Some of the unsung heroes of WWI were not human.
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Former Launceston mayor and MLC Don Wing said the soldiers of the 3rd Australian Light Horse Regiment depended on their horses.
Mr Wing’s uncle, George James Argent Wing, and father Roy Wing, both served in the 3rd Light Horse.
George, or Uncle Arg, was among the first Tasmanians to die during the war.
He enlisted in the 3rd Light Horse in August 1914, a fortnight after war was declared against Germany.
Less than six months after enlisting, his Uncle Arg died of pneumonia at the Egypt Military Hospital in Cairo.
“My father enlisted in the 27th Battalion on March 23, 1915, about six weeks after Uncle Arg died,” Mr Wing said.
“Dad was just 18 years old.”
Mr Wing said his father served at Gallipoli for five months, but was discharged on health grounds in August 1916 due to contracting acute nephritis because of bad water conditions.
“He suffered from that for the rest of his life. But, when he was feeling well enough he re-enlisted the next year, on May 1 in 1917. He was then 20,” he said.
“He served in the 3rd Light Horse until he was discharged at the end of the war, on August 27, 1919.”
Members of the 3rd Light Horse held reunions following the end of WWI.
“The last one was held when I was mayor, and I hosted them in the mayoral suite,” she said.
“There were about six of the veterans there. That was the last reunion function they had, in the mid 1980s.
Mr Wing said at each function, the veterans would make moving speeches about the “wonderful horses”.
“They became quite attached to them,” he said.
“I believe all the horses were all killed on the basis of mercy.
“There were so many hundreds, probably thousands, that were destroyed.
“Quite heart-wrenching really, because the soldiers had them for several years.”
Mr Wing said his father used to tell him stories of time spent with his horse, who was a big fan of apples.
“The horse would lay down on the ground. Dad would sit on it, and the horse would get up like a camel,” he said.
“I remember dad talking to colleagues about how the soldiers and horses would jump over the trenches, then dismount and do hand-to-hand fighting.
“It was just dreadful. It’s a shocking thing, war.”