}
The Remount Depot
‘The road on the [Vimy] Ridge was littered with wrecked guns, wagons and dead and dying horses and men’
Alfred Finnigan, the Royal Field Artillery
The Army in 1914 still relied on horses and mules for transport. Whether it was men, supplies, guns or shells, horse-drawn transport moved it. The Army needed a continuous supply of horses and mules to replace those killed or injured at the war fronts. Britain could not supply enough, so horses were bought in from Canada, the USA, Argentina, Ireland and Australia. The Shirehampton Remount Depot handled thousands of horses and mules. Each animal was kept for two or three weeks and tested for disease. The aim was to get the animals clean and fit, ready for training and service. Theodore Tickner of St George joined up in 1915. He was a farrier, and so went to the Shirehampton Remount Depot. He was later posted to Remount Depots in France and Italy, where he looked after the horses. Of the 339,601 horses and mules that went through the Depot, only 13,811 came back after the war.
The Army in 1914 still relied on horses and mules for transport. Whether it was men, supplies, guns or shells, horse-drawn transport moved it. The Army needed a continuous supply of horses and mules to replace those killed or injured at the war fronts. Britain could not supply enough, so horses were bought in from Canada, the USA, Argentina, Ireland and Australia. The Shirehampton Remount Depot handled thousands of horses and mules. Each animal was kept for two or three weeks and tested for disease. The aim was to get the animals clean and fit, ready for training and service. Theodore Tickner of St George joined up in 1915. He was a farrier, and so went to the Shirehampton Remount Depot. He was later posted to Remount Depots in France and Italy, where he looked after the horses. Of the 339,601 horses and mules that went through the Depot, only 13,811 came back after the war.