From mighty stallions killed by bullets or starvation to tiny glow worms that lit up the trenches, all were finally honoured yesterday with a memorial dedicated to all creatures, great and small, who served in time of war. In Park Lane, Mayfair, the Princess Royal unveiled the first permanent tribute to the horses, dogs, pigeons, elephants and others on whose skills the British have depended in times of conflict.
Carrying the inscription "They had no choice", the huge memorial, designed by David Backhouse, comprises a carved Portland stone wall alongside sculptures of two mules carrying battle equipment, a stallion and a dog. Jilly Cooper, the novelist and vice-president of the Animals in War Memorial Fund, watched as a flock of racing pigeons were released as part of the ceremony. "We never said thank you to them. They died in their millions. They carried our food and our weapons and they were phenomenal," she said.
Eight million horses are believed to have died in the First World War, most from exposure, disease or starvation while carrying men, ammunition and equipment. Hundreds of thousands of "mile-a-minute" carrier pigeons delivered crucial dispatches from the front, many suffering bad injuries. Among them was the famed Mary of Exeter, who returned from one mission with a damaged wing and three shotgun pellets in her breast. Even the lowly glow worm by whose light trench soldiers during the Great War were able to read their maps and letters, are represented in the sculpture. |