Rick W Posted December 23, 2007 Share Posted December 23, 2007 Dont take any chances... :shake: http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o72/rik242_2006/gasmasks.jpg[/img] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fv1609 Posted December 23, 2007 Share Posted December 23, 2007 or "Horse Flu" http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/fv1620/imag0254.jpg[/img] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick W Posted December 23, 2007 Author Share Posted December 23, 2007 :rofl: :clap: :rofl: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted December 23, 2007 Share Posted December 23, 2007 or "Horse Flu" http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v684/fv1620/imag0254.jpg[/img] Interesting Clive - for gas I would imagine - what were they impregnated with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fv1609 Posted December 23, 2007 Share Posted December 23, 2007 Interesting Clive - for gas I would imagine - what were they impregnated with? Charcoal I imagine. Large animals were not much effected by nose & tear gases. They were not to be clipped as this provided some protection, leg bandages were to be employed. The weak point in the fighting unit was the rider & if he survived then the horse was to be gently led away to a safe area. Manuals generally indicate that there was no satisfactory gas mask for horses or mules. All that could be done was to keep them up wind of gas, stabled in barns & wait for it to blow over. But by WW2 such masks were available & looking much more efficient than the nose bag version seen above. In fact if you go to Sabre Sales, Nick still has unissued WW2 gas mask bags for mule & horse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted December 23, 2007 Share Posted December 23, 2007 Great info Clive and I would imagine that the 'powers' would view it that horses can be replaced quite easyly - after all this is exactly what happened to my familys horses during WW1 - Wield, Hampshire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fv1609 Posted December 24, 2007 Share Posted December 24, 2007 The view was that gas masks for animals were pretty hopeless & gas injury being dose related meant horses may survive. Mustard gas works by direct contact, so the hoof gives some protection, eye fringes helped, positioning animal on high ground was better than copses where gas could build up or hidding in woodland or making screens from tarpaulins against the expected direction of attack. Fodder was the problem, only the top layers need be discarded & if blister gas was used the fodder should not be used for a week. Although not harmful after this time the horse may reject it on taste grounds & goodness knows here the two we have seem fussy about eating anything that is not up to expectation. Mustard gas was different, water & forage should be discarded. I don't know about expendability, goodness know the troops were considered expendable. But I think horses were valued for their off road capabilities & even on roads & tracks at night time the horses night vision being superior to the drivers of MT seemed to be more reliable. It always struck me curious that there is such fascination for the mechanised German war machine. Yet in WW2 much of the transport was not MT, but horsedrawn, I believe 1.1 million horses served as transport. Incidentally Winchester has a war memorial to the effort of horses in warfare, in the form of a drinking trough for horses. I think it is now a flower bed. PS I used to live in Wield before I moved here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted December 24, 2007 Share Posted December 24, 2007 PS I used to live in Wield before I moved here! :schocked: This is my family seat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted December 24, 2007 Share Posted December 24, 2007 PS I used to live in Wield before I moved here! Buried my grandmother in Wield churchyard not so many years ago, saddest day of my life - my grandmother is my spirit guide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fv1609 Posted December 24, 2007 Share Posted December 24, 2007 :schocked: This is my family seat. We were in the lower part of Upper Wield. On the Medstead to Upper Wield road, just where you go past the farm on the left then it curves left & drops down. Then there is a T junction with the road from Lower Wield coming in on the right. There was a sign post on the left which was outside our bungalow. Problem was that we seemed to be the first point of contact for people who were lost. Some of the roads signs were not helpful, some would indicate Upper/Lower Wield some would just say Wield. As you know there was a bit of a seperation from the two bits. I think the church was in Upper, but I never went there. The pub was between the two, we went in there once but there was a snotty attitude that you're not a regular & must be a visitor. So never bothered again, so I didn't become a regular - triumph in business marketing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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