. Although the surviving crew were allowed to abandon ship, the vessel's cargo of 1,400 horses and mules were not so lucky and all perished.” Source (ibid.)
Unloading horses at Boulogne, c1916
Source
“Once on board the ships, the animals were placed in their stalls and given regular checks throughout the voyage. Despite the best efforts of the men who looked after them, many horses suffered from 'shipping fever', a form of pneumonia, and from various pulmonary complaints.”
“The Blue Cross Fund, established in 1912, offered medical help and supplies to animals. This was especially important during the First World War as many new recruits had never worked with horses before and needed to learn quickly.
“In 1915, the Blue Cross produced ‘The Drivers' and Gunners' Handbook to Management and Care of Horses and Harness’ to provide vital information for soldiers working with artillery, ambulance and supply horses.” Source (ibid.)
“In muddy conditions, it could take up to 12 hours to clean horses and their harnesses. But keeping horses well-groomed, even in the dirty conditions of the battlefield, served several purposes.
“Practising good grooming standards meant that the horse was always prepared for battle at a moment’s notice. Grooming also helped to prevent chafing from harnesses and saddles, keeping horses in better condition for longer. At the same time, it gave the carers the opportunity to inspect their horses for pain, wounds or sickness on a daily basis.” Source (ibid.)
“A horse required ten times as much food as the average soldier. During the First World War, there was a distinct lack of grass for them eat on the Western Front or in the deserts of the Middle East. This meant that horse fodder was the largest commodity shipped to the front by many of the participating nations.
“The demands on transport meant that feed had to be rationed. Of all the warring nations... The naval blockade forced the Germans to supplement their horses' feed with sawdust, causing many to starve.” Source (ibid.)
“Iron horseshoes wore out quickly, and usually had to be replaced every month.
“Farriers and shoeing smiths were needed to keep horses moving. The primary job of a farrier was hoof trimming and fitting shoes to Army horses. This combined traditional blacksmith’s skills with some veterinarian knowledge about the physiology and care of horses’ feet.
“Smiths usually carried the heavy materials they needed with them as they marched. An Army farrier would have used a variety of tools and nails to clean a horse’s feet and change its shoes.
“Most farriers were non-commissioned officers; the majority served with artillery and cavalry regiments. One of their less welcome tasks was the humane despatch of wounded and sick horses.”Source (ibid.)
Farriers of the Royal Scots Greys at work, c1918
Source
“Britain alone would lose nearly half a million horses, with an average of one horse killed for every two men. In 1916, a total of 7,000 horses were lost in one day at the Battle of Verdun… in Germany, government requisitioning of any and every available horse impacted local farms and contributed to the famine subsequently known as the “Turnip Winter.” France lost more than 700,000 horses during the war, while the German and Russian armies are estimated to have lost a combined total of 3.25 million.” Source
“Of the horses who died during the First World War, 75 per cent perished as a result of disease or exhaustion.
“During the war, horses suffered greatly from cold temperatures, long marches and poor food. Equine diseases, respiratory problems and mud-borne infections were also prevalent, as were fatigue, exhaustion and lameness caused by work.
“Combat injuries were not as common. But thousands of horses were still treated for bullet wounds, gas and even shell-shock.” Source (ibid.)
“Many wounded animals were destroyed on the spot. But others were taken to casualty clearing stations for emergency treatment. Hospitals were established to treat the sick horses sent from the front, with equine ambulances and trailers developed to transport them there.” Source (ibid.)
“The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) worked jointly with the AVC to provide care for war horses. In 1914, the RSPCA created the Fund for Sick and Wounded Horses, which helped the army create 13 animal hospitals, including four large field hospitals which were outfitted with state-of-the-art medical technology and could each hold 2,000 equines at a time.” Source
“Although it had started off as a fairly tiny force in 1914 with less than 1,000 men at its core, the AVC grew rapidly during the war years with more than 15,000 members by 1916 and over 41,000 by the war’s end in 1918. A vast majority of veterinary surgeons in the United Kingdom served in the AVC during the war. On the Western Front alone, the AVC managed a total of 20 hospitals and four convalescent depots for horses. In Egypt, the AVC ran specialized camel hospitals.” Source (ibid.)
An artillery driver and his horse rest together, showing the bond that men often developed with their service animals. The AVC made it possible for men to get their service animals life-saving treatment. (National Library of Scotland)
“Additionally horses, as highly intelligent animals, were often traumatized from war experiences such as the explosions of mortars and mines. Veterinarians of the AVC noted that horses with more cultivated breeding and higher intelligence levels—like ex-cavalry horses, for example—suffered more acute psychological distress than sturdy pack horses who could be trained more easily to lie down and take cover during artillery bombardments.” Source (ibid.)
And then at the end of WWI, all the surviving horses, apart from those belonging to certain high-ranking officers, were shot dead. The reason given was that the cost of transporting them would be greater than the price they would fetch back in Britain... even though all of the non-essential domestic horses had been requisitioned for the war. As I said before in the OP, It’s amazing that the soldiers weren’t also shot given their treatment when they returned home to find they had no means of earning a living.
So, these points raised above are the considerations of warfare pre-1900. It’s obvious that it was never just a case of jumping on your horse and riding off to invade somewhere. The logistics and practicalities involved were truly immense. Were these taken into account in the narratives we are supposed to believe today?
As an aside, I have often wondered if Flander's Fields weren't the site of some immense blood sacrifice ritual that was repeated again in WWII. Was something being 'fed' with all that death and all that suffering? What did it achieve? Maybe what we are living through now...
