The Soldiers' Peace by Michael Senior

Author:Michael Senior [Michael Senior]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781526703057
Google: VQjGwgEACAAJ
Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
Published: 2018-01-15T22:29:41+00:00

Chapter 5

Dismantling

The dismantling of the infra-structure that supported the British Army presented a series of difficult problems. After the Armistice, the massive amounts of supplies and equipment necessary for the prosecution of the war became redundant – at any rate in relation to its original purpose. In some way or other all the surplus equipment had to be accounted for and disposed of. At least, stores and equipment were inanimate and some time could be spent in deciding what to do with them. More pressing was the problem of dealing with the livestock that had played such an important part in the war effort – particularly the vast numbers of horses and mules. Horses had provided a reliable means of transport for officers and the cavalry and, together with mules, had pulled and carried supplies, ammunition and guns to the front line – generally in highly dangerous and inhospitable conditions. The use of vehicles, even tracked vehicles with an internal combustion engine, was limited because of the nature of the terrain and the condition of the ground. In the First World War, an army could not function without the horse and the mule.

In August 1914 the BEF had 25,000 horses with a further 25,000 in reserve under the care of farmers and landowners. However, it was estimated that a total of 165,000 horses would be required immediately and the balance of 115,000 was obtained by means of impressment over a period of 12 days. Impressment was far from popular. As John Grout of the village of Akenfield said: ‘A lot of farmers hid their horses … when the officers came round. The officers always gave good money for a horse, but sometimes the horses were like brothers and the men couldn’t let them go so they hid them’.1 An example of the ‘good money’ referred to was itemized in a ‘Daily Account (6 August 1914) – Purchase of Horses on Mobilisation’ in the Mansfield area. A Mr Kirby of Southwell received £360 for eight horses and Messrs Lewin (Halam), Brocklebank (Upton) and James (Bleasby) each had one horse impressed and received £38, £52 and £47 respectively.2 A Mr Keevil of Melksham in Wiltshire sold thirty- one horses for £1,238 and ten for £466.3

It was soon clear that a continuous supply of horses and mules was required and agents were despatched to North America, South America, India and Spain. The number of animals bought in this way, and landed in the UK by the end of the war, was impressive: 617,935 from Canada and the US; 6,148 from South America, mainly Argentina and Uruguay; 331 from India; and 2,889 from Spain. Among these was a total of 209,618 mules. Because of German submarine attacks the transportation of animals across the oceans was not without risk. Of the horses and mules shipped from North America 13,724 were lost at sea.4

A report from the Quarter Master General’s Office in 1918 throws some light on the various breeds of horse and their suitability for military purposes.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.