As we come to you on this Memorial Day 2020, we would like to pay remembrance to not only the men and women who have given their lives in service of our country, but also to the animals who did as well. Up until the last century, horses probably took the brunt of the wartime hit, and most severely in World War I.
Though they were used primarily in cavalry units in prior wars, and still used in that way later, they were most commonly used for logistics - supply wagons, draft horses for ambulances, and as messengers. The value of horses, and the increasing difficulty of replacing them, was such that by 1917 some troops were told that the loss of a horse was of greater tactical concern than the loss of a human soldier.
By 1917, Britain had over a million horses and mules in service, but harsh conditions, especially during winter, resulted in heavy losses, particularly among the Clydesdale horses, the main breed used to haul the guns. During the First World War, thousands of these horses had been conscripted for the war effort, and after the war, breed numbers declined as farms became increasingly mechanized. This decline continued between the wars. And following the Second World War, the number of Clydesdale breeding stallions in England dropped from more than 200 in 1946 to 80 in 1949. By 1975, the Rare Breeds Survival Trust considered them vulnerable to extinction, meaning fewer than 900 breeding females remained in the UK.
War not only affects mankind, but our four-legged friends as well. So on this Memorial Day we thank everyone - human and animal - who sacrificed their lives.
Links and references:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horses_in_World_War_I
https://www.yprespeacemonument.com/horses-and-ww1/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clydesdale_horse
https://www.thebrooke.org/get-involved/every-horse-remembered/war-horse-facts
https://www.rbst.org.uk/
http://www.history.co.uk/shows/the-real-war-horse/articles/history-of-horses-during-wwi
http://spartacus-educational.com/FWWhorses.htm
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/03/horses-world-war/
http://www.bl.uk/world-war-one/articles/animals-and-war
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horses_in_warfare