bluesman

Friends:

I was watching the Kung Fu Panda Christmas Special when I saw a preview for the following motion picture show:


Oh, and the title question is rhetorical. Of course he did- he's the freakin' WAR HORSE.




In all seriousness, did anyone read the book this was based on? It seems a little bit... out there to me. Still, more awareness of WW1 would be good.

Belgarion

As far as I know, cavalry was never used in a combat role on the Western front. Seems like a bit of poetic licence was used in this movie.

Belisarius

Well it was several times in 1914, there's a well documented cavalry charge during the Somme offensive in 1916 and cavalry was used extensively in the 100 days battles of 1918

Nemowork

Extensively in 1914, they were the main scout force for the military since aircraft were an untried invention. Theres several engagements between German Uhlans and British cavalry.


The most notable fact of the cavalry at the Somme is its use to take High Wood, horses move faster than infantry and a cavalry charge took it with low casualties, allowing the infantry to move in and hold. Admittedly the infantry then got decimated by the Germans and it was eventually lost again.
the second most notable fact about cavalry at the Somme is that they were helb back in the reserves for exploitation of gaps, too far back as it turned out so by the time the were called up it was too late to be used.

And yes used extensively in the 100 days campaign againt to exploit gaps in the German lines, theres no such thing as an armoured personnel carrier in those days so the only way to move troops fast is by horse.
They tended to be mixed up in mobile units with the tanks, motorbike and cycle units, anything that could move fast.
It wasnt such a great idea since different commands, different speeds of movement and different capabilities made commanding them difficult.

To shamelessly pinch from wiki

irishcrusader95

it looks epic, i got chills just watching that trailer.

Kevinmeath

Horses were used to a huge extent, the film is based on a popular childrens/teenagers book.

looking forward to watching it with the kids -- big bag of sweets and a take away afterwards!

Nemowork

As a piece of historical and Hollywood trivia the story was inspired by author Michael Morpugo's meeting with Captain Aurthur Budgett a WW1 cavalry veteran.

Morpurgo appears in the movie as a random yokel, one of the other extras with him is Captain Budgetts grand-daughter

War Horse author Michael Morpurgo's chance meet with granddaughter of story's inspiration - Telegraph

Belgarion

Thanks for the informtion Belisarius and Nemo. l was not aware of any cavalry action in WWI outside of the Palestine theatre. One tends to think of the Western Front as all trenches and mud.

Nemowork

You need cavalry for a war of movement, infantry for seiges so except for the first and last few months of the war cavalry wasnt used much since the war was basically one big seige.

They should have been, WW1 artillery and machine guns were slow to adjust their fire so fast charges by cavalry to take objectives or get through gaps the infantry had created was a viable tactic and its been suggestedthe absence of cavalry on the Somme was one of the reasons some objectives werent taken.

The trouble is cavalry need decent ground to move on and the right tactical opening to be effective, the nature of 1916 command and control meant that by the time an opening had been spotted, word sent back to the reserves to move up the cavalry, orders given and the troops moved up it was too late and the opening had gone.
Detailed timetable planning from high command simply didnt allow the flexible thinking needed to get quick reaction, it took time for Haigh to not only persuade the military to allow independent control to subordinate officers but to find officers who could use that latitiude responsibly and allow front line exploitation of gaps instead of waiting for permission from high comand that the cavlalry was able to be used again.

Sokar Rostau

You know, when I first saw the trailer I thought this film looked absolutely horrible. I think I even said that it looked "dire" in a post somewhere here. But I've since seen a few reviews of it and... not a single bad word has been said. It's being called a masterpiece, Spielberg back at his absolute best (as in Schindler's List best, with two scenes that apparently rival D-Day in SPR), an Oscar certainty and an instant classic that will be watched for decades to come. I have to reluctantly admit that I may go and see this in the theatre rather than waiting for the DVD.

EDIT: I have to admit, that if I had seen this trailer first I would have had a different opinion. The 45s version they've been playing on TV is awful.