ANZACDAY RememberingDolly,Beauty,BessandDigger TheWarHorsesthatreturned

Writes Kem Ormond

Alot of readersmay be unawareofPurple Poppy dayand what it represents. This year Iwrote about it as Ifelt it wasimportant to remember all the animals that had served in wars.In fact we still have animals that are serving to this day.

Being from afamily that has had alifelong affiliation with horses,I felt astrong sense of sadness in knowing that out of the 10,000 horses that left forWorld War1, to carrytroops and supplies into battle, only four returned to New Zealand.

All four horses that made it home belonged to officers. Beauty to the late Captain RichardRiddiford,Bess to Captain Charles Powles, Dolly to Major General Sir Andrew Russell, and Digger to thelateLieutenant Colonel George King, who waskilled at Passchendaele.

The initiative to bring home the four horses came from Major General Sir Andrew Russell.

Beauty,Bess, and Dolly,had left the countrywith the main body of the NZEF in 1914.

Digger had left in 1915 or 1916.

The horses arrived off the passenger freighter,the SS Westmeath. The trip had been traumatic. Firehad broken out in the hold when the ship wassix days out from Panama, destroying all the horses’ feed andmanyofthe soldiers’ possessions.

The soldiersfed their bread rations to theanimalstokeep them alive until theyreached New Zealand.

Bess and Beauty headed off to Bulls and Feilding, while Dolly and Digger weretransported to Tuna Nui in the Hawke’sBay

Dolly the warhorse whocame home with highly decorated Major General Sir Andrew Russell, known as “The General”,ofTuna Nui Station, wasabletolive out the rest of heryears enjoying the beautiful pastures of Sherenden in Hawke’s Bay ,until she died in 1932.

While Anzac soldiersare remembered and celebrated on Anzac Day and ArmisticeDay,their horses have had no recognition other than one statue, Te Utu, in Hamilton.

So,aDolly theWar Horse Trust has been setupinHawke’s Bay to fundraise fora life-size remembrancestatueinbronze, of Dolly,toeventually be exhibited next to Major General Sir Andrew Russell.

Foranyonepassing through Hastings, alife- sizebronzestatue of TheGeneral stands in the Hastings Civic Squarenearthe cenotaph. The statue depicts him in uniform,holding aswagger stick Andrew Russell left NewZealand in 1914 as commanderofthe

Mounted Rifles Brigade. After being made aKnight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG.), he waspromoted to Major General and led the NewZealand and Australian Division during its last weeks on the Gallipoli Peninsula. Russell commanded the NewZealand Division in Franceand Belgium from May 1916 until the end of the war. If you arewishing to see further information about Dolly,the War House Trust check out www.dollythewarhorse.co.nz

Pics supplied from dollythewarhorse.co.nz

WhangareiBoys’HighSchoolOldBoys’Associationisproudtoannouncethelaunchof anewwebsitededicatedtothe34pastpupilswhomadetheultimatesacrificeduring WorldWar1.Thewebsitefeaturesdetailedprofilesofeachfallensoldier,completewith photographs,biographicalinformation,andmilitaryservicedetails.

Thewebsite’slaunchisparticularlytimely,coincidingwithANZACDay,Tuesday25th April.WBHSOBAisproudtocontributetotheongoingcommemorationofthisimportant historicaleventandtoensurethatthememoryofthese34menispreservedforfuture generations.

ThankyoutoJoshClarkandhisteamofresearchersandwebsite withparticularthanksgoingtoWendySkinnerandSuellenRoy.

VisitthewebsiteonANZACDay http://ww1.wbhsoba.co.nz/ ebuilders,