The Tank Museum in Dorset, England, has opened its new First World War exhibition: Warhorse to Horsepower.
Warhorse to Horsepower explores the role which horses played before, during and after the First World War.
Cavalry could often play a decisive part in battles, but as the First World War ground to a halt and stalemate took hold, their use in the army changed. Many were used to haul goods and artillery to the front lines. The advent of new technology and weapons, such as the machine gun, also made redundant the value of the cavalry charge.
As a result, the exhibition focuses in particular on the transition from cavalry to armoured vehicles in the British Army.
The museum’s Mark IV replica tank features in the exhibition, alongside a number of set-piece scenes including, a front-line stable, trench dug-out, pre-war street scene and nine sculptural horses placed throughout.
Other vehicles from the museum’s collection, including the Hornsby tractor, Peerless Armoured Car, the 5-turreted Independent and Light Mark IIA are also displayed.
The exhibition was opened by historian and museum trustee Dan Snow, having taken two years to design and six months to build.
He praised the museum for its interactivity, particularly for allowing visitors touch objects on display and that the exhibition is important as it “tells one of the key stories of World War One”.
“And that’s not a story about futility, and about blood, and about sadness, and about pointlessness and about mud. It’s a story about innovation. Real stories are always the best. If you want to know the truth behind the wonderful fiction created by men like [Michael] Morpurgo and [Steven] Spielberg, come here with your family… you really get the emotion and the excitement of what is one of the most remarkable stories in our history”.
Posted by: Daniel Barry, Centenary News