Horses in Gallipoli

[MartinWills]

I woulsd imagine that horses, as well as mules and the like, saw some service at Anzac, if only to haul artillery up to the front along "Artillery Road" past shell green. Similarly as others has pointed out they were also used hauling ambulances and the like in Gully Ravine and I imagine that hauling up to placed like "Artillery Row" may have seen horses employed as well as mules and the like. Mules were certainly used at Helles as witness main trunk routes such as the mule trenches on the spur to the west of Gully Ravine.

A large deep communication trench became a main thoroughfare along and to the north of the ANzac area and I believe horses (or ponies) were used by messengers and the like.

Mules and horses were also used toprovide motive power on the stretches of railway line that were used at Gallipoli such as that running north from Snipers Wood and the Zimmeermans Farm area as well as those used for moving stores and the like around base areas such as W beach and the Suvla Bay beaches near Suvla Point.

[Kookaburra]

In the epilogue of Terry Kinloch's book "Echoes of Gallipoli" - The NZ Mounted Rifles Brigade. It says on Boxing Day 1915, 1392 men of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade arrived back in Cairo, where they were reunited with their horses.

When the Mounteds left NZ on 16 October 1914 they took over 3800 horses of which only 77 died during the seven week voyage to Egypt.

Cheers, Diane

[Ozzie]

Anzac beach, hosres probably killed by arty fire.

[Ozzie]

Horses at Anzac. You can see why I reckon they need a goat for the upper areas of Anzac.

[Ozzie]

Horses in Mule Gully

[Ozzie]

There is a photo of a messenger galloping along the beach, but I can't find it!!!

Cheers

Kim

[Guest windy]

Grandfather's brother was an Old Contemptible. I am almost certain there was a photo in his Association Mag which the 2 oldies called the Suvla Derby and often trotted it out to embellish their stories.

AMAZING.

Following up on Kim's first lead I found the picture I recognised. Its reference G 00579. I searched hi and low and found what I thought was the Association Mag. It was actually " T P's JOURNAL OF GREAT DEEDS JANUARY 1916. The confusion was probably the article on The Coldstream Guards. Anyways it has the Derby picture with the caption "A hurrying despatch rider passing a plot made sacred as the lonely resting place of brave men.

In an extremely interesting article "THE UNDYING STORY OF ANZAC AND SUVLA BAY" , 2 of the 3 pictures published are the despatch rider, and the first picture on this discussion. That caption is "MEN AND MATERIAL LANDED AT SUVLA BAY FOR THE GREAT GAMBLE THAT HAS ENDED SO DRAMATICALLY".

Of extreme importance is the absence of revisionism and hindsight included in the article published so soon after the evacuation

[michaeldr]

quotes:

There is a photo of a messenger galloping along the beach, but I can't find it!!!

and

A hurrying despatch rider passing a plot made sacred as the lonely resting place of brave men.

This might be it

[Guest windy]

That is it Michael.

Reference for Aust War Memorial search is G 00579

Incidently G 00588 was apparently taken by the same Official Admiralty Photographer.

G'bye now

[Ozzie]

Thanks Micheal.

I am not sure but the one I had in mind was going the other way and no graves in front.

But this one is very poignant, is it not?

Kim

[stevenbecker]

Kim,

Most of these photos are of mules not horses, Mule gully photo is of mules and the Anzac one you mention about goats show mules also,

As for the photo of the dead animals they could be either horses or mules its hard to say.

The rail track laid as far as I am aware that track was put in post Aug battles as I have a number of soldiers attached to it during Sept so I don't think the rail line was in pre Aug. Did they use horse to pull the supplies from the pier and to other places I am unsure.

As we know post Aug the despatch Troop was sent up to run messengers between the different fronts from Anzac to Suvla.

As to moving the guns around Anzac mate I don't cannot see that as fact as the gound where most of these guns set up was far to hard for the horses and its more the likely they either used man power or mules pre Aug 1915.

Cheers

S.B

[Ozzie]

Steve, you had better let the AWM know, they have these photos captioned as horses.

I'll blow up the photos and have a better look. Bad research on my part.

Cheers

Kim

[Ozzie]

The 4th Battery, 2nd FAB, according to C. E. W, Bean landed two guns on the beach at Anzac Cove on the afternoon of 25th April, around 5.30pm, but were subsequently ordered to re-embark back to the transport ship, as no suitable positions could be found for the guns.

Colonel Johnston was evidently determined to have his artillery present at the landing, for one of Major Phillip’s 4th Battery 18-pounder’s, was run up the beach and set up on a knoll at the southern end of Anzac Cove near the entrance to Shrapnel Gully on Brighton Beach. ‘Your Grandfathers gun’, which opened fire on the Turkish gun emplacements at Gaba Tepe at about 6.00pm, silencing them.

C. E. W. Bean has left a description of this incident: “At 5.30pm the wounded, lying in hundreds at the southern end of the beach, on stretchers and off stretchers, doctors hurrying through them, naval officers giving orders, boats pulling alongside; heard a sudden bustle and clatter and a shout: “Look out, make way!” Stretchers were hurriedly pulled aside, and between them came a team of gun horses, the drivers urging them; and after them, deep in the sand of the beach, a single gun of the 4th Battery, Australian Field artillery. The wounded, and even the dying, cheered as it passed through them. Willing hands undid its chains and dragged it up a steep path made by beach party and engineers to the southern knoll of the beach. At 6.00pm this gun opened upon Gaba Tepe, and its second round of shrapnel appeared to silence for the night the last persistent gun in the Gaba Tepe battery.”

The above is from my mate Jeff,

Cheers

Kim

lesson learnt, don't trust captions with photos.

[stevenbecker]

Thanks Kim,

Interesting I wonder what they did with the horses once the gun was dragged up the slopes of Anzac by hand.

Did they evacuate them or use them like the mules to move supplies around the beach.

S.B

[Ozzie]

Apparently they were evacuated on the 26th. Hopefully Jeff might enter the thread with more detail.

Cheers

Kim