Horses.
Essential tools of war for over
5,000 years began to see the end of their
usefulness during the First World War.
At the onset, many predicted that
leaps in technology would spell the
end of mounted warfare,
but cavalry units were still very much
part of attack strategies on all
sides of the conflict.
However, at the battle of Cambrai in 1917,
the first Allied cavalry charge to be truly
mowed down by Central Powers’ machine-gun
fire had everyone rethink their use, and fast!
Trench warfare also made them redundant.
Anyone trying to charge through a maze
of dugouts, tunnels and
barb wire wouldn’t get far.
This marked a transition period.
Horses still played a significant role
throughout the war but
mostly for reconnaissance,
carrying messages, pulling artillery,
ambulances, field kitchens and
supply wagons through deep mud
and rough terrain.
A new tool of war was about to replace
the horse in shock tactics: the tank.
Tanks didn’t succumb to
machine gun fire.
Tanks didn’t get skin conditions or
need veterinary hospitals.
Tanks’ dead carcasses didn’t cause disease.
Tanks left no waste contributing to
poor hygiene in camps.
Progressively tanks took over the role
of horses, but not completely.
On March 30, 1918 a Canadian regiment,
Lord Strathcona's Horse,
led one of history's last great cavalry
charges against superior German positions,
well protected by machine guns,
at Moreuil Wood.
The Germans surrendered,
but seventy-five of the Canadian soldiers
were killed or wounded.
Symbolically, and soon very practically,
the era of the horse was over.
The future belonged to the tank --
and to armoured regiments.
But many Canadian armoured regiments
proudly strut their equine past to this day --
like Lord Strathcona's Horse
(Royal Canadians), the very unit
that led that last cavalry charge.