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Old 07-06-2006, 04:35 PM   #48
Child of the 7th Age
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More reflections on horses in the war.....

I once read that an astounding two and a half million horses were treated in vet clinics for injuries sustained from the war; about a half million of these died. These figures may or may not be precisely accurate but they certainly suggest that the animals were fairly widespread at the front. (Figures are for all injuries and deaths, not just the British.) There were a handful of cavalry charges as late as 1918, despite the fact that these were virtual suicide. Tolkien, however, was unlikely to be involved with those.

Most of the horses were used for transporting materials to the trenches. In that day and time, horses and mules were more reliable than lorries that were prone to breakdowns. Here is a description of one war horse:

Quote:
He (Sailor) would work for 24 hours a day without winking. He was quiet as a lamb and as clever as a thoroughbred, but he looked like nothing on earth, so we lost him. The whole artillery battery kissed him goodbye and the drivers and gunners who fed him nearly cried."
I suppose it is remotely possible that JRRT could have found himself on horseback bringing something up to the trenches and that he managed to get lost. Although the front as a whole was fairly stationary, there were very rare instances when one side fell back and the other went forward, leaving a short stretch of trenches in different hands.

Here is a photo of horses being loaded onto the boats and sent to the front: here. Anyone see that big boned hunter?

Maybe a dream, maybe real....who can really say?
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Last edited by Child of the 7th Age; 07-06-2006 at 04:44 PM.
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