By Paul Garson
While many films have attempted to convey the experience of the Second World War European battlefield, none adequately portray the mayhem and suffering that befell untold thousands of horses, their bodies impacted by bullet, flame and bomb as well as disease, starvation and backbreaking toil in the searing heat of summer and the freezing winds and snows of winter. In great part, the role of the horse in the Second World War, and in particular their use by the Third Reich, has been eclipsed by the sturm und donner of panzers and Stukas, the iconic images of the German mechanized Blitzkrieg.
In reality the so-called ‘military juggernaut’ was a myth – the Nazi war machine less metal and more horse flesh. While many of the horses were raised in military breeding centres, others were literally wrenched from farmers’ fields and strapped into harnesses, often fine-bred and unprepared for the rigars that awaited them.
The original photos in this book were in most part taken by German soldiers using their personal cameras to capture their special relationship with their four-legged comrades as well as recording the suffering and death they shared in a war that showed no mercy to any living thing, man or beast.
The Author
Paul Garson lives and writes in Los Angeles having produced over 2500 magazine features, often accompanied by his own contemporary photography. His previous books include science fiction, motorcycle history, and military history
Bibliographic Information
Publication: 15th February 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4456-7250-2
Extent: 128 pages
Illustrations: 200 illustrations
Amberley Publishing