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prices rose and, the price that could be paid per horse being set by the
Government, regimental purchasing officers and agents were frequently left with the most inferior animals. Consequently, in 1887 the Remount Department was set up in order to ensure the uniformity and suitability of the animals purchased for the army, and their training. Owners were encouraged to register a proportion of their horses with the Department, the Department having the option of purchasing these animals for a fixed sum in time of emergency. In recompense for this, the owners were paid a pension of 10
186:, therefore, found the British Army with a total establishment of 25,000 horses and mules, five Remount Depots and four Remount companies, with a remount strength of approximately 1,200 animals. Within 12 days, the establishment had been increased to 165,000 animals, entirely by impressment, and a year later, in August 1915, to 534,971. At its peak in 1917, the Army establishment reached almost 870,000 horses and mules, with remount accommodation for 60,000 animals. To cope with this increase, four additional main Home depots were established, at
202:, and the capacity and complement of each depot were also increased. At Swaythling, for example, on 1 April 1919 (several months after the end of the war), 3,530 horses and mules were stabled and cared for by 757 men. The first three of these depots were used for horses and mules arriving from overseas, whilst Swaythling was a collection centre for animals being shipped abroad. Several other smaller depots were established throughout the country for receipt of locally bred horses.
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137:(for the cavalry), with a total Army establishment of 12,500 horses and mules. The Boer War showed these arrangements to have been entirely inadequate (326,000 horses and 51,000 mules were lost, mainly through disease), so the animal establishment was increased to 25,000 and two additional depots were authorized, at
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Over the course of the war, a total of 468,323 horses were purchased in the United
Kingdom, 428,608 horses and 275,097 mules in North America, 6,000 horses and 1,500 mules came from South America, and 3,700 mules from Spain and Portugal. Between 1914 and 1920, the Remount Service spent £67.5 million
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A Base
Remount Depot and two Advanced Remount Depots went to France with the British Expeditionary Force in 1914 and were subsequently supplemented by two further Base Remount Depots at the Channel Ports. At the peak of operations, these had an establishment of 16,000 to 17,000 animals. Depots were
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Prior to 1887, the purchase of horses was the responsibility of individual regimental colonels, in the case of cavalry regiments, or of agents acting on behalf of the artillery and engineers. This system worked well enough in peacetime but rapidly broke down during war when demand exceeded supply,
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for the campaigns in those regions. Animals for these areas were originally obtained from
Australia (horses) and North America (mules) although, owing to difficulties with transport, all animals were later supplied from Britain. The supply of animals for the
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The establishment of officers and men was also increased to cope with this number of animals, from 121 officers and 230 men in August 1914 to 423 officers and 20,560 men in 1917. Many of the remount officers were drawn from the
279:. In addition to the British Army, the British Remount Service supplied animals to the Belgian, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and Portuguese armies, and even the American Expeditionary Force.
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and others who had experience with horses in civilian life, thus avoiding withdrawing army officers from their normal duties. Such remount officers included the well known artists
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153:, was given to the War Office by its owners for a period of 21 years. These depots provided total remount accommodation in the United Kingdom for some 1,200 animals.
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Proceedings of a Court of
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might prevent the purchase of animals in that country, but this proved not to be the case and remount purchasing delegations were set up in
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The
Remount Service was only responsible for supplying horses and mules for use in Britain. Animals used by the
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Society girls train horses for the Army at
Britain's only private remount depot - 10-August-1931
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Some difficulty was encountered in returning this depot to its owners at the end of the lease.
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and those used by the
British Army in the Middle East and elsewhere were bought by the local
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74:was the body responsible for the purchase and
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564:Britain's Military Use of Horses 1914–1918
387:History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps
319:British cavalry during the First World War
251:was undertaken by the Indian Government.
110:In 1891, the service became part of the
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488:The Army Service Corps of 1914-1918:
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16:For United States Army Remount, see
307:Army Veterinary and Remount Service
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257:neutrality of the United States
160:were entirely purchased by the
121:(which provided horses for the
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551:Moore-Colyer, Richard (1995)
230:, and Scots-Australian poet
518:Singleton (1993) pp 186-187
430:Remount Depot, Chiddingfold
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166:General Officer Commanding
107:per year for each animal.
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392:February 4, 2013, at the
18:U.S. Army Remount Service
490:The Army Remount Service
336:Moore-Colyer (1995) p 56
587:War Office, The (1922)
562:Singleton, John (1993)
509:War Office (1922) p 396
500:War Office (1922) p 396
479:War Office (1922) p 396
470:War Office (1922) p 396
449:War Office (1902) p 1-2
440:War Office (1922) p 396
364:March 14, 2016, at the
184:outbreak of war in 1914
94:between 1887 and 1942.
527:Singleton (1993) p 188
460:The British Army, 1914
359:Pluckley Remount Depot
289:Horses in World War II
538:RAVC Detailed History
536:Ministry of Defence:
404:Planet News Archive:
376:War Office (1902) p 1
249:Mesopotamian Campaign
212:masters of fox hounds
178:Horses in World War I
566:. Past and Present,
72:Army Remount Service
28:Army Remount Service
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158:Indian Army
599:Categories
580:. London:
574:War Office
325:References
287:See also:
273:Fort Worth
238:set up in
200:Swaythling
176:See also:
143:Arborfield
610:Warhorses
151:Godalming
36:1887–1942
390:Archived
362:Archived
313:See also
265:St Louis
244:Salonika
196:Ormskirk
119:Woolwich
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88:remounts
76:training
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269:Chicago
98:Origins
41:Country
277:Denver
192:Romsey
141:, and
135:Dublin
80:horses
51:Branch
33:Active
303:Italy
299:Burma
240:Egypt
149:near
84:mules
582:HMSO
301:and
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