from the Dec 1943 Hoof Beats.
What makes this interesting is that so many horsemen were involved with the horses and/or mules divisions during WW II.
Dobbin Comes Back
THE FOLLOWING story appears in a recent issue of the Schenectady, (N. Y.) Gazette and was forwarded by an unnamed A.P. correspondent with the A.E.F. in Italy, and is a revealing angle for those of us who believed the horse
and his long-eared relative the mule, were out of the picture entirely in modern warfare. As this able and entertaining writer, whoever he is, puts it "the horse laugh is on those who thought their day was done." As the caption of the yarn has it: Mules, Horses Come Into Own Again in Italy, and it appears they really have.
WITH THE A.E.F. (American Expeditionary Forces) IN ITALY, Nov. 5. (delayed) (A.P. (Associated Press)) -Old dobbin and his long eared country cousin the mule have come back to the wars, and the horse laugh is on those who thought their day was done.
Almost forgotten when the army went modern with its mechanized transport and armor, almost laughed right out of the service as too old fashioned for the times, the horse and the mule are now winning friends and influencing people
in the jagged, roadless mountains of Italy.
They are right up in the front lines with the troops, performing a service of transport that even faized the redoubtable jeep and it's a common sight these days to see a column of mules and horses plodding down a dusty road alongside tanks, armored cars, trucks and all the other mechanical wonders
that make up a 1943 army.
The animals carry food, water, guns, ammunition and supplies for the mountain troops operating in wild country.
Fighting up the road to Rome means that the doughboys have to leave the highways and drive the enemy off the mountains dominating the flatland. Much of this rough country has no roads and sometimes there, are not even any trails. The packtrain is the only answer.
As a result of supply lines maintained by horses and mules, a tough American force recently was able to swing through the mountains on the right flank of the Fifth army and trap a German force of more than 100 officers and men.
There was only one road into the area, and the Germans dominated that with their guns. They thought their flanks were safe. But a tough bunch of troops loaded a packtrain with ammunition, food, water and supplies for more than a
week. Some of the mules carried howitzers and mortars.
Tolling through ravines, often making their own trails, scrambling across rocky slopes, the assault force surprised the Germans by surrounding their position and cutting their avenue of escape. The operation could never have been attempted without the packtrain.
Continuing their advance, these same troops crossed another mountain and cut the important road northeast of Venafro to secure the right flank of the American advance across the upper Volturno river.
A few days ago Capt. Kenneth Rice of Springfield, Mass., commanding a reconnaissance crew, called 30 volunteers from their light armored cars and sent them with a pack train on an excursion behind the enemy's lines.
With nine mules and a horse, the patrol was able to stay in the mountains for five days checking on enemy dispositions.
Expert mechanics, skilled truck drivers and armored reconnaissance men, as well as infantry men who had been no nearer a horse than a racing form, are learning a lot about animal psychology in the process of fighting a war.
Some of them became expert mule skinners during the Sicily campaign, when pack trains were used for the first time on a large scale. Once the fighting advanced into the Sicilian hills the army began requisitioning animals for supply service and as cavalry.
Lieut. Melvin Groves of Webster Grove, Mo., claimed to have had in his company the only mule with sense enough to take cover during an air raid or enemy shelling.
During the battle for Tronia he saw the mule, loaded with supplies, fall to the ground when a shell fell near. He thought it was dead.
"But pretty soon," he said, "that mule got up again as though nothing had happened. He just bit the ground every time a shell fell near. Smartest mule I ever saw."
Naturally a lot of comic situations arise as troops untrained in handling animals are detailed to duty as mule skinners. But the comedy doesn't minimize the importance of the Job done by the mules and horses purchased from in the farmers.
In the Tunisian campaign one medical unit used mules to evacuate wounded from mountains where jeeps could not be taken. Doctors said in many cases the speedy evacuation of the wounded by mules undoubtedly saved the lives of soldiers.
And a few years ago it looked as though the horse was outmoded in the army.
