Theirs was not to reason why

The guns fell silent on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Turn up the sound

On November 11th, Remembrance Day, we remember the Canadian military killed and injured. We need to remember those animals who also fought and died. 

Horses have been used in battle for millenia. Wikipedia has an excellent article on the use of horses in war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horses_in_warfare

We allow the soldiers who fought a certain agency, though most would have felt the had no choice. But the horse who fought and died, along side their riders certainly had no agency. And they deserve not to be forgotten.

Theirs not to make reply,

   Theirs not to reason why,

   Theirs but to do and die.

Medieval Cavalry facing the pikes of the opposing army

In Brave Heart, the Scottish army used long pointed stakes to stop the English cavalry charge and  destroy them in hand to hand combat. At Agincourt the English forced the French to attack across muddy ground. Their longbowmen aimed at the lead horses, creating chaos, and resulted in the destruction of the "Flower of French Knightood". The horses took the punishment. They had no choice.

British Heavy Cavalry Charge at Balaclava

Charge of the Scots Greys at Waterloo

Though we think of the Second World War as highly mechanized, horses played a large role expecially in the Eastern Front. The German Army, strapped for motorised transport because its factories were needed to produce tanks and aircraft, used around 2.75 million horses – more than it had used in World War I. The Soviets used 3.5 million horses.

Germans having supply problems on the Russian Steppe

“I’m only a cavalry charger,

And I’m dying as fast as I can,

(For my body is riddled with bullets –

They’ve potted both me and my man)."

- Excerpt from “The Cavalry Charger’s Appeal” by Scots Grey, A Book of Poems for The Blue Cross Fund