Page 5 - Chiron Spring 2018
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 provide and care for the animals of 90 infantry divisions and eight cavalry divisions in five armies in all theatres by November 1918.They also provided support to the Allies, units and training camps in the UK. On 11th November 1918 over 896,000 animals were employed in all theatres of war by the British and Indian Armies.6 Veterinary personnel were attached to various Remount Commissions in North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, Spain and Portugal. They were responsible for checking animals on purchase, before and after transportation, and where possible to accompany them during transportation, for example some 800,000 horses from the American Continent across the Atlantic Ocean.
Major veterinary hospitals (for 1,000 horses each) were opened in 1914 at Liverpool (Ormskirk) and Bristol (Avonmouth, Shirehampton), to receive remounts from the Atlantic seaboard, and Southampton (Swaythling). The last major new depot was opened at Romsey in 1915. Seventy more veterinary hospitals with accommodation for over 100,000 animals were established during the war.
Veterinary Evacuating Stations were formed in May 1918 as an additional link in the chain of evacuation. Each station was provided with a motor horse ambulance (a gift from the RSPCA) capable of accommodating two animals. Hostilities ceased six months after their formation, however the Stations and Veterinary Sections proved absolutely essential
for the efficient clearance of ineffective animals.
Wastage on the Western Front between August to October 1914 amounted to 20% per month. Over 11,000 horses were in hospitals and convalescent farms, of
which 500 per week were going back to the ranks. Due to the scale of expansion and lack of trained men and resources, working animals had a bad time during 1916-17. Between August 1914 and February 1928, 552,000 horses and
Operating Theatre No.5 Veterinary Hospital, Rouen, France (Army Medical Services Museum)
 Discarded horseshoes ... a small part of 60 million (Royal Logistics Crops Museum)
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