13 January 2012Last updated at 16:10

The Blue Cross opens WWI war horse archive

The Blue Cross, a charity formed to care for horses injured in World War I, has made its archive of posters, photographs and footage available to the public for the first time. It coincides with the opening of Stephen Spielberg's new film War Horse, a tale of a horse sent to the trenches during World War I.

A Blue Cross horse ambulance at work in France during the World War I.

The Blue Cross, based in Oxfordshire, opened several animal hospitals in France. By the end of the war in 1918, it had cared for more than 50,000 horses.

The charity, formerly known as Our Dumb Friends League, launched a Blue Cross Fund in 1912 and promotional posters were used to raise money. The fund raised £170,000 (the equivalent of nearly £6.5m today) for sick and injured animals during World War I.

The Blue Cross estimates the British Army used 1.2 million horses and mules in World War I, of which 484,000 died in battle. This painting, called Goodbye Old Man by Fortunino Matania, was commissioned in 1916 to raise money for the Blue Cross Fund and now hangs in the charity’s animal hospital in Victoria, London.

A vet treats the leg of an army horse during World War I

The charity has launched a free online archive called The War Horse collection to share its history and is full of photographs, interviews, artefacts and audio slideshows. It can be accessed at www.bluecross.org.uk/warhorse.

Charity director Steve Goody said: "We are immensely proud of The Blue Cross's history helping the brave animals of war. As a tribute to all the real-life war horses, we decided to open up our archives to share some of the amazing stories and pictures of these extraordinary animals."

Postcard of soldiers and horses at a front line veterinary hospital during World War I

During World War I, the charity provided animal hospitals, ambulances and veterinary supplies to the front lines, marked with a blue cross to distinguish them from red cross facilities for injured men.

A horse being lead into horse ambulance on the streets

After World War I, many of the war horses were sold off cheaply abroad, but the charity helped in a campaign to buy back and rescue more than 4,000 horses and mules in Belgium and across the world.

Mr Goody said: "Anyone who has been inspired by the plight of war horses should take a moment to learn more about these poor animals who were plucked from their homes and sent into a living hell."

Oxford

The Blue Cross opens WWI war horse archive

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