![]() The book then moves systematically through chapters on “colonial adventures,” the Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny, the Second Boer War, and the Great War of 1914-1918. ![]() An excellent introductory chapter providing sweep and context, “Horse and Rider,” precedes a close and expertly drawn set piece on the iconic battle of Waterloo. Real War Horses, despite its odd title, actually focuses on a military arm and the men in its service, or, as its subtitle puts it, “the experiences of the British Cavalry” from 1814 to 1914. The individual correspondents give us a fascinating view of the life of the cavalryman, their experience in battle, and their own conclusions about what was going on. The letters are woven into the narrative, with the relevant sections extracted, so we don’t get bogged down in repetition or too much detail. Many of these were published in contemporary newspapers, and they have an immediacy that later memoirs don’t always match. Never miss leisure news in Milton Keynes - Follow us on And on Facebook: bulk of the book is taken up with eyewitness accounts of the exploits of the British cavalry during this period, using letters home written by the soldiers. To book your seat to see the production during its MK stay click here War Horse continues at Milton Keynes Theatre until October 6. The ‘Old Blacks’, a team of six horses that survived the whole war, were chosen to pull the carriage of the Unknown Soldier at the Armistice Day parade in 1920.Ī few others lived out their days peacefully in stables owned by The Horse Trust including Roger who, when the guns fell silent, was found wandering in No Man’s Land just like Joey in War Horse. Some were auctioned off to farmers on the continent but the oldest and most worn out made their final journey to the knackers’ yard. While officers’ mounts were guaranteed a return ticket, of the others, only the youngest and fittest animals were brought back to the UK. When the war finally ended in 1918, and millions of soldiers were able to go home, things didn’t look so good for many of the mules and horses that had survived. ![]() In the first twelve days of the war, 165,000 of the best draft horses in Great Britain were transported across the Channel but before long, it became necessary to ship more than 1,000 horses a week from North America, many of which were half-wild and had been rounded up straight off the open plain. While horses and mules were deployed on all of the WW1 battlefields, most of them saw action in France. But supply horses pulled ammunition, general supplies and ambulances and teams of gun horses pulled artillery pieces that weighed as much as a Black Cab taxi. Pretty soon it became clear that a man on a horse was no substitute for heavy artillery. When war broke out the cavalry was still the British Army’s first line of defence. So why, in the 20th century, with technology fast out pacing horse power, were they there in the midst of conflict at all? What is known about the number of horses and mules that served alongside their human counterparts, is that millions died in battle either through terrible injuries, disease, starvation or sheer exhaustion. Joey was one in at least six million, though some estimates say many more. Joey, the central character in War Horse, was one in a million. As War Horse continues to leave audiences emotional at Milton Keynes Theatre, Total MK takes a look at the tragic stories of the real war horses.
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