The Anzac Hoof: Where were the farriers during the battle for Gallipoli?

The Anzac trophy hoof / inkwell lives in the heraldry collection of the Australian War Memorial.

Today, a salute to our friends in Australia and New Zealand, where it's Anzac Day. It's not exactly a holiday; it's a day of remembrance, lest the people in those countries ever forget the extreme national tragedies experienced during World War I when Anzac (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) forces landed on the Turkish coast in 1915 at a place called Gallipoli. According to the Australian War Memorial, more than130,000 died, on both sides, during eight months of trying to take the strategic piece of land.

What most people know about Gallipoli is the terrible Australian loss that occurred on April 25, 1915, when half of the 500 unmounted members of the Australian Light Horse cavalry who charged ashore were mown down and killed. The moving 1981 film "Gallipoli", starring Mel Gibson, tells the story.

While the Australian Light Horse and New Zealand Mounted Rifles were trained as cavalry, they fought on foot at Gallipoli. Their horses waited in Egypt. A large corps of international farriers waited with them, to care for them, keep them shod, and help them adapt to life in the desert. 

They kept themselves busy, and hung on the news drifting back to Egypt about what was happening to their countrymen at Gallipoli.

War Horse Hoofcare: Don't Come Between a Farrier and His Horse

Photographers talk about the "point of infinity" in an image. There's a horizon or a focal point that draws your eye to the defined distance. Or lack of a defined distance.

This photo of farriers at work at a British horse stables in France during World War I is a study in efficiency, 1915-style. You see one man (on far left) in charge of the bellows for the little portable forge. One farrier at the anvil. And one farrier with the horse, holding the hoof up, ready for the shoe to be hot-fit.

Noticed there is a top-anvil tool lying on the ground by the first anvil, and the striker's hammer is set to go. 

The question is whether the striker was also the forge cranker. That would mean he had to dance back and forth around the anvil without getting in the way. 

The photo begs the question as to whether the official looking military figure at the second anvil was also keeping time.

The stables and farriers stretch to infinity. How many farriers do you think are in this photo?

This image was provided by the Royal Library of Scotland, and there is very little information available about where it was taken, other than in France during the First World War.

Can you add any information?

Call to order your copy of this amazing reference book

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

Read this blog's headlines in your Facebook news feed when you "like" the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.