The role of cavalry soldiers and their horses will be the focus for First World War Centenary commemorations in 2014 at historic sites cared for by English Heritage.
The conservation group will be holding a series of events paying tribute to horses and riders deployed on the front line. ‘War and the Horse’ will also reveal the impact of the war on the people left at home.
Millions of horses served on all fronts during the First World War. They were required not only for use by traditional cavalry units, but also in vast numbers to haul guns and supplies.
Britain sent agents all over the world to buy tens of thousands of horses and mules, especially from the United States and Australia. The animals arrived in converted ships and were housed in vast stable complexes known as remount depots, often near railway lines, before being shipped to the front.
A trumpeter of the 16th Lancers exercises his horse.
English Heritage plans to evoke life in 1914 with a mixture of dramatic re-enactments, educational talks, period music and children’s activities.
The organisation, which cares for historic monuments across England, says it’ll draw on “the remarkable bond between the English public and the horse.”
Many country houses and castles were requisitioned and adapted for a variety of uses during the First World War. They became convalescent hospitals, military bases and training camps, signal stations and more.
‘War and the Horse’ events will take place at:
*Wrest Park in Bedfordshire, a stately home converted into a convalescent hospital for troops (April 26-27).
*Scarborough Castle in Yorkshire, which housed a barracks and gun emplacement bombarded by German warships from the North Sea in 1914 (August 9-10).
*Dover Castle in Kent, the strategic fortress and garrison overlooking the English Channel between England and France (September 20-21).
‘War and the Horse’ will also feature in English Heritage’s annual living history spectacular, History Live! at Kelmarsh Hall in Northamptonshire (July 19-20).
Source: English Heritage
Date of press release publication: March 12th 2014
Images courtesy of English Heritage
Posted by Peter Alhadeff, Centenary News