HORSES IN ARMY

New Zealand Herald, Volume 79, Issue 24251, 17 April 1942, Page 7

HORSES IN ARMY

QBEATER use urged EXPERIENCE OF AMERICA BRITAIN THE EXCEPTION ' "The utility horse, the most readilyavailable army asset in New Zealand, is not being sufficiently used by the said Dr. *W. C. Ring, in an interview yesterday, "We know that brigade masses of* mounted troops do no t fit into war operations as they are fought to-day, but the armies of our allies and. our enemies still use horses jn considerable numbers, and New Zealand. completely dependent upon other countries for vehicles, petrol and tyres, ■ cann ot afford to disregard them "For operations ;in the rougher country w® should combine the rapidity of the motor with the mobility of the horse. Already mounted Home Guard units are performing useful work in various areas. More could be done with the utility horse in the Territorial Anuy. There are plenty of horses of the types needed in the country." Reconnaissance Groups Dr. Ri"S mentioned the value of the horse for short-haul transport about camps, but what lie had particularly in inind was mounted reconnaissance groups attached to infantry units which could be transported by semi-trailers, as is done in the American Army, to areas in which the nature of the terrain is particularly suitable for mounted troops. An article strongly recommending the greater use of animals in the American Army by Major-General John K. Herr, its chief of cavalry, appears in' the February issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. All foreign armies except the English, he writes, use animals in great numbers. Russia uses 200,000 for caralrv and SOO.OOO for draft and pack; Japan, 50,000 and 325,000- Germany, 50,000 and 910,000; and America, 25,000 and 12,000. The German System In the 245 marching divisions of the German Army all the artillery and practically all transportation are drawn br animals. The Germans use great fleets of motor vehicles to bring supplies from bases to divisions. Thus it is motors for long hauls and horses for marching transportation. The chief of the American field artillery. General Danford, deplores the machine-mind that dominates the army. He declares that every means and agency procurable will have to be utilised in the war. "We have pretty well accepted the idea," he says, "that with the National Guard 100 per cent motorised, the regular field artillery officer is not'horse or motor,' but 'horse .and motor,' and must qualify himself to utilise both to their maximum degree of efficiency." Major-General C. L. Scott, commanding the Ist Armoured Corps of the American Army, expressed the opinion that cavalry could assist armoured units in their movements forward over difficult terrain and could follow up promptly and effectively the attack of these units after'it had been launched. Flexibility and Mobility In the present position of New Zealand, however, chief interest centres in General Herr s reference to mounted reconnaissance groups being attached to infantry units. In the American Army these groups can be transported in .floats, which carry eight horses, their riders, their fodder and equipment to the area in which they are to operate. deferring to the manner the Russians frequently interposed between German motorised infantry and the inarching divisions, surrounding and destroying isolated armoured units and ambushing antirtank units, General Heir says: "Cavalry can cope with all these situations. It will ferret out antitank units waiting" in ' ambush. _lt will protect the Hants of motorised inJantrv in battles and form a link with ,the slower following marching divisions. It will cope with guerilla warfare. It ris" well suited to hunt down parachutists. It has the flexibility and mobilitv which enables it to fill in all the weak gaps." "