Kilt in "War Horse"

[McMurdo]

There are kilt aprons that go all the way round and others that just cover the front.

[ThistleDown]

The book on which this movie is based was first published in 1982, but it's about the horses conscripted and sent to the awful killing fields of the Great War. No, it's not about kilts, it's about the strength, bravery, loyalty and tenaciousness of horses who hauled artillery and supplies, the living, the wounded and the dead, charged the enemy's guns on command and, when mortally injured, provided their bodies as shelter until they died.

It's not a happy story. But more horses died in the first war than did their human comrades, and that's a tale that needs to be told.

[BoldHighlander]

It's not a happy story. But more horses died in the first war than did their human comrades, and that's a tale that needs to be told.

Indeed.
I was trying to find my book(s) on horses in warfare, but everything is a bloody mess here!

Anyhow found the following from wikihorseworld - Horses in World War I:

"...the 1916 Battle of Verdun between French and German forces. In one day in March, 7,000 horses were killed by long-range shelling on both sides,"

"Over the course of the war, Britain lost over 484,000 horses, one horse for every two men."

For some reason specific info (numbers) about horse casualties during WWII on the internet are harder to pin down (again I wish I could locate my books! ). I did, however wish to share the following I found on wikihorseworld:

"In two months, December 1941 and January 1942, German Army on the Eastern Front lost 179,000 horses."

And from an article entitled Horse Power: Horses and the German Army of World War II:

"By November 1941, horse losses totaled 102,910 killed and 33,000 sick or unfit."

As for total losses -- I keep running across the following number of total horse losses for WW1 as "over 8,000,000 are believed to have died on all sides".
However, I also run across the same number given for WWII, so I'm unsure exactly which war this should be applied to. Perhaps someone with better access to the information can provide the actual numbers? (hint, hint )

[Mikewood]

Please keep in mind horses were considered tools. They were used in combat as men were and they were not wasted. At the end of the movie Joey would not have been shot and left in the street to rot. He would have been walked to the mess tent and shot and butchered there as food for the troops. Fresh meat could not be wasted.

[creagdhubh]

Superb film!