Cavdoc83 Posted January 24, 2013 Share #26 Posted January 24, 2013 This is another Aussie horse,this time in Australia with a skinner from the 99th FA Btn That's gotta be a mule! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1940Desoto Posted January 24, 2013 Share #27 Posted January 24, 2013 Its a Waler mate, as also pointed out by MPage. The bloodlines include Thoroughbred, Arab Pony, Cape Horse, Timor Pony and Clydesdale/Percheron. These animals are considered some of the best Military horses in the world...hard as nails. Our Light Horse used them during WW1 in the Middle East and the Australian Govt. exported them to the British Army and Indian Cavalry for years. My Great Grandfather rode them with the 9th Light Horse during the First War and told my uncles that the Waler was the hardiest mount he ever had the pleasure of riding. Cheers Sean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
124cav Posted January 24, 2013 Share #28 Posted January 24, 2013 The 99th had a load of US animals turned back by Australian Quarantine (it seems they have always been the worlds toughest quarantine) The 1st load was diverted to New Caledonia As replacments they recieved lend lease horses from the Australian government. I have a fair amount of stuff relating to US horse/mule units during the war and any (so far in all my research) units in Australia seem to all have Walers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1940Desoto Posted January 24, 2013 Share #29 Posted January 24, 2013 God bless Australian Quarantine ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
124cav Posted January 24, 2013 Share #30 Posted January 24, 2013 they made us throw out an open lip balm in my daughters bag! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
124cav Posted January 25, 2013 Share #31 Posted January 25, 2013 Here are some pics of Australian Walers landing on New Caledonia These come from the Fort Ord website The animals landing here are the ones used by the 112th Cavalry (on New Caledonia) and the 97th FA (pack) (on Guadalcanal) The animals had a pretty rugged boat trip and none were saddle broke. Retraining of these animals was "on the job" There was a small remount depot on the island (Troop strength and a half Company of Veterinary corps dispersed between the mounted/pack units on the island) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
124cav Posted January 25, 2013 Share #32 Posted January 25, 2013 More from Greg's collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1940Desoto Posted January 25, 2013 Share #33 Posted January 25, 2013 Excellent images...sory about the lip balm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
124cav Posted January 25, 2013 Share #34 Posted January 25, 2013 My daughter is pretty pished about too It was the only "Dora" merchandise she was allowed to get on holiday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavdoc83 Posted January 25, 2013 Share #35 Posted January 25, 2013 Its a Waler mate, as also pointed out by MPage. The bloodlines include Thoroughbred, Arab Pony, Cape Horse, Timor Pony and Clydesdale/Percheron. These animals are considered some of the best Military horses in the world...hard as nails. Our Light Horse used them during WW1 in the Middle East and the Australian Govt. exported them to the British Army and Indian Cavalry for years. My Great Grandfather rode them with the 9th Light Horse during the First War and told my uncles that the Waler was the hardiest mount he ever had the pleasure of riding. Cheers Sean Sorry! I hope I didn't insult any Waler-philes! I've always wanted one, as I'm aware of how great a horse they are. The one in that pic is a pretty rough looking specimen, though. Maybe it's the angle of the photo, but his conformation is lacking. I like the Walers in the other pictures a lot better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
124cav Posted January 30, 2013 Share #36 Posted January 30, 2013 The 112th only had problems with the Aussie horses on New Caledonia Interestingly in the 1930s the US Quartermaster rejected Walers for use in the Phillipines. The excess horses of the 112th all ended up in India and then Burma where the horses caused all sorts of problems.The mules (Indian and US sourced)all faired a lot better in the Burma campaign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J_Andrews Posted January 30, 2013 Share #37 Posted January 30, 2013 Re CBI mules: I once read, in OSS records, that when the Marauders needed many, mules on short notice, it fell to OSS to FIND tem, BUY them, and under false papers arrange for their transport to India. This was because the Usual Mule-Providing Areas were EMPTY. The US born ones had been used up for pre-Pearl harbor and 1942 mobilization purposes. Many if not most of those used in Tunisia and then Italy came from Mexico, French possessions throughout Africa and from South Africa. OSS, with its guys who knew guys who knew guys, in odd places, got many mules from Argentina (pro-Axis), Spain (quasi-Axis), Turkey (?) and Portugal and its African colonies. BUT the records pointed out that mule dealers of the day were not stupid, knew it was American money pouring in, and were in touch with one another, so they figured the mules were going to fight the Japanese -- no problem, not our friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavdoc83 Posted January 30, 2013 Share #38 Posted January 30, 2013 The 112th only had problems with the Aussie horses on New Caledonia Interestingly in the 1930s the US Quartermaster rejected Walers for use in the Phillipines. The excess horses of the 112th all ended up in India and then Burma where the horses caused all sorts of problems.The mules (Indian and US sourced)all faired a lot better in the Burma campaign. What kind of problems - health or performance? Certainly, for packing (and maybe riding) in rough terrain, the mule is the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
124cav Posted January 30, 2013 Share #39 Posted January 30, 2013 What kind of problems - health or performance? Certainly, for packing (and maybe riding) in rough terrain, the mule is the way to go. The horses would ony eat packed grain,they refused local chaff and lost bulk very quickly,as a direct result of this the pack saddles neede constant rechambering (this was beyond the area of expertise of most of the Infantry soldiers turned "skinner") and the horses developed open wounds very quickly. The mules either by choice or design ate anything and everything put in front, of them and maintained size.The mules could also march unshod,something not attempted with the horses. The few horses remaining with the 5307th became evacuation or emergency riding animals only. Lt Col Charles Hunter had one of these last horses shot out from under him at Mytkina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
124cav Posted January 31, 2013 Share #40 Posted January 31, 2013 This is Col Hunter Here are ome of the riding animals used the Marauders Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
124cav Posted February 6, 2013 Share #41 Posted February 6, 2013 here are some remount fellas at work in the CBI Ledo Road Remount Depot 698th QM Remount Depot i think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
124cav Posted February 6, 2013 Share #42 Posted February 6, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
124cav Posted February 6, 2013 Share #43 Posted February 6, 2013 Chinese soldiers filled some chairs in remount troops as did Indian soldiers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
124cav Posted December 16, 2013 Share #44 Posted December 16, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
124cav Posted December 16, 2013 Share #45 Posted December 16, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
124cav Posted December 16, 2013 Share #46 Posted December 16, 2013 This is according to the notes on the back is General Orde Wingates horse being loaded for Operation Thursday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
124cav Posted December 16, 2013 Share #47 Posted December 16, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
124cav Posted October 30, 2014 Share #48 Posted October 30, 2014 Time for a bump on this thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
124cav Posted October 30, 2014 Share #49 Posted October 30, 2014 129th Cav Sqn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
124cav Posted October 30, 2014 Share #50 Posted October 30, 2014 124th Cavalry,1944 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now