Did anyone pause for reflection on National Purple Poppy Day?

Friday 24th February was War Animal Day but only a few people attended any ceremony to mark the occasion and fewer were even aware of the significance of the day.

To their great credit, two members of Toowoomba Regional Council found time in their busy schedules to attend a small ceremony to pay tribute to the animals who served and died in war.

Mayor Paul Antonio and Cr Carol Taylor attended the ceremony at the Queensland Animal War Memorial on the western side of Newtown Park .

Australia sent over 120,000 horses to serve in World War I with most going to India and 39,000 served with the A.I.F. in Egypt, and Palestine while others served on the Western Front with the 13th and 4th Australian Light Horse regiments.

A debate has continued for many decades as to what happened to the horses at the end of the war.

The government decided it was not possible to return the horses to Australia because of cost and quarantine concerns.

The Australian War Memorial in an article, “They Shot the Horses - Didn’t They?” maintains it is largely a myth that the Australian soldiers shot their horses rather than see them sold and eventually mistreated or used as meat.

nation’s interests, in at times appalling conditions, the horses met an inglorious and ignoble end.

The Last Parade

With never a sound of trumpet, With never a flag displayed, The last of the old campaigners Lined up for the last parade.

Weary they were and battered, Shoeless, and knocked about; From under their ragged forelocks Their hungry eyes looked out.

And they watched as the old commander Read out to the cheering men

The Nation’s thanks, and the orders To carry them home again.

And the last of the old campaigners, Sinewy, lean, and spare — He spoke for his hungry comrades: “Have we not done our share?

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“In France, Belgium and Britain, it was quickly decided to sell the horses to locals. The sales would recoup some money for the AIF and would assist with postwar reconstruction. Sales proceeded throughout 1919 – but only after assurances had been attained that French and Belgian butchers would not take the horses for their meat,” the article points out.

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“Starving and tired and thirsty We limped on the blazing plain; And after a long night’s picket You saddled us up again.

However, it was more difficult in the Middle East as there were different standards of animal welfare so horses were classified according to age and fitness level.

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“We froze on the windswept kopjes When the frost lay snowy-white, Never a halt in the daytime, Never a rest at night!

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Horses over 12 years of age and those considered unfit were shot by pistol by veterinarians.

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Naturally solders who had been through battle with their horses loved them deeply and carried the resentment of the official orders back to Australia where they lingered for decades.

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Whatever the truth, it still remains that after serving the

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“We knew when the rifles rattled From the hillside bare and brown, And over our weary shoulders We felt warm blood run down, “As we turned for the stretching gallop, Crushed to the earth with weight; But we carried our riders through it — Sometimes, perhaps, too late.

“Steel! We were steel to stand it — We that have lasted through, We that are old campaigners Pitiful, poor, and few.“Over the sea you brought us, Over the leagues of foam: Now we have served you fairly Will you not take us home?

“Home to the Hunter River, To the flats where the lucerne grows; Home where the Murrumbidgee Runs white with the melted snows.

“This is a small thing, surely! Will not you give command That the last of the old campaigners Go back to their native land?” They looked at the grim commander, But never a sign he made. “Dismiss!” and the old campaigners Moved off from their last parade.

- A.B. ‘BANJO’ PATERSON