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Overview
Nominated for the NYMAS Arthur Goodzeit Book Award 2013
Nominated for the SAHR Templer Medal 2013
This book provides the first comprehensive study of the British Army’s horse services between 1875-1925, including the use of horses in the 1899-1902 Anglo-Boer and the 1914-18 wars. There is a particular focus on the military procurement of horses in relation to the domestic horse breeding industry, foreign supply in times of war, the debate about mechanization versus the horse and an integrated military transport system.
During the 1899-1902 war the recently created Army Veterinary and Remount Departments and Horse Registration Scheme were severely tested and found wanting. Following the appalling suffering and loss of horses during this War, the period 1902 to 1914 was critical for the development of the horse services. The crucial elements in effectively horsing the Army were recognized - supply, care, and organization.
The Army depended on the creation of a rapid and effective horse mobilization scheme and the ability to sustain expansion in the field. The civilian horse market was central to the supply of military horses in peace and war, and by obtaining reliable information on the number and type of horses available to them, the Army could guarantee a regular supply. There was also a need to learn lessons from the 1899-1902 war for the planning and expansion of auxiliary services, for example blacksmiths, saddlers, remount depots and veterinary hospitals.
On the outbreak of war in 1914 the Army had an organized reserve and mobilization scheme; a completely integrated transport system using horses, mechanized vehicles and rail networks. As the war progressed there were serious questions about the continuing supply of horses from both home and world markets, shortages of transport for moving them from the country of purchase and the growing submarine menace. Developments by 1919 in mechanical vehicles were acknowledged by many as signaling the end of the military reliance upon the horse, even though it remained the main source of motive power, and cavalry the main arm of exploitation.
Many lessons from the 1899-1902 War had been learnt, shown in the improved performance of the horse services during 1914-18. The health of animals was maintained at a higher standard than in any former war and remounts were supplied to all theaters of war and to armies of allied nations. At the end of hostilities nearly eight million animals had to be quickly disposed of, as humanely as possible, to bring the Army back to its peacetime requirements
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781912390427 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Helion and Company |
| Publication date: | 02/02/2019 |
| Series: | Wolverhampton Military Studies , #2 |
| Edition description: | Reprint |
| Pages: | 520 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.20(d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
List of illustrations & diagrams xi
List of maps xvi
List of abbreviations xvii
Glossary xx
Acknowledgements xxiv
Foreword Professor Stephen Badsey xxvii
Introduction 29
Part 1 1878-1902 37
1 The Creation of Central Remount and Veterinary Services and a Horse Registration Scheme 1878-1899 39
The Fitz-Wygram Committee 41
Horse Registration Scheme 45
Army Remount Service 47
Assessment of Planning to 1899 54
2 The Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902 59
Mobilisation 60
Remount Services in South Africa 65
Veterinary Services in South Africa 74
Remount Procurement 82
Demobilisation 92
Causes of Wastage 94
Statistics: Supply and Losses 106
Assessment of the Remount and Veterinary Services during the War 110
Part 2 Between the Wars 1902-1914 123
3 Reorganisation of the Remount and Veterinary Services 125
Army Remount Department 129
Army Veterinary Service 134
4 The Horse Question and Mobilisation Scheme 138
The Horse Question 138
Shortage of Cavalry Horses 145
The Horse Mobilisation Scheme 154
Census and Classification 154
Amendment to the Army (Annual) Act 1911 158
New Scheme for Classification and Mobilisation 160
Artillery Horse Subsidy Scheme 175
Remount Statement 178
Mobilisation Scheme 182
5 Mechanisation and a New Transport System 190
Mechanisation 190
Motor Vehicle Subsidy Scheme 202
A New Transport System 204
6 Domestic Market and the Supply of Horses for Military Purposes 213
Horse Breeding in the 19th Century 214
The 'Horse World' of London 215
The Question of the Supply of Horses for Military Purposes 218
The Question of Horse Supply in Peacetime 221
The Impact of Motorised Vehicles and Scarcity of Light Horses 226
The Question of the Future Supply of Horses for Military Purposes 228
Schemes to Improve Horse Breeding and Supply to the Military 233
Supply of Light Horses and Military Requirements for Mobilisation including Impressment, on the Eve of War 248
Part 3 The 1914-1918 War 257
7 Mobilisation 1914 259
Mobilisation 265
British Expeditionary Force 281
Supply of Remounts 290
Hutments and Stabling 292
Injury, Sickness and Disease 294
Wastage 295
Casting and the Disposal of Dead Animals 297
8 Expansion and Horsing the New Armies 1914-1915 298
Horsing the New Armies and Divisions from Overseas 298
Demand for Additional Remount Depots and Veterinary Facilities in the UK 307
9 The Western Front 1915-1918 315
Winter of 1915-16 315
Cavalry and Their Horses 317
Shortage of Horses 1916 320
The Somme Offensive 1916 324
Offensives 1917 328
Horsing the American Expeditionary Force 1918 333
Retreat 1918 339
Offensives 1918 349
10 Supplying the Demand 354
Foreign Markets 354
The Maritime Contribution and Submarine Menace 367
Domestic Market 371
Efficiency of the Remount Department and AVC 379
Mechanisation 389
11 Supply to Other Theatres of War 394
Canada 394
Gallipoli, or Dardanelles Campaign 395
Salonika, or Macedonian Front 397
Italian Front 399
Persian Campaign (South Persia) 404
North Russian Expeditionary Force and British Mission to South Russia 405
South Africa and German South West Africa 406
East African Campaign 409
Mesopotamian Campaign 411
Sinai and Palestine Campaigns 412
Demobilisation and Conclusion 419
Demobilisation 419
Conclusion 427
Appendices 440
I Biographies 440
II Points of the horse 447
III Remount Service - Southern Home Command, October 1919 448
IV Remount Directorate, BEF, 1918 450
V Directorate Veterinary Services, BEF, 1918 451
VI Supply of Horses for Military Purposes, letter from Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig, 1st December 1918 452
Bibliography 456
1 Archival Sources: National Depositories 457
2 Archival Sources: Local Depositories 465
3 Printed Works 469
Index 502