Re-educating The Remounts

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Limited Edition – 250

“Bill arrived in Egypt in late October or early November 1915 and was prepared to go to Gallipoli as a stretcher bearer however, as the battle there was going nowhere it was decided he remain in Egypt and, as a non-combatant, was only required to train as a stretcher bearer.

There were a great many re-mount horses arriving from Australia and the men remaining in camp in Egypt were required to ride these horses after their sea voyage. Grandfather said many of these horses appeared unbroken and even the broken-in horses were fresh from being grain-fed on board ship. He said it was good to take these fresh horses out into the desert near the Pyramids to ride them in the soft sand. They couldn’t buck much in the soft going and even if he did get bucked off, the sand made for an easy landing.

At some stage, the military found out he was a decent farrier so he was detailed to shoe horses from daylight ‘til dark. He apparently said that no matter how many horses he shod, he would look up and there were as many more to do. We think this is where his dislike of the military started to settle in. He felt, as a non-combatant, he was being given extra duties while others were being given leave or lighter duties.

In 1916, Bill was sent into Palestine driving an ambulance. The driver would ride one of the front horses. Grandfather did not carry a rifle or bayonet.” John Skinner, Warwick Qld.