Remembering the war horses that served in France

Based on the book by Michael Morpurgo, the story brings home the shocking reality of a world at war, when many thousands of men and horses were plucked from their homes and sent into the horrors of the battlefield. The haycart was exchanged for the munitions truck, the plough for the heavy gun, and the point-to-point for the cavalry charge.

Faced with the constant threat of enemy fire, armies suffered equally from the freezing cold and wet of the trenches. With a lack of clean food, water and shelter, horses were prone to mange, saddle sores and cracked heels, as well as the more serious wounds received in battle. Thankfully, charitable organizations like The Blue Cross were on hand to help ease their suffering.

One of the UK's leading animal charities, The Blue Cross is known today for its veterinary hospitals and rehoming centres which care for sick and homeless animals across the UK. But in the early 20th century, the charity was known as Our Dumb Friends League, having been founded in 1897 to protect the welfare of working horses and other animals in London.