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.
At the outbreak of war in 1914, it launched a ‘Blue Cross Fund’ which raised money all over the world to offer medical help and comforts to the brave animals of war. Initially, British army camps were supplied with horse ambulances to assist with the requisition and transport of horses for the war effort. But it was those already shipped out to France that really touched the heart of the British public.
With supplies in short demand, The Blue Cross sent veterinary chests to over 3500 units of the British army. Containing drugs, bandages and other comforts, these parcels were a lifeline for many thousands of horses throughout the 4 year conflict.
But while the British Army had its own veterinary corps, our allies in France and Italy were less well equipped. Recognizing that horses have no nationality, The Blue Cross offered assistance which was welcomed with open arms.
By the end of the war in 1918, the Blue Cross fag was flying over 13 field hospitals in France and six in Italy. Ambulances were dispatched to the front lines and more than 80 English veterinary surgeons and orderlies were employed to care for sick and wounded horses around the clock.
One horse named Big Ben was brought in littered with 27 pieces of shell, including one in the spine. Vets removed the shell and worked in relay for 3 days and nights to prevent blood poisoning, returning the horse to service after just 3 months.
Mange was a common affliction in French horses who suffered from poor diet and grooming regimens. Over 50 000 horses were treated for this disease alone in Blue Cross hospitals, and the condition of horses in the French army improved greatly during the course of the war.
Thanks to the generous support of the public, The Blue Cross Fund spent over £170 000 on the care of animals in war, which equates to nearly £6.5 million today. The importance of this work prompted the charity to adopt the name The Blue Cross in the 1950s.
Money and goods came from hundreds of differ-ent sources, including the sale of postcards showing emotive images of animals in war. These items and many others from the charity's archives have now been made public for the first time at www.bluecross.org.uk/warhorse.
The British Army used 1.2 million horses and mules in the First World War, only half of which survived, and only a handful ever returned home to the UK.
In subsequent wars, horses were largely replaced by machinery which was cheaper and more efficient to run, but films like War Horse will ensure that we never forget the great sacrifice of our four legged friends, and those who went beyond the call of duty to help them.