“Good-Bye, Old Man.” This image of a soldier bidding farewell to his fatally injured horse is in the Board Room at Victoria Hospital, London. It was commissioned by the Blue Cross in 1916 to raise money to help horses on active service. The artist is Fortunino Matania and it is one of the most famous war-time illustrations. The artist played an important role in defining people’s mental image of what Great War battlefield scenes looked like. http://www.edinburghs-war.ed.ac.uk/system/files/PDF_horses.pdf
Written By: Heather Clemenceau
Along with horses, the types of animals employed in war is extensive, from birds and rodents sent into tunnels to detect poisonous gas, to donkeys, mules, dogs, carrier pigeons, camels, reindeer and elephants used to carry heavy loads. Even animals as small as glow worms have been used in war. In World War 1 alone, approximately eight million horses, mules, and donkeys were killed and another 2.5 million were…
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