War Horse: The Real Story

M

MochaDun

Well-Known Member
Joined
18 September 2009
Messages
14,584
Visit site
...is being reshown on More4 at 10pm if you haven't seen this documentary before - worth a watch this weekend of all weekends.
 
Don't watch, you can only cry so many tears, and it time gone bye, just hope it never happens again. My Grandfather was a farrier in the 1st world war and tears use to stream down his cheeks when he talked about his horses and the men that looked after them.
 
Echo Bravo said:
Don't watch, you can only cry so many tears, and it time gone bye, just hope it never happens again. My Grandfather was a farrier in the 1st world war and tears use to stream down his cheeks when he talked about his horses and the men that looked after them.
Click to expand...

Must have being very traumatic. :(
 
Echo Bravo said:
Yes it was as he was a very gentle man, also loved his racing (NH) but couldn't go near a horse after that.
Click to expand...

The poor man. He must have seen some sights that were impossible to forget. I read a quote from a soldier who fought in WW2 who said the worst sights he saw were the horses.

There was definitely a reason why some men who loved horses refused to go near the cavalry :(
 
Watched the film last night. Very disturbing. Wars are so damned stupid. It makes me angry that nations think they can get others to love them by dropping bombs on them which is what they seem to prefer to do these days.

As a teenager I worked with an old hunt servant who had been in the cavalry at Ypres (they called it Wipers).

He didn't say much except that the worst part was putting the gas masks on the horses. Apparently, they had to be forced down the horse's throat. He didn't talk about the rest of it, just shook his head.

We don't know how well off we are today. God help us if things get that tough again. My grandfather had six brothers. All died during WWI going over the top. One, aged 17, was wounded in No Man's Land and they could hear him crying all night but nobody could get to him. He was dead by morning.
 
Echo Bravo - interesting you should say that. OH's granddad was a farrier before & during the WW1. He would never talk about his experiences at the front & OH has always wondered why he become a farm labourer on a much lower wage after the war.
 
Even inWW2 the horses suffered. My father went over just after D day & so on to Germany. He said that horses scream as a woman might & you weren't allowed to shoot them, even the ones that were down on the side of the roads it was wasting ammunition. Dad never forgot it.
 
My grandfather worked with the horses in WW1, I believe he rode postillion on the gun carriage. He loved horses, but talking about it upset him and my grandmother wouldn't let us ask him about it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top